It’s that time of year again – CreateAThon Season is imminent. In the past 15 years we’ve partnered with more than 80 agencies to offer pro bono marketing services to community nonprofits.  What began as a late night musing has evolved into a nationwide network with one determined goal: to help our nonprofit partners reach the men, women, and children who need them the most.  

That’s where your agency or marketing department comes in. CreateAThon wouldn’t happen without the marketing professionals who freely share their talent and expertise over a 24-hour period to give selected nonprofits high-quality, strategic solutions targeting the communities they serve. We’d love you to take part in helping us reach our goal of doubling agency participation.

“But why should our agency get involved?”  you may be asking. “Obviously, giving back feels good, but are there other benefits?” Those of us who’ve been here before have had plenty of time to feel the positive effects of our marathon approach. Now we want to share the insights we’ve gained. That’s why, over the next few weeks we’ll bring you a series of articles addressing ten key reasons your agency should become a CreateAthon agency.

So, let’s start with a simple truth. No one likes to say no. You especially hate saying no when you get a request from a nonprofit cause you truly support. What’s a hardworking agency to do?

How does your agency manage pro bono requests? CreateAthon makes it easy.

Reason #1 CreateAthon is the ideal tool for managing pro bono requests.

When your favorite community nonprofits come knocking, you no longer have to immediately turn them down due to their small budget or your lack of resources. You can refer pro bono clients to the CreateAthon master application.

The CreateAthon application process gives every interested nonprofit the opportunity to compete for your time and creative resources. It creates the structure of an objective process for vetting and selecting the best fit for your pro bono services. Most importantly, CreateAthon gives you a designated time to put all other work on hold and devote your agency’s full attention to giving back.

In our next post we’ll discuss how CreateAthon’s seemingly insane 24-hour deadline actually benefits both you and your pro bono clients.