Over the last couple weeks, you have likely seen commercials featuring Clara Hughes and Bell’s “Let’s Talk” campaign, which is raising money for mental health programs in Canada.

The campaign is poignant and very real, as Hughes tells her story candidly in the commercials and through media about her past struggles with depression.

One of the M.O.s for the campaign is to get people talking on about the campaign, with the promise that for every Tweet made today, Bell will donate 5 cents to the cause. (They’ll also do so for texts and long distance call made on their service.)

Later on, we’ll see the results of this campaign, but the message is definitely getting out. As of 10:45 CST, the term “Clara Hughes” is trending across Canada.

This is a prime example of how a company can create a lot of buzz around a cause they support. While an “in the community” page is becoming more rapidly standard on web pages, taking that extra step to promote your cause does two things:

• First, and most importantly, it gives your cause an added push to a market that may not have recognized it in the past. Making it easy for someone to support a cause, such as Bell has done with their 5 cents for a re-Tweet donation program, makes it extremely easy for anyone on a social network to spread the word. (Just make sure if you do a donate-per-Tweet style program, it could become very popular very quickly; so be sure to have in mind the “up to” dollar amount.)
• Second, it shows your tie to a cause and provides a rounder look to your company and shows, in a form that reaches a huge audience, that you care about the people and world around you.

Now you may be saying to yourself, “how can I do this if I don’t have a celebrity like Clara Hughes as a spokesperson to tie to?” The reality is, you don’t need a celebrity. Your efforts can be as simple as supporting an employee for their efforts in a marathon, which can be publicized through Facebook, Twitter or other means very easily.

Remember the bottom line about choosing your social media community support – the cause. Above all else, it is integral that you recognize the power you have to bring publicity to a non-profit organization.