Strength from Difference—Six Rules for Business Partnerships with Nonprofits

By Sara E. Meléndez 
President and CEO 
INDEPENDENT SECTOR

Over the last year, we have witnessed the heartbreaking events of September 11, the resulting war on terrorism and emphasis on security, rising economic uncertainty, greater demands on food banks and other service providers, and concern over accountability in both the business and nonprofit sectors. This new environment has made business and nonprofit leaders alike search for new solutions and re-evaluate their partnerships. 

Far from the high-flying dot-com days when many corporate marketing strategies included “adopting” a charity, nonprofits are more cautious and businesses are cutting back on expenditures that don’t provide immediate and direct pay back. Now both business and nonprofits are looking for creative, results-oriented partnerships to both solve community problems and meet business goals. 

A real-life example from The Home Depot provides a good example. At a retail location in Southern California, the store and community were experiencing a problem with day laborers waiting for work in the store parking lot. With cars, contractors and customers coming and going in the same area, the situation was potentially dangerous to the day laborers and posed a turn-off for customers. The Home Depot recognized that this was a bigger issue than customer service, so it went to work with community leaders to create a long-term solution. 

The Home Depot contacted Catholic Charities and other social service nonprofits, the local police department, and city leaders, asking them to work together to create a solution that each part of the community felt good about and that included getting services to people who needed work. As a result, the group worked together to plan a new day laborer center, to be operated by Catholic Charities in conjunction with several social service and employment agencies. The store donated land across the street for the center and helped provide start-up funding. The city helped put up fencing and spread leaflets to day laborers throughout the area. The company, nonprofit, and city worked together to create a win-win solution for everyone. 

There are other excellent examples across the country, from Cisco’s work to teach strategic use of technology to its nonprofit partners to AOL Time Warner’s leadership on pulling together business partners and nonprofit organizations to create Network for Good, a one-stop Internet site that enables people to find out about volunteering or make a gift to a charity online. 

Creating a good partnership that meets both partners’ goals is never work for the faint of heart, but at times like these both business and nonprofit leaders need high doses of creative thinking, good planning and management, and long-term dedication for corporate-nonprofit partnerships to work. 

After talking with many corporate and nonprofit leaders over the years, I want to offer these suggestions for business executives working with nonprofit organizations: 

1. Understand what drives the organization, its mission, and its vision. To be a good partner, a business should develop a deep understanding of the charity’s goals, just as the opposite is true. For example, the culture and decision-making style of a nonprofit is likely to be more process-oriented and inclusive than the decision-making style of a business. While this can sometimes slow down the speed of business, it often ensures that the community is engaged. 

2. Acknowledge the differences. Talk up front about the differences in goals and measurement for companies and nonprofits. A nonprofit is in business to solve a community problem while securing adequate funding to enable it to accomplish its mission. A company must create profits and wealth, but in a sustainable long-term way. Each should understand what is important to the other and come together as equals, working to protect each other’s important differences. 

3. Plan together. A business should involve the nonprofit organization in imagining and planning for the future. Don’t offer a cookie-cutter, turn-key solution. It will almost inevitably leave each partner dissatisfied. 

4. Involve your employees. One of the best reasons to work with charitable organizations is to engage your employees as part of the solution, whether it is through work time or after-hours volunteering (often with family members). Employees will appreciate the new experience and often develop a deeper commitment to the community and to your company.

5. Bring all your assets to the table. Businesses can offer nonprofits much more than money. In addition to involving employees, corporations can frequently provide their nonprofit partners with access to consultants and vendors, meeting space, equipment and training, and many other in-kind contributions. 

6. Invest time and be patient. Charity and business leaders alike consistently stress a universal truth: it takes time to develop a relationship, plan a partnership, and carry out the plan. It will sometimes take even longer to experience the benefits to the business, the nonprofit, and the community. A few promotional ideas can produce immediate results, but achieving long-term win-win solutions where the nonprofit, business, and community benefit takes time. It will be worth the effort. 

A version of this article appeared in the Washington Business Journal Business Philanthropy Guide on March 22, 2002.