Ronda and Scott Gentry never thought about buying a slice of Spin pizza.
That is, until it did some good.
Then they bought a whole pizza — Italian and turkey sausage — last week, along with a special pizza for their dog Bulova.
The Lee’s Summit fundraiser at Spin benefited the Wayside Waifs animal shelter.
The Blue Springs couple’s special dinner is part of a growing segment of philanthropy called cause marketing. Simply put, it's when businesses and nonprofits get together to sell something to consumers that helps raise donations.
Cause marketing is not a 5K run, but rather a structured business deal. It might be the sale of a pink blender, with a portion of the proceeds going to breast cancer research. It might be a massage, with some of the proceeds going to a domestic violence shelter.
Cause marketing has been around for more than two decades, but the recession has prompted a boom.
"We are your perfect cause-marketing people," Ronda Gentry said.
Read the complete story at kansascity.com