When I was a child, I recall my mom and her friends having Tupperware parties. At the time, this seemed really silly to me. Why have a party with the only point being to buy something?

Only later did I realize that the party was not about selling Tupperware. It was about the experience and the influence. Each of the (generally) women there talked about what they liked and did not, and the pieces that were bought most were the ones that were recommended most.

Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, Jafra, and a number of other brands have leveraged the power of small circles and been successful, and nonprofits can too.

In fact, using the influence of people in small circles is more effective in the nonprofit world than it is in the for-profit world, because what are small groups likely to care more about:

• food containers or faith-based poverty relief?
• make up or cancer research?
• hair products or animal shelters?

You donate to animal care groups or third world poverty relief organizations, but have you been taught by your chosen nonprofits how you can best help them do their work? Have you been asked to talk to your circle of influence about these groups? Have you been taught how?

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. If I care about cancer research, why would a nonprofit not incentivize and empower me to talk to my circle of friends about that organization? If I care about something, the likelihood of them caring too is high.

We might not always have money to donate, but we always make time for our friends, right? And, I’m willing to bet that they can help you out when I can’t.

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Tags: cancer research, jafra, mary kay, nonprofit marketing, pampered chef, tupperware