Building connections is at the heart of any company’s success. To thrive in the long term, you need to nurture strong, mutually beneficial relationships with customers, employees, and other organizations in your community.
By forging nonprofit partnerships, your company can establish itself as a force for social good—investing in the growth of your community—and reap the benefits for years to come.
In this guide, we’ll explore why and how you can incorporate nonprofit partnerships into your corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.
What Are Nonprofit Partnerships?
A nonprofit partnership occurs when a company and a nonprofit agree to work together toward shared goals. The type of partnership, including the activities you’ll undertake to support it, will vary depending on your company’s resources and priorities.
Some of the most common types of corporate-nonprofit partnerships include:
- Corporate sponsorship. Your company can cover all or a portion of the costs for a nonprofit’s event, project, or program. In return, the nonprofit will feature your company’s name and logo on marketing materials, physical signage, and related merchandise.
- Employee volunteering. Company- or team-wide volunteering events provide much-needed help to nonprofits in your community and foster a culture of generosity among employees. If your employees have certain skills that might be useful to a nonprofit, such as graphic design or legal expertise, you can arrange to have them provide regular pro bono services to your nonprofit partner.
- Cause marketing. In a cause marketing campaign, your company uses its existing reach to spread awareness and raise funds for a nonprofit’s cause. For example, you might ask customers to donate to your nonprofit partner during checkout or announce that a portion of your product or service sales will go toward the nonprofit. Your nonprofit partner may feature your company in its marketing materials to draw attention to the opportunity.
- Workplace giving and matching gifts. Your company can set up various workplace giving opportunities for employees, such as matching their donations, allowing them to set up automatic payroll deductions, or hosting in-kind donation drives. Your nonprofit partner should provide you with regular updates on the impact of your contributions and recognition on platforms such as their website or social media.
To maximize employee participation and impact, directly ask your staff about the opportunities they’re most drawn toward. For instance, you might find out that many employees are interested in serving as nonprofit board members and support this endeavor by donating to the nonprofit once an employee fulfills a certain amount of hours on its board.
The Benefits of Partnering with Nonprofits
By partnering with nonprofits and becoming a CSR leader in your community, your company can tap into the full benefits of workplace giving, including:
- Improved talent acquisition. Keeping up with modern trends related to CSR and philanthropy allows you to appeal to younger generations of talent and other socially conscious job seekers. In fact, 81% of employees agree that it’s important to work for a company that integrates CSR into its business practices. [Fidelity Charitable]
- Higher employee engagement. According to Double the Donation, engaged employees are more productive, produce more high-quality results, and show up to work more frequently. Of 51% of companies that measure the connection, 96% find that employees who volunteer are more engaged than those who don’t. [BCCC]
- Better employee retention. Companies see a 52% lower turnover rate among newer employees who participate in their corporate philanthropy programs. Beyond earning a salary, many of your employees want to feel as though they’re making the world a better place through their work. [Benevity]
- Enhanced brand reputation. Engaging in CSR allows you to demonstrate to customers, employees, and stakeholders that, by supporting your company, they’ll also be supporting positive social change in their community. In fact, 76% of companies use CSR reports to boost their reputation. [Double the Donation]
Since corporate partnerships are mutually beneficial, they can make a world of difference to nonprofits as well. By collaborating with your company, a nonprofit can raise more funds, tap into a wider audience, and spread awareness of its cause.
How to Create a Partnership with a Nonprofit
A well-built partnership can benefit both your company and your nonprofit partner for many years. To set your next nonprofit partnership up for lasting success, follow these basic steps:
1.) Identify your partnership goals. Outline what you’re trying to accomplish by partnering with a nonprofit. For example, are you trying to enhance your reputation, increase employee engagement, or reach more potential customers? Having specific goals in mind can inform the type of support you’ll offer your partner.
2.) Research relevant nonprofits. It’s much easier to collaborate with a nonprofit if you share similar missions, values, and visions for the future. For example, a software development company might be drawn to supporting nonprofit organizations that are committed to promoting equitable access to the Internet and increasing digital literacy within their communities.
3.) Consider the interests of your employees and customers. Maintaining an impactful nonprofit partnership is a team effort. You need to get your employees and customers excited about the initiative to inspire their participation and reach your desired outcomes. Survey your employees and customers to find out which causes they’re most passionate about and narrow your focus on nonprofits working in those areas.
4.) Draft a formal agreement. After you’ve found a suitable nonprofit to partner with, set up a meeting to draft a formal agreement that clarifies your mutual objectives and expectations. Just as transparency is important between your company and its employees, you must lay the groundwork for trust and accountability with your nonprofit partner to build a solid partnership that can stand the test of time.
Once you’ve secured a nonprofit partnership, spread the word to your employees to get them involved. Don’t forget to follow up about the impact of their contributions, whether they revamped a hunger relief nonprofit’s website to streamline its giving process or helped an animal rescue construct a new pen during a team volunteering event. Incorporate employee recognition strategies, such as eCard and social media shoutouts, to reinforce the importance of employee participation in your partnership activities.
Top Examples of Nonprofit Partnerships
Uncommon Giving’s workplace giving guide recommends learning from other successful nonprofit partnerships to guide your company’s approach. Let’s take a closer look at two top examples of nonprofit partnerships you can use to inspire your own efforts:
Cerini & Associates and Book Fairies
Cerini & Associates, as a top-tier audit, tax, and advisory firm, manages a long-term partnership with Book Fairies to improve literacy and education throughout metropolitan New York.
Book Fairies is a nonprofit that collects gently used books and distributes them to children in lower socioeconomic areas. For every chargeable hour that any of the accountants or advisors at Cerini & Associates performs, the firm covers the cost of distributing a Book Fairies book to a child in need.
Actualize Consulting and The Doe Fund
Actualize Consulting is a consulting firm that supports financial institutions with management and automation. The company partners with several nonprofits, including The Doe Fund, to better its community.
The Doe Fund is a nonprofit organization that provides housing, educational opportunities, and career training to formerly incarcerated men looking to secure job opportunities. To support the nonprofit’s efforts, the employees at Actualize regularly host mock interviews, donate laptops, and purchase business clothing for program participants.
Nonprofit partnerships are one of many CSR initiatives your company can pursue to make a lasting impact on the community. By investing in workplace giving software, you can keep track of employee donations, hours volunteered, and other relevant metrics to assess how actively engaged your employees are in your philanthropic activities. Take note of areas where you’re doing well and areas where you can improve to build more meaningful partnerships over time.
Andy Howell
Uncommon Giving
