Kiss the Competition

May 16, 2006

By Bob Knight

As it planned its annual campaign for last fall, United Way of the Lower Mainland on Canada's west coast had no way of knowing that its direct-mail efforts to address one competitor for donor dollars would help it overcome a more serious threat raised by another.

The initial competitor was the Make Poverty History campaign that had been launched recently and a supporting Live 8 rock concert that was scheduled for a Canadian venue in July 2005.