About Joe Waters

Joe Waters has been working at the intersection of business, philanthropy and marketing for nearly 20 years. 

For seven of those years he led a cause marketing team that raised millions of dollars for New England's largest safety-net hospital. Joe has worked with many local and national companies, including Pepsi, Valvoline Instant Oil Change, Borders Books, Staples, Zipcar, Fuddruckers, Virgin America and The Boston Bruins. 

Joe's enthusiasm for his work inspired him to start a cause marketing blog, Selfishgiving.com, which chronicled his insights on building win-win partnerships. Selfish Giving became a key resource for local nonprofits and businesses that didn't have an international rock star as a spokesperson or couldn't brag they raised money from selling a pink toaster.

Today, Selfish Giving is the web's #1 cause marketing blog, and Joe is sought after commentator on how nonprofits and businesses can use cause marketing and social media to establish, grow and deepen relationships with stakeholders.

It was Joe's expertise and leadership in cause marketing that prompted Wiley Publishing to invite Joe and his close colleague, Joanna MacDonald, to write Cause Marketing for Dummies, which was released in August 2011. Reflecting Joe's interest in the connection between cause marketing and technology, especially mobile technology, Cause Marketing for Dummies was the first For Dummies title to extensively use QR codes to share online content with readers.

In its first week, Cause Marketing for Dummies reached #1 on Amazon's list of top nonprofit titles.

In addition to his blog and book, Joe is a contributor to The Huffington Post and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Joe speaks frequently on cause marketing and is a regular presenter at Cause Marketing Forum's annual conference in Chicago. Most recently he spoke at the Midwest Philanthropy Conference and the New Strategies Conference For Nonprofits in Charleston, South Carolina. 

Joe has a long interest in public speaking. He has B.A. and M.A. in Speech Communication, the latter from Penn State University where he also taught public speaking. He's also an award-winning speaker with Toastmasters International.

Joe was born and raised in the "City of Champions" Brockton, Massachusetts. He lives with his wife and two children right outside Boston, Massachusetts.

Joe is a regular host of Cause Talk Radio.