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itoir 20 economist sunsuntribune diversions saturday oct 29 2005 happy charities reap benefits as fundraising novelty becomes trendy by patrick mangion staff writer whether its a ribbon on your lapel inspiring words inscribed on a bracelet or a thingamaboob for your keys tap ping into canadians altruistic side is no easy task but when a charitable organiza- tion gets it right sales from a novel ty product can be a boon to their good works these days seventime tour de francewinning american cyclist lance armstrong may be just as well known as the innovator behind the wildly successful yellow live- strong bracelets for cancer research like scores of ribbons pins and other collectibles preceding the rubber bracelet phenomena other charities organizations and busi nesses have lined up to hitch a ride on the coat tails of that success the canadian cancer society began selling similar blue bands last june its already sold more than 300000 of them said paul bauman the organizations senior manager of fundraising and earlier this month the char ity introduced its thingamaboob a key chain with three plastic balls illustrating various tumour sizes even through the society is com mitted to being nonprofit promo tions arent left to chance mr bau man said we investigate research and ensure promotional products will be productive the same as a pri vate company would he said with statistics canada reporting canadians are giving more than ever philanthropy has taken on more pecuniary overtones said larry easto bestselling business writer and marketing coach tilings have changed so much charities are competing for the hearts and minds of canadians mr easto said to that end branding has become paramount most of the time charities get support from people doing the right thing what charities are doing with bracelets is delivering something tangible its visible people feel good and they can be connected with a popular cause mr easto said the result has been a market place flooded with a rainbow of coloured bracelets for an equally dizzying number of causes twelve year old paige traber owns several dozen rubber bracelets its just a trend its a fashion tiling the grade 7 thornhill stu dent explained she and her elementary school mates collect the bracelets or live- strongs as they refer to them in the beginning i thought they were all cool now i only wear the ones that support a charity the others have no point no meaning she said i dont like going into stores that charity bracelet originator has sold 56 million worldwide when cancer survivor and worldclass cyclist lance armstrong began the live- strong campaign about 18 months ago it was meant as a simple gesture at 1 each the yellow rubber bracelets were meant as a source of inspiration and support with proceeds going to cancer research it seemed rather underwhelming even idealistic at the time but the response has been anything but more than 56 million yellow bands have been sold worldwide their popularity has elicited copy cats from other charities sports teams and the business community while sticking with its traditional pink us breast cancer fundraising groups have embraced livestronginspired bracelets an orange live safe version has been adopted by aids charities and not long after last years devastating tsunami swept through south asia bracelets with the words we care and tsunami relief were being scooped up by those wanting to make a difference and with world series champions chicago white sox boasting black wrist bands with the word believe you can bet sports will be the next domain of rubber bracelets but they all have two things in common words of inspiration and helping charity it explains why innovators at the lance armstrong foundation wwwlaforg dont seem put out by competitors however an arizona mountain bike store raised the ire of some with its live wrong parody however az bikes website said its line of black merchandise simply sends a mes sage for people to make their own choic es in life pat mangion sell the plastic fake ones you can tell they arent real that really bugs me they look like they support charity but they dont we dont buy those she said but the widespread parody rolls off the shoulders of the originators according to stephanie elsea spokesperson for the lance arm strong foundation we recognize imitation is the sincerest form of flattery we dont waste time focusing on other wrist bands our sole focus is to help peo ple with cancer said ms elsea if wearing a livestrong wrist band inspires someone to think about what the words mean to visit the foundation website or to start a conversation with cancer survivor then the wristband did its job orkregioncom