Susan G. Komen Foundation: everything from green tea to M&M's.

If the strategy to diversify is as important to cause marketing as it is to a stock portfolio, the Susan G. Komen Foundation is in great shape. The foundation's Race for the Cure started with a few sponsors more than a quarter century ago. Today, the Dallas-based nonprofit has nearly 130 cause marketing partners from a variety of industries, including hotels, food, soft drinks, apparel and telecommunications.

It's like a mutual fund of cause marketing partners that's expected to raise $35 million when everything is totaled for 2006. Whether it's Pier 1 Imports donating 25 percent of each $14 candle, Sip for the Cure products from The Republic of Tea, or 35 cents from every 14-ounce package of pink M&M's, it's all adding up.

The cause marketing program evolved from the Race for the Cure sponsorships, said Katrina Drake, director of cause-related marketing at the foundation. "People wanted to be active in the cause all year long, so they would sponsor races around the country but wanted to take it to an in-store presence, not only to expand the revenue they could raise but also the educational message reach," she said.

The foundation receives millions of dollars in cause marketing-related contributions, with many annual guarantees in the six figures. But not all of the partners are active at the same time, Drake said, adding that about half of the sponsors have programs year-round while others do them for three, six or nine months.

The foundation's New Business Committee examines proposals received from potential partners, which number 50 a month on average and more in the fall, around Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.

"We have a pretty extensive process where we vet proposals that come in from partners that are interested in working with us," Drake said. The committee looks "at everything from the reach of the program-are we reaching audiences we may not be currently reaching--the quality of the product; the percentage of proceeds to the foundation; are they willing to incorporate educational messaging; are they committed to the breast cancer cause; are they doing embedded philanthropy in terms of educating their employees, as well as helping to educate the general public."

From there, the foundation works with the partner to determine the duration of the promotion, whether it's seasonal, or a pilot program, and other details. "It's really a collaborative decision ... in terms of what's going to be best around that particular product," Drake said.

"We obviously want someone that's well respected, somebody that's a leader in their field, somebody that can take us in front of audiences that we don't normally reach; willing to incorporate the educational messaging as well as raise revenue for us; willing to significantly commit to the cause in terms of the dollars that they raise and the length of the relationship and getting their employees involved in volunteerism as well," Drake said.

There's more to Komen's cause marketing strategy and its success than just raising money. "We are extremely committed to utilizing it as a vehicle to reach new audiences, because we recognize with the things that we do alone by ourselves, there are huge pockets of the communities that we might not ever speak to," Drake said. "Some people's first interaction with the key messages or with the Komen Foundation is actually through our cause marketing department."