2015 Halo Awards Honor Efforts that Do Well by Doing Good

CHICAGO, May 28, 2015 /3BL Media/ - Campaigns that salvaged underfunded sports programs, funded canine cancer research and taught kids to be safe online -- all while building stronger businesses -- were among the initiatives honored at the thirteenth annual Cause Marketing Halo Awards.

Sixteen category-specific winners were selected out of nearly 100 entries by the Cause Marketing Forum at its annual conference. In addition, the United Nations Foundation and CVS Health each received a Cause Marketing Golden Halo Award for breakthrough, long-term efforts to do well by doing good.

Descriptions of winning campaigns can be found online at http://www.CauseMarketingForum.com/halo15

Taking home multiple honors this year was:

Sports Matter a cause marketing campaign from DICK’s Sporting Goods that raises awareness about underfunded youth athletic programs and provided a crowdfunding tool through which selected youth sports teams could raise money from supporters and earn a matching grant through the company’s foundation.

 “Once again Halo-winning campaigns rose to the top by effectively communicating cause-related messages while measurably generating social and financial dividends,” said Cause Marketing Forum President David Hessekiel.

This year’s Cause Marketing Halo Award-winning campaigns were:

Best Transactional Campaign Winners

GOLD: NB SparkStart New Balance & Boys & Girls Clubs of America
SILVER: Taste of Groupon Groupon & Feeding America

Best Social Media Campaign Finalists

GOLD: Sports Matter DICK'S Sporting Goods & The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation
SILVER: Star Wars Force for Change Disney & U.S. Fund for UNICEF

Best Message-Focused Campaign Winners

GOLD: Sports Matter DICK'S Sporting Goods & The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation
SILVER: Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Radiothons iHeartMedia & CMN Hospitals

Best Video Winners

GOLD: Father’s Day Surprise WestJet & Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada
SILVER: In Her Shoes CIBC & Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation

Best Health-Related Campaign Winners

GOLD: Strike Through Cancer One Dime at a Time Jason’s Deli & University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
SILVER: LUNG FORCE CVS Health & American Lung Association

Best Environmental or Animal Campaign Winners

GOLD: Orvis Cover Dog Photo Contest The Orvis Company & Morris Animal Foundation
SILVER: Bee Friendlier Cascadian Farm & Xerces Society and University of Minnesota Bee Lab

Best Social Service Campaign Finalists

GOLD: Matter to a Million HP & Kiva
SILVER: Share A Meal Unilever & Feeding America

Best Education Campaign Finalists

GOLD: Intel Security Digital Safety Program Intel Security, Discovery Education & National Cyber Security Alliance and StopThinkConnect.org
SILVER: Science Sleuth 3M & DoSomething.org

Now in their thirteen year, the Cause Marketing Halo Awards are North America's highest honor in the field of cause marketing. They are presented to US and Canadian companies by the Cause Marketing Forum, a company dedicated to providing business and nonprofit executives with the practical information and connections they need to succeed. All Halo winners can be seen online at http://www.CauseMarketingForum.com/halo15.