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| Types of
Partnerships |
| A hallmark of
corporate-nonprofit partnerships is that they
advance both the mission of the nonprofit
organization and the business purpose of the
company. They are mutually beneficial relationships
that involve the exchange of something of value from
each participant to the other and involve clear
responsibilities, shared contributions, and shared
risk.
There is no cookie-cutter approach
to partnerships between companies and nonprofit
organizations. They can take a variety of forms and
each evolves under different circumstances and with
different goals. The following discusses some common
kinds of collaborations between businesses and
nonprofits.
Please note that these descriptions
are fluid, and that what one set of partners calls a
"sponsorship" may be called a
"cause-related marketing" arrangement in
another partnership. Partners should lay the
groundwork for success by discussing their own terms
from the very beginning of their relationship. |
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| In a grantor-grantee partnership, a corporation–either
through a corporate giving program or through a
company-established foundation–makes a
philanthropic contribution in support of a nonprofit
organization. This gift enables the organization to
continue or expand its work in the public’s
behalf. Typically, the company will receive
acknowledgement in return for the charitable
contribution, which can bolster the company’s
brand image. Many corporations practice what is
often called strategic philanthropy or corporate
social investing, targeting giving towards nonprofit
organizations that not only accomplish public
purposes but also fulfill business purposes.
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| The marketing strategy of linking a company and
its products to an issue or cause in order to
enhance the corporation's image while benefiting the
designated cause or nonprofit organization. Some use
the term cause-related marketing (or cause
marketing) in a more specific
way to mean a transaction-based promotional effort
in which the company contributes a percentage of
sales from a product to a cause, often short-term in
nature.
The term "cause-related marketing" was
coined and trademarked by the American Express
Company in 1983, when the company announced a
marketing program that donated a penny for each use
of its charge card and a dollar for each new card
issued toward the Statue of Liberty renovation
program. Over a four-month period, the company
experienced a 28-percent increase in card usage and
donated nearly $2 million toward the restoration of
the Statue of Liberty.
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| A broad term that covers many kinds of
business-nonprofit relationships from financial to
in-kind operational support. Nonprofit organizations
can create innovative sponsorship opportunities of
many different kinds to engage additional corporate
partners, reach wider audiences, increase financial
support, or build operational and strategic
capacity. Many levels and types of sponsorship are
often developed to create opportunities at various
financial or in-kind contribution levels. For
example, a Media Sponsor typically offers publicity
support, a Sole Sponsor takes on the entire
sponsorship responsibility, and a Title Sponsor is
one whose name typically appears within the name of
the event or product. The key is to have clearly
defined responsibilities, often in a written
agreement, and policies that ensure a sponsorship is consistent with the company's and
the nonprofit's mission, business strategy and
brand.
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| An arrangement in which the nonprofit organization
recognizes that a product or service of a company
complies with certain established standards.
Typically, these certifications are available to any
product or service that meets the standards. For
example, the American Heart Association food
certification program has granted use of its
"Heart Check" icon and name by dozens of
cereals, juices, and other products that meet its
low-fat, low-cholesterol standards.
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| An agreement in which the nonprofit allows its
information or knowledge to be used for a fee or an
agreement in which a nonprofit's name is attached to
a product. Typically, a nonprofit licenses a company
to develop, produce, market and/or distribute a
mission-related product that is promoted either with
the organization's brand name or co-branded with
both the company's and nonprofit's names. For
example, National Charities Information Bureau and
CharitableWay.com have struck a partnership whereby
NCIB provides its Standards of Philanthropy
summaries and reports on national charities as well
as information about how to give wisely on a
licensed basis to Charitableway.com.
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| An alliance in which a nonprofit organization
works with a company or media outlet to promote a
public interest message. For example, the Kaiser
Family Foundation has formed "Following
ER," a unique partnership with WBAL-TV, Johns
Hopkins School of Public Health, and the NBC
television drama ER. The partners produce an
informative 90-second health news segment that
further explains the health issue portrayed in the
weekly television drama. Through "Following
ER," entertainment television is used as the
driving force behind a multimedia initiative that
links scientific information and community resources
to educate and motivate viewers to take action on a
series of personal and public health topics.
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| A broad category of collaborations between
companies and nonprofits that harness the valuable
network of employee interests, talent, and financial
resources to create value for nonprofit
organizations. Employee volunteer programs,
workplace giving campaigns, employee-driven
contributions models, matching gifts, board member
training, and other strategies for involving
employees in the community fall under this broad
category. For example, The Home Depot organizes
employee volunteers to help KaBOOM!, a nonprofit
organization that works with communities to build
safe playgrounds. Through this program, The Home
Depot builds strong relationships with communities,
teaches employees construction skills, and gives
hands-on experience using tools the store carries.
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| A formal or informal partnership in which
nonprofit organizations and companies work together
to alter their operations, promote changes in public
policies, support self-regulation, or endorse
operating or ethical standards. Sometimes these
relationships begin as adversarial ones that evolve
into collaborative arrangements. For example, a
health care nonprofit organization may attempt to
persuade a pharmaceutical company to offer low-cost
drugs for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS. In
the beginning, the organization may use adversarial
tactics to gain the company's attention and to
attract media coverage. Eventually, the company and
the organization may work more collaboratively
together, each influencing the other's mindset and
operations, and leading to changes that meet both
partners' needs and goals. The company and the
nonprofit group may then work together to urge other
companies to follow their example.
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| A broad range of activities that improve the
company's core business operations, such as building
unique supply or distribution channels, by working
in partnership with a nonprofit, which also receives
something of value in return. For example, Boeing
purchases sheet metal supplies from Pioneer Human
Services, a nonprofit organization that trains and
employs ex-offenders and former substance abusers.
Boeing receives top-quality supplies for its planes
along with a enhanced corporate community
involvement, and Pioneer Human Services harnesses
employment opportunities for its workforce and earns
revenue from this sustainable social enterprise.
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| A term to cover a broad range of collaborations in
which partners combine their core competencies to
accomplish social change and meet business
objectives. Strategic alliances are unique in that
they tend to be long-term, highly dynamic,
multi-faced, and key to the partners' individual
success. The partners often develop a shared strategy
and rely heavily on each other to meet their
business or mission goals.
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