1. Be clear about your brand.
As a business development professional working for a nonprofit organization, your interest is to attract not only external funding but also to attract talented people for your organization and gain the trust of your target audience.
The clearer a non-profit is in its brand positioning, the greater the trust it will establish with its different stakeholders, beneficiaries, and donors. In order to have a successful strategy, just like a for-profit business, a nonprofit needs to have a clear idea of who they are and what they represent, your vision and mission need to be updated and relevant to what you do. Its not about just being a charity, it’s about improving the world, helping, caring, empowering, and protecting. Defining social goals strengthens the internal and external identity of your organization, and gives its team focus, which is critical in creating partnerships and seeking donors.
2. Identify your competition.
Similar to for-profit business developers, non-profit Business development professionals have to identify their competitors and develop a strategy to ensure they obtain funds for their social mission.
NPOs are in great numbers all over the world and are competing with each other for government and philanthropic funds. At the same time, for-profit businesses are looking to serve community needs in order to strengthen their reputation. Corporations are looking to emphasize their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). When you find a corporation interested in your mission, take advantage of this opportunity by creating a win-win situation.
Using a business approach, Look for prospected partners that share your goals. Show them how adding a social dimension to their core business will lead to increased revenue in the long term.
3. Highlight your organization’s achievements
As a business developer working for a nonprofit organization, you will be actively promoting your NPO to the various decision-makers. Make sure you highlight your organization’s achievements and the viability and effectiveness of the partnership. Be ready to create the win-win situation that makes you a successful business developer. Show how the corporation of your choice might benefit from partnering up with you: the type of customers they will attract, the tax reduction they might get, and the impact they can achieve.
Most countries’ laws allow businesses to deduct up to 10% of the organization’s income tax if spent on CSR projects. Research the tax and CSR laws in your country, if this is the case then make sure to use it to your own advantage.
Meeting social and environmental standards, such as reducing environmental impact, or improving the lives of low-income people, are on the agenda of many of today’s corporations. This is where you come in to forge mutually beneficial relationships with them.
Following the same steps as a for-profit Business developer, you need to influence the economic decision-maker that has the authority to release funds. But before that, you will most probably have to build a strong relationship with a champion of your cause within the corporation.
4. Engage your sponsors by highlighting your impact.
Your end goal as a business developer working for a non-profit is to amplify the impact of your organization. A corporate sponsor will make a great deal of difference in helping you achieve this goal. The impact an organization and, indirectly, a sponsor corporation can cause, takes place on 3 levels:
Level 1: Making a real difference when partnering up.
This works both ways: a company won’t partner up with an NPO if the relationship doesn’t add to its marketing, economic, and reputation goals. In turn, donors and sponsors are what keep NPOs going.
Level 2: Touching and impacting through stories.
Stories serve 2 purposes: to receive funds and attention from outside organizations and, at an internal level, to facilitate the employee learning process and engage them in your cause. When you tell your story to a corporate decision-maker, make sure they are included and that their role in taking the non-profit organization forward is very visible.
Level 3: Increasing brand awareness
If someone asked you to identify the logos of internationally famous NPOs, you´d probably be able to do it instantly. Before planning how to engage corporations and sponsors in your mission, make sure you know the type of audience you need to address. In other words: think like a for-profit brand. Be ready to take advantage of online and offline marketing opportunities, and create events where your organization is in the spotlight. These could be awareness events, online campaigns, social media actions, etc. Remember that during these events, it is crucial to acknowledge both your private and corporate sponsors’ generosity.
5. Act based on what a company wants from its non-profit partner.
While focusing on social benefits, for-profit companies always keep in mind their business objectives. According to statistics, partnering up with an NPO brings many benefits to a corporation: 91% of global consumers are likely to switch brands to one associated with a good cause, given comparable price and quality and 61% of consumers are willing to try a new brand or one they’ve never heard of, because of its association with a particular cause.
In order to identify partners that are willing to donate to your NPO, research organizations that provide similar services to yours, and identify their funders. For example, similar nonprofits might have raised 40% of their funds from corporations, 30% from individuals, 10% from government contracts, 20% from grants. This would help you plan your budget as well.
6. Focus on national companies.
If you are a business development professional working for an internationally renowned nonprofit organization, then it makes sense to go for the big for-profit business players. But suppose your NPO is still in its developing stages. In that case, it is a good idea to start by developing your reputation within your local/ regional community and thus increase its brand reputation, which in turn leads to more recognition and, in the long term, increased sponsorships.
It might take time and effort to find a partner that suits your needs: big companies are probably bombarded with partnership proposals and they obviously can´t help everyone. So, make an effort to look for the less obvious choice and you’ll probably hit gold.