4 Partnerships Nonprofits Can Form with Businesses

by Chris Hammond, CEO, CGC

Nonprofits work with foundations, government agencies, individual donors, community groups, and a wide range of other organizations to reach supporters and fulfill their missions. However, many nonprofits miss out on working with businesses. While for-profit and nonprofit organizations may seem to have opposite purposes on the surface, businesses can lend your nonprofit a helping hand by providing tools, funding, personnel, and other resources.

To help you understand the types of corporate connections available to your nonprofit, we’ll explore a few common types of nonprofit-business partnerships. But first, let’s discuss exactly what impact these relationships can have on your mission.

Why Business Partnerships Matter

Whether your nonprofit is an animal shelter, environmental group, thrift store, or educational institute, business partnerships can provide resources that power your mission programming and general operations.

Strong business partnerships can provide your nonprofit with:

Operational funding. Individual donors and grants can provide vital funding. However, these contributions are often restricted to specific programs. In contrast, business partnerships often support a range of nonprofit activities, including operational expenses for hosting events and marketing campaigns.
Brand visibility. When you partner with a business, your organizations vouch for each other to your respective audiences. Businesses get a reputation boost by showing their commitment to social good, while your nonprofit can access new audiences and appear more professional by working with a well-known corporation.
Specialized support. When you partner with a business, you may be able to get discounted or free products and services. For instance, law firms occasionally provide pro bono services to nonprofits to help them complete necessary registrations and maintain legal compliance.

When reaching out to businesses, consider what type of support your nonprofit needs so you can make meaningful connections for your organization.

1. In-Kind Contributions

Businesses often lend tangible support through donations of goods and services. In-kind donations like these can help nonprofits get valuable items and professional services that they would otherwise have to pay high costs for.

To form in-kind partnerships, follow these steps:

Identify your non-monetary needs. Determine what in-demand items and services your nonprofit pays for that a business may be able to offer for free or at a reduced cost. For example, ThriftCart’s guide to thrift store inventories discusses how nonprofits that run secondhand or resale stores often work with businesses that have dead stock, allowing them to acquire new inventory at a massively reduced cost.
Reach out to relevant businesses. Identify businesses that have the expertise and items relevant to your needs. Before reaching out, research each business’s philanthropic history to find likely giving candidates.
Formalize support. Building relationships and talking casually about forming a partnership are great first steps. However, all deals between your nonprofit and business partners should be written and formally agreed to by all parties.

In-kind contributions are a win-win for businesses and nonprofits. Your nonprofit can receive quality non-cash contributions, and businesses can receive tax breaks for their gifts.

2. Event Sponsorships and Support

Events are key opportunities for both nonprofits and businesses to get exposure for their brands. Corporations looking to improve their reputation in their communities often sponsor nonprofits, providing valuable revenue for putting on bigger, more engaging events.

A few ways businesses can help with your events include:

Financial sponsorships. Public donations are a popular form of corporate social responsibility as they attract attention to the business. This means businesses may be interested in supporting your event financially in exchange for public recognition, such as by featuring their logo in marketing materials and throughout your venue space.
Marketing support. Your event sponsors want as many of their customers as possible to be aware of their support for a good cause. As a result, some corporate event partners might be willing to help with your marketing efforts.
Resource donations. Businesses may offer in-kind donations specific to events, such as free catering, venue space, or entertainment.

Remember that as a nonprofit, you should avoid directly endorsing any for-profit products or services. Instead, you can promote them by thanking them as sponsors and displaying their logos in your event materials.

3. Corporate Giving and Social Responsibility

Many businesses have corporate giving programs that any nonprofit can access, even if you don’t have a formal partnership. However, the most valuable and consistent corporate support does come from formal agreements between nonprofits and businesses.

For example, a few types of corporate giving that your nonprofit will likely only access through a partnership include:

Matching grants. To encourage individuals to donate, some businesses will pledge to match the amount a nonprofit raises during a specific campaign or time period. Subsequently, corporate matching grants can encourage more donors to give and in higher amounts, as they’ll be making a bigger impact on your mission.
Volunteer days. Some businesses organize formal volunteer days to give back to their communities or instill a sense of teamwork among their staff. If you have a partnership with a business, you can make volunteer days a regular occurrence at your nonprofit and bring in valuable, skilled supporters.
Payroll giving. Payroll giving is a type of corporate philanthropy in which employees sign up to have a portion of their paycheck automatically donated to a charity of their choice. However, as Double the Donation’s guide to this giving method explains, nonprofits can only earn payroll giving contributions if they sign up with the business’s CSR platform or partner with the business.

When bringing in corporate giving partners, assess businesses’ values. Look for corporations that have philanthropic values that align with your nonprofit’s to improve the chances of creating a successful partnership.

4. Strategic and Operational Partnerships

One-time partnerships can highly benefit your nonprofit, but many organizations find greater success by forging ongoing strategic relationships with businesses.

For example, a business might work with your nonprofit to launch a long-running cause marketing campaign that generates revenue for your nonprofit and helps sell the business’s products. Or, you might have a deal with a business to continuously receive deals when purchasing their inventory, helping your nonprofit stock up and the business free up space.

The key to long-term business partnerships is continued mutual benefit for both parties. Consider corporations you have worked with before, especially if both of your organizations had positive results from the collaboration.

Partnerships with businesses provide your nonprofit with the tools, funding, and strategic resources you need to accelerate your organization’s growth and expand your impact. Start forming partnerships by assessing your nonprofit’s needs and identifying businesses in your area that have the resources you need and have shown an inclination toward philanthropic partnerships in the past.