Upcoming Nonprofit Trainings — Recession Proof Resources: How SMART Nonprofits Design Strategic Partnerships with Businesses

I am excited to offer these updated trainings next month on my all time favorite topic – strategic partnerships between nonprofits and business – as it is an especially important topic for our times. 

Attending the Nonprofit Summit in Denver this week, I was reminded again how only thinking “donors and fundraising” is an “old school” mindset and shuts down possibilities for win/win ventures.  This workshop provides great tips and tools for partnerships with mutual benefits and is a MUST attend for nonprofit staff and board members.

• Are you worried about having the resources to keep your organization and programs going?
• Are you seeing your cash donations shrinking?
• Do you feel your requests to businesses are being “lost in the noise” among all the other nonprofits also looking for support?
• Have you experienced difficulty receiving business support more than once or twice and wonder why they aren’t giving to you any more? 

Then Recession Proof Resources: How Smart Nonprofit Design Strategic Partnerships with Businesses is DEFINITELY for you!

I will be offering it two ways so the largest number of organizations possible can take part:

1.  LIVE in Denver on April 28th 1-5 pm.

2.  Via WEBINAR April 8, 15, 22 and 28 12-1pm ET so you can join in from anywhere!.

Click the appropriate link above for more information and to sign up.  Registration is limited so do it TODAY to make sure you get a seat!

I really look forward to shating tips and tools to help you be more successful in acquiring the resources you need!

Take the Nonprofit Survey on Business Partnerships

Today I launched Business Nonprofit CONNECTIONS’ 2009 survey for nonprofits to collect information about their partnerships with businesses.  I hope to add to the vast amount of resources I already have on the subject tand use it to inspire both nonprofits and businesses to get more invovled with each other.  The survey gauges nonprofits’ sense of their own effectiveness in six areas related to business partnerships.  It is also designed to collect information about nonprofit best practices in partnering with businesses, challenges experienced, tips and strategies for successful partnering, the types of benefits/resources received, and any impact of current economic conditions.

If you are with a nonprofit, I invite you to click the link and complete this short survey.  I appreciate your time.  http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB228VWVAZBC4

Denver’s O3 Nonprofit Summit

On Monday, I attended the O3 Nonprofit Summit in Denver; I was on a panel about Corporate Sector Response to our economic times.  I was struck by how many of the social sector staff attending the Summit still talk about “donors and fundraising” instead of developing integrated win/win partnerships with companies, especially smaller local ones.  For 10 years, I have trained nonprofits nationally on how to partner with businesses.  (Guess I need to do more work in my own backyard!)  I know from first hand experience that nonprofits that can expand their perspective past checkbook philanthropy to really think mutually beneficial partnerships with businesses are able to develop more substantial relationships that last over time.  I am back on my soapbox…   And I truly believe these times call for collective and creative efforts drawing on the best of all sectors.

Nonprofit Sustainability – What is it?

Nonprofit sustainability is the ability of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (or one of its programs) to continue to meet the needs of the community on an ongoing basis – beyond the life of specific grants or with diminishing support. For many nonprofits, their view is narrow and sustainability equals fundraising to them. However, fundraising is only one component of capacity building and sustainability.  There are four key strategies to consider when building organizational capacity and, ultimately, the sustainability of your organization and its programs:
 
1. Recruiting and managing community volunteers
2. Partnering with community members and organizations
3. Marketing and promotion
4. Increasing and diversifying resources

I remember clearly going to one of my first Business for Social Responsibility Conferences years ago as I was starting to get more involved with corporate social responsibility and working with businesses, as opposed to nonprofits.  I went to a session with sustainability in the title thinking I could glean some new tips or strategies to share with my clients.  I sat there feeling totally lost – people were nodding their heads in agreement with the speakers’ comments all around me but what they were saying did not match my nonprofit definition of the term.  As I talked to more business people, often they were using “sustainability” to mean environmental considerations such as how not to pollute or use up all the planet’s resources in the course of doing business to leave the planet as healthy as possible for future generations.  However, what I find is that increasingly, when business people use the term sustainability, they are referring to the “triple bottom line” of profitability, environmental and social issues in business operations.

So while both types of organizations are looking at issues related to insuring their own success over the longer term, the specifics are quite different in many respects.  So beware when you are talking with business people about your nonprofit’s “sustainability”.  Their minds may be elsewhere and it would be in your best interest to explain how you are using the term to avoid any miscommunication.

My new blog will deal primarily with issues of resource development for nonprofits including developing strategic partnerships with businesses.  I will also get into ideas in the other three areas, as well.  However, I really want to catalyze a dialogue that gets nonprofit leaders out of the traditional paradigm of writing grants and asking for donations and inspires them to tweak their resource development efforts to maximize returns.