 The recent interest in cause-related marketing is generally argued to stem from American Express, who apparently coined the phrase in 1983.Following various pilot schemes in 1981, American Express developed a campaign which donated funds to a number of different non-profit organizations as part of the San Francisco Arts Festival.Essentially every time someone used an American Express Card in the area, a 2-cent donation was triggered and each time new members applied for a card a larger contribution was made.