Friend and F.O.E.: Corporate Partnerships for P2P Fundraising
Partnering with for-profit companies can seem intimidating at first, but these partnerships are worth overcoming your fears. Nonprofit corporate partnerships, especially for peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, create win-win situations for both parties.
To start raising more money with P2P corporate partnerships, just remember that businesses are your friend, not your foe. Interestingly enough, though, F.O.E. is the perfect acronym to help you build those perfect partnerships.
- Find a corporate partner
- Organize your relationship
- Execute the fundraising plan.
Find your corporate partners
Sure, partnering with a for-profit company sounds like a great idea, but how do you create that relationship? It’s easier than you think. Start by reviewing local businesses’ target audiences. What kind of customers is the business speaking to? The more similar your target audiences, the more likely a business is to partner with your organization. From a business perspective, partnering with a nonprofit that benefits the same audience looks good to potential customers.
For example, a toy company would likely be happy to partner with an organization focused on children’s well-being because the parents that purchase the toys would appreciate the gesture. A women’s health company would jump at the chance to collaborate with an organization centered around women’s issues because their customers are already concerned with the problems facing women. But do those same companies want to partner with an environmental organization? Not as likely. The audiences just don’t match up, and it may leave their customers confused.
In addition to reviewing target audiences, take some time to look for companies that have a “philanthropy” section of their website or mention “giving back” in their mission statement. Companies that publicly talk about their interest in philanthropy often already have employee volunteer programs in place. Also, make sure to ask your current volunteers about the companies they work for. You may already have a close connection to a company with a philanthropic mission!
Organize your relationship with your corporate partner
You’ve found a business partner for your fundraising campaign. Great job! Now it’s time to get organized. Start by clarifying who your main contact at the company is. Keep their phone number and email address handy and ensure that your other fundraising leaders know who the contact is, as well. Next, clarify who in the company makes the decisions regarding volunteer and philanthropic activities. This may or may not be the same person as your main contact.
Now figure out how you will stay in contact with your peer-to-peer volunteers at the company. Will everything go through your main contact? Should you use an email or phone list?
Once you know this information, it’s time to set up a brief for the company about how the P2P process will work. This can be done either as an in-person presentation or a written document. It should include everything from an introduction to P2P to creating a fundraising web page through your nonprofit’s site. Creating this brief will ensure that everyone is on the same page, lessening the chance for organizational problems down the road.
Execute your peer-to-peer business partnership fundraising plan
Finally, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and facilitate a successful fundraising campaign. If you have been thorough with the first two steps of this process, this part should be relatively simple. Keep in contact with your volunteers at the company and inform the main contact of your progress. The more your volunteers know about the impact they are having, the more motivated they will be to fundraise and the bigger the morale boost at the company will be.
This is also the time to start facilitating friendly competition among your corporate partner’s employees. It’s fun for their office and means more funds for you.
Corporate partnerships for peer-to-peer fundraising are always win-win. Remember: for-profits are your friends when you use F.O.E!
For more P2P tips, be sure to download our peer-to-peer fundraising eBook.
