Thoughts on Nonprofit Leadership

The first factor in garnering a donation from a business or corporation is just like any other type of donor: they have to be aware of your existence. And they have to a way to contact your organization. So, how do you attain visibility among the business community?

Chambers of Commerce, Business...

In the series Building Donor Relationships we’ve talked about building relationships with individuals and foundations. In the third part of the series, we address building donor relationships with corporations.

Corporate Motivations for Giving

Like individuals and foundations, relationships...

You’ve gotten that first donation from the company you targeted months ago! Congrats! Jump up and down and do your cartwheels. Celebrate this big milestone. Then realize life with this business partner goes on. The relationship is only beginning. Don’t think your job is done. You want...

How can you get community businesses to pay attention to you? Help them meet their goals. Know what their goals are: increasing visibility, acquiring customers, keeping customers, and reducing costs. What are the types of things you can do to help them meet those goals?

Improving Their Visibility...

In Creating Awareness in the Business Community we talked about how you can raise your nonprofit’s visibility to the business community. In Helping Business Professionals Meet Their Goals we discussed ways you can help meet their marketing and net income goals, on which they spend millions...

Congratulations! The company you targeted acknowledged the benefits of partnering with your nonprofit and you’re close to a deal. How do seal it?

Make No Assumptions

Number one, don’t assume anything. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over. For example, they may tell you they...

Business professionals often speak a language foreign to many nonprofit practitioners. To be able to connect with them so they easily understand you, you need to become familiar with common business jargon. You want each side to understand the messages you send to one another.

You also want to be...

Probably the biggest principle to remember about developing relationships with for-profit businesses, is that you are entering into an exchange relationship where both parties give and get something of value. It’s a two way-relationship. That is, you give to them and they give to you. You...

Golfers have golfed, walkers have walked, dinners have been eaten, awards have been bestowed. How did your agency’s fundraising events fare? Did your events spread your organization’s mission, or did the events just raise funds? Did you raise a lot of money? Really? At what cost,...