Looking to rapidly scale your nonprofit’s impact? Partnering with a business is an excellent way to expand awareness of your cause, engage donors, and accelerate your fundraising efforts. 

You’ll get more out of your nonprofit and corporate partnerships if you’re intentional about who you partner with and how you work with them. Read on to learn how these mutually beneficial relationships work, their advantages, and how to leverage them to help fulfill your nonprofit’s mission.

How Do Nonprofit and Corporate Partnerships Work?

Nonprofit corporate partnerships take various forms, depending on your needs and priorities and those of your partner. For example, a professional services organization like an accounting firm could offer services pro bono to your organization as part of a partnership. Or, a corporate partner could organize a fundraiser on your behalf, taking much of the burden of event planning and execution off your team and volunteers.

💡FrontStream’s fundraising software allows you to offer partnership tiers in the same online portal where attendees buy tickets, making recruiting event sponsors streamlined and easy.

How do you find a corporate partner that’s right for your organization? 

Start by identifying businesses that share the same target audience or values. For example, a family-friendly bookstore might be a good match if your mission is to improve children’s literacy. Then, pitch your potential partner, highlighting how you both will benefit from pairing up. 

What Are the Benefits of Having Nonprofit Corporate Partnerships?

Nonprofit corporate partnerships are mutually beneficial relationships that offer advantages to both sides. From raising awareness of your nonprofit’s mission to building your corporate partner’s brand and credibility, partnerships bring a few benefits.

Expanded Awareness of the Cause

If your corporate partner’s audience is well aligned with yours, leveraging their marketing channels expands your message’s reach. For example, if you’re running a hashtag campaign on social media, ask your partner to participate by posting to their business account. It’s a great way to spread awareness of your cause to a broader audience.

Increased Revenue

Partnering with businesses significantly improves your fundraising efficiency since corporate sponsors often take on some or all the expenses of hosting an event. In addition, a corporate partner provides an opportunity to expand your donor base by promoting fundraising campaigns and events to their networks and customers. 

More Time for Focus

When a corporate partner plans a fundraiser on your organization’s behalf, your team has more time to zero in on the areas where they add the most value. For example, they focus on sourcing a compelling speaker to speak to your organization’s impact. In contrast, the sponsor focuses on details like picking a venue and catering food. This division of labor leans into both partners’ strengths and makes your nonprofit fundraising efforts more efficient.

Access to Resources

Corporate partners often offer resources that would otherwise be inaccessible to your nonprofit. For example, a business could let you use their office space or other facilities for meetings and events. Or a partner who is willing to share professional expertise. For example, a PR firm partner might perform pro bono press outreach to get media coverage of an upcoming event or a human interest story highlighting your organization’s impact.

Enhanced Credibility

The benefits of nonprofit corporate partnerships aren’t all on the nonprofit side—businesses benefit, too. When a company partners with a nonprofit, it makes them look good and more trustworthy. For example, a boutique that sells eco-friendly clothing could leverage a partnership with an environmental nonprofit.

 Long-Term Relationships

Building long-term nonprofit corporate partnerships provides sustained support and stability for your nonprofit. As these relationships deepen, they yield recurring funding, operational support, a wider donor base, and other benefits such as greater visibility, access to valuable resources, and stronger sustainability, all of which further accelerate your organization’s growth. 

Increased Impact

Ultimately, your nonprofit will have a greater impact on its mission working with corporate sponsors than it could alone. Leveraging your partners’ resources and expertise lets you rapidly expand your reach and boost your fundraising efficacy, fueling your organization’s growth.

Examples of Nonprofit and Corporate Partnerships

The sky is the limit regarding ways for your nonprofit to partner with businesses. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and brainstorm creative ways for your corporate partners to support your cause.

Working with Local Restaurants

Partner with a local restaurant to host a charity dinner or "give-back" night. A percentage of the evening's earnings will be donated to your nonprofit, boosting your revenue and bringing additional customers to the restaurant. This will benefit both sides of the partnership.

Collaboration with Local Sports Facilities 

Athletic facilities, like gyms and sports complexes, host charity sports tournaments, fitness challenges, or other events that get your supporters moving while raising money for your cause. Boost your results with peer-to-peer fundraising strategies, like offering participants personalized fundraising pages to help them gather donations from families and friends.

Local Boutique Partnerships

Special shopping events are an excellent way for your boutique partners to raise funds on your organization’s behalf. During the event—which could last a few hours, a full day, or an entire weekend—proceeds from the boutique’s sales go to your nonprofit. Make sure to provide flyers or other materials in the store for curious shoppers to learn more about your cause.

💡Include text-to-give info on all your print materials to easily collect more donations!

Engaging with Local Breweries or Wineries

Breweries and wineries create special edition beverages that donate proceeds to your nonprofit. Your partner should highlight these charitable offerings—and your organization’s mission—on their menus. On your side, publicize your partnership to your supporters to send new customers your partner’s way. Alternatively, these venues may agree to host tasting events or tours, with ticket sales supporting your organization.

Partnering with Art Galleries or Museums

Partner with an art gallery or museum to host an exhibition featuring local artists. Entrance fees or proceeds from art sales will go to your organization. Work with your partner to source artwork thematically related to your nonprofit’s mission. For example, if you’re an animal welfare group, an exhibition of pet portraits would be a great match. 

Collaborating with Fitness Studios or Gyms

Partnering with a gym that offers workout classes allows your nonprofit to host a charity session and donate the registration fees. Have a representative from your organization attend the class to speak about your organization’s impact and answer any participant questions.

Working with Local Theaters or Performance Venues

Theaters and performance venues may host benefit performances where a portion of ticket sales support your nonprofit. Special previews or gala fundraiser nights are particularly effective in raising funds and awareness.

How FrontStream Can Help Nonprofit Corporate Partnerships Work

With its user-friendly interface and wide range of features, FrontStream’s  software makes it easy for corporate partners to host fundraising events on your behalf. For example, you create perfectly branded event and campaign pages that your partners share with supporters and stakeholders. This ensures that all marketing materials stay on message and aligned with your mission, even with your partner handling most planning details.

Here are 4 other ways we're able to help foster closer sponsorship connections:

• Showcasing sponsors on event websites & in emails
• Enabling the "Become a Sponsor" feature for inbound inquiries
• Grouping sponsors in CRM to leverage employer relationships
• Running workplace campaigns with corporate sponsors

In addition, all funds raised through these pages go straight to your organization without the administrative burden of transferring funds. By leveraging FrontStream, your nonprofit focuses more on your mission and less on logistics, fostering stronger fundraising results and more productive partnerships with local businesses.

Looking to learn more? Request a demo to find out how FrontStream strengthens your nonprofit corporate partnerships and boosts your fundraising efficacy.