New Year for Nonprofits: 4 Steps To Achieving Lasting Cause Marketing Partnerships
The following is a guest post by Ashley Halligan, nonprofit analyst at Software Advice.
The new year is upon us, so why not make a resolution to focus on making lasting relationships with businesses that can benefit your nonprofit? Cause marketing is a mutually beneficial marketing strategy for nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses. But there are key questions that nonprofits must ask themselves to ensure a ROI for both parties. What kind of partnership is your organization seeking? Strictly funds? Co-marketing? Enhanced public visibility? Hard goods?
The following is a guest post by Ashley Halligan, nonprofit analyst at Software Advice.
The new year is upon us, so why not make a resolution to focus on making lasting relationships with businesses that can benefit your nonprofit? Cause marketing is a mutually beneficial marketing strategy for nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses. But there are key questions that nonprofits must ask themselves to ensure a ROI for both parties. What kind of partnership is your organization seeking? Strictly funds? Co-marketing? Enhanced public visibility? Hard goods?
After speaking with professionals from both established nonprofit organizations and for-profit businesses, we developed a checklist with steps to assist nonprofits as they seek a lasting business partner.
1. Identify Your Goals
Identifying your needs is essential to identifying prospective businesses to partners with.
Identifying your needs is essential to identifying prospective businesses to partners with.
Catherine Chapman, CFRE at Fullanthropy, suggests seeking businesses with similar philosophies. "Look for businesses that have commonalities with the organization. They might have the same values or culture, or they might have a similar target demographic with clients or donors," she says.
Bruce Burtch, the author of "Glowing Your Business," agrees, "Search for organizations aligned with the mission and philosophy of the nonprofit." As an example, he suggests, "If you are trying to build a homeless shelter, look for construction companies, architects, etc."
2. Develop a List of Prospective Partners
After prospects are identified, developing an outreach strategy is important. Begin by finding connections within your own organization-if possible. An existing connection can open a promising door within a for-profit company. Otherwise, it's important to reach out to the appropriate person within the organization.
After prospects are identified, developing an outreach strategy is important. Begin by finding connections within your own organization-if possible. An existing connection can open a promising door within a for-profit company. Otherwise, it's important to reach out to the appropriate person within the organization.
Read the entire article on the GuideStar Blog.
(The following is a guest post by Ashley Halligan, nonprofit analyst at Software Advice.)
(The following is a guest post by Ashley Halligan, nonprofit analyst at Software Advice.)
1 comment:
Always nice to see things like nonprofit software being used to save taxpayers lots of money!
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