Promoting literacy, finding homes for abandoned dogs, fighting disease and outfitting firefighters are among the challenges tackled by the winners of the fifth annual Cause Marketing Halo Awards.

"The Cause Marketing Halo Awards demonstrate the good that can be done when businesses and nonprofits team up," said David Hessekiel, president of Cause Marketing Forum, the program's organizer. "It's a competition in which we all win." Cause marketing is the strategy of building mutually beneficial alliances between companies and causes.

"In 1990 cause marketing spending was a bit more than $100 million -- this year it is forecast to top $1.4 billion," said Hessekiel. CMFI produces an annual conference, workshops, teleclasses and causemarketingforum.com, a website offering free resources to businesses and nonprofits interested in developing such programs.

The Cause Marketing Forum also announced that Whirlpool Corporation and First Book each received Cause Marketing Golden Halo Awards for their leadership in this fast-growing field.

Sixteen category-specific awards were given to campaigns that occurred in whole or in part in 2006. The winners include:

Best Environmental/Wildlife Campaign:
Gold: "Pedigree Adoption Drive" Pedigree and numerous animal shelters Silver: "Return the Warmth", Sam's Club, Aquafina and Keep America Beautiful

Best Health Campaign:
Gold: "Beautiful Lengths", Proctor & Gamble's Pantene Pro-V, Entertainment Industry Foundation and American Cancer Society Silver: "Cure, Care, Commitment", Gold's Gym Intl. & American Diabetes Association

Best Social Service/Education Campaign:
Gold: "ClassroomsCare", Scholastic Book Clubs, First Book, Hello Friend, Reach Out and Read and Save The Children Silver: "Fireman’s Fund Heritage", Fireman’s Fund Insurance and numerous fire departments

Best Joint Message Promotion
Gold: "Jumpstart Read for the Record", Pearson Foundation and Jumpstart Silver: "Volvo for Life Awards", Volvo Cars of North America and numerous nonprofits

Best Print Creative:
Gold: "Thanks & Giving 2006", Target and St. Jude Children Research Hospital Silver: "Pedigree Adoption Drive", Pedigree

Best Transactional Campaign:
Gold: "The Goodwill Sale," The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. and Goodwill Industries International Silver: "Target/Red Cross Emergency Preparedness Kit", Target and American Red Cross

Best Cause Marketing Event:
Gold: "Boost Mobile RockCorps", Boost Mobile & RockCorps Silver: "SunChips Hope Shines On", Frito-Lay and Susan G. Komen for the Cure

Best National/Local Integration
Gold: "Health Bedtime Habits for a Lifetime", Colgate-Palmolive Company and Reading Is Fundamental Silver: "Community Spotlight: Starlight Starbright", Hollywood Entertainment and Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation

More information on the Cause Marketing Halo Awards is available from the "Cause Marketing Forum website.