The Tanger Outlet Center in Tilton, NH is sharing a bit of good news to kick off the new year: the center managed to raise $29,960.35 for the battle against breast cancer, during its 2013 PinkStyle Campaign.

That money was donated to LRGHealthcare during a special ceremony.

“It takes all of us working together with a common focus and determination to find a cure for this terrible disease,” said Steven B. Tanger, President and Chief Executive Officer for Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc. “I am proud of our Tanger Team members in Tilton for their continued hard work in fighting breast cancer and I thank our shoppers for supporting Tanger’s mission to find a cure.”

During the PinkStyle campaign, shoppers could give a $5 donation to local breast cancer beneficiaries. In exchange for their generosity, they received 5 special pink savings cards that gave them bonus savings at participating stores. Alongside the Pink Card promotion, over 900 shoppers participated in the center’s 5th Annual Fit For A Cure 5K Run/Walk.

“The doctors and staff at LRGHealthcare understand and value the importance of early detection in regard to breast and other cancers. Funds raised from this year’s Tanger 5K and PinkStyle Campaign will help LRGHealthcare as we continue to provide state-of-the-art technology to patients right here in the Lakes and Three Rivers Regions,” said LRGHealthcare President and CEO Tom Clairmont. “We are extremely grateful to [center general manager] Eric Proulx and the entire Tanger team for their dedication and generosity.”

Thanks to Ugly Sweater parties we can all celebrate our love of classic holiday wear—but only with a heavy dose of irony. Better to celebrate the Christmas sweater with pride and sincerity, and maybe raise a little money for kids in need at the same time.

U.K. organization Save the Children named Friday, December 13 National Christmas Jumper Day, and encouraged everyone to wear their Christmas jumpers (sweaters) with pride. It wasn’t just about the jumpers, of course—participants were also asked to donate at least  £1 to the cause. And so they did: Christmas Jumper Day has raised £248,576 for Save the Children so far, with more still coming in.

intu Metrocentre did its part to ‘make the world better with a sweater,’ working with retailer Sweater Shop to dress staff up in their warmest and most wonderful festive woolies. The team joined hundreds of thousands of others in showing off their winter pride, and the center donated  £2000 to Save the Children.

It also surprised shoppers wearing their Christmas jumpers with $25 center gift cards. The first to win was baby Leon in a cheerful Christmas Santa outfit.

“Christmas jumpers are all the rage this year so we wanted to make our malls feel even more festive and joyful, and we are  delighted that we can join this activity alongside donating to a very important charity,” said Karen Carr, center marketing manager. “You can easily identify all our staff as they will be wearing jumpers from Sweater Shop from now up to Christmas who are here to spread the Christmas cheer!”

Going to see Santa at the mall is a time-honored tradition, but the Santa experience isn’t always that welcoming for some children. That’s why programs like Caring Santa exist—to provide a safe, comfortable environment for children with special needs to visit with the man in red.

Dolphin Mall is one mall that has earned media attention for providing a similar opportunity, this one designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing children. At the center’s Signing Santa event, children from Miami-Dade County Schools were able to visit Santa and share their holiday wishes with him in American Sign Language with parents and reporters watching on.

CBS News was there, and shared many of the children’s stories.

This year, for the first time in her life, 11-year-old Fabiola Awad got to tell Santa her Christmas wishlist, in her own language: American Sign Language.

And what a wishlist it is.

“Well, I told him that I wanted a pony, and an iPhone and iPad 2,” Awad said through a translator.

Fabiola is one of dozens of kids who are deaf or hard of hearing who came from different Miami-Dade schools to interact with this signing Santa.

The children otherwise enjoyed the same holiday experience as their hearing peers: the chilly Ice Palace grotto, footage from BBC Earth’s “Frozen Planet,” and entertainment from Microsoft Windows holiday brand ambassadors. The center’s Ice Palace is presented by Windows.

Cause Marketing: Cause Marketing is the art of combining your commercial brand with a non-profit issue. Cause marketing campaigns have years of history and range from relatively superficial tactical partnerships, to long-term, strategic alliances that penetrate deeply into business and nonprofit organizations.

In 2008, businesses and schools in British Columbia, CA took a stand against bullying with the city’s first “Pink Shirt Day.” It began as a grassroots effort to show solidarity for a fellow student who was bullied for wearing a pink shirt, and was picked up by a Canadian politician who saw its potential to raise awareness. Now in its second year, Pink Shirt Day is getting a lot of attention.

One shopping center is getting involved. Metropolis at Metrotown is holding its own Pink Day this month. The shopping center is selling pink T-shirts for $10, with proceeds going to LOVE BC, a local anti-violence charity. Shoppers who wear the pink shirts on February 28th will have a chance to win a $1000 mall gift card, and the event is taking advantage of new media with a Facebook group and a YouTube “Pink Day Shout Out” contest.

Pink Day, however, doesn’t seem to be affiliated with Pink Shirt Day, and takes place several days after the larger event. This might be a small misstep in a great marketing idea. What do you think? Is it better to hold a solo event for an important issue, or to get involved with an existing non-profit?

Cause Marketing: Cause Marketing is the art of combining your commercial brand with a non-profit issue. Cause marketing campaigns have years of history and range from relatively superficial tactical partnerships, to long-term, strategic alliances that penetrate deeply into business and nonprofit organizations.

The Pajama Program is an easy charity to feel good about. Its goal is to ensure that every child can go to bed in a warm pair of PJs with a good bedtime story. For a family just barely getting by, or a child in instutional care,  this is a little bit of comfort that can help calm fears and create a little normalcy.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has latched on to this good cause with Operation PJ Pile Up. Each of its 39 malls is collecting new pajamas and books for abandoned or abused children and teens. Their combined goal is to collect 25,000 pairs of pajamas and 2500 new books by the end of December.

PREIT made a great marketing choice in supporting the Pajama program, as it’s been featured regularly on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah’s influence has brought a lot of attention to the charity, and it’s still unique enough to be novel, so PREIT should have a pretty easy time of drawing attention to their initiative.