Can companies find the right fit for nonprofit partnerships? And if so, then how? First and foremost, you must remember that nonprofit partnerships are a two-way street. Companies want to find amazing nonprofit partners just as much as nonprofits want to find them. And the best way to do that is to find a partnership that fits. So how do we do that? Let’s take a look.
Here are a few things to consider when looking for partners:
- Industry/topic – What does your company do? What kinds of nonprofits would have interesting overlap?
- Location – Are you international, national, regional, or local? Who has similar geographic footprints?
- Size – Are you a small company? Medium? Large? Nonprofits to company size are off by a factor of 10 around employees count. So if a nonprofit has 10 employees a relevant “similar-sized” for-profit business might have 100 employees.
Many incredible partnerships don’t corelate to topic areas or industries. Let’s take a look at some great sample partnerships.
*Note that these are examples and not actual partnerships
Nonprofit Category
Nonprofit Examples
Company Category
Company Examples
Health | Alex’s Lemonade Stand, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Gift of Life, Alzheimer’s Association | Healthcare, Insurance, Dental + Medical Practices, Pharma, etc. | Cigna, Heartland Dental, EPIC, CVS, Johnson & Johnson |
Animals | Morris Animal Foundation, Louisiana SPCA | Animal Pharma, Animal Products, Pet Stores | Chewy, Petco, PetSmart, Zoetis, Bayer |
Arts + Culture | Americans for the Arts, San Pedro City Ballet | Ad Agencies, Design Firms, Architects, Entertainment, Artists | Warner Bros, McCann, MediaCom, Netflix, Gensler, Perkins&Will |
Community Development | United Way, Community Foundations, Blue Star Families, Bottom Line | Varies on topic; Law Firms, Local Automotive, Retail, Real Estate, Construction | Kirkland & Ellis, Agero, Clark Construction, Coldwell Banker, Concord Hospitality |
Education | First Book, Pursuit, LEAP for Education, Raspberry Pi | Education Software, Tech, Retail, Real Estate, Construction | Teachable, Guild Education, Suffolk Construction |
Environment | Earth Island Institute, National Arbor Day Foundation | Energy, Manufacturing, Consumer Goods | Green Fuel Technologies, First Solar, General Mills, P&G |
Research + Public Policy | Council for Economic Education, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory | Varies on topic | Examples for CEE: Betterment, Ellevest |
Human Services | City Harvest, Philabundance, Emma’s Torch, Laurel Foundation | Varies on topic; Food Industry, Retail, Real Estate, Construction | Suffolk Construction, Chipotle, Unilever |
Human + Civil Rights | Equal Justice Initiative, Lambda Legal | Law Firms | Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins |
International | UNICEF, Accion, Pro Mujer, Books for Africa, Pencils of Promise | Travel, International Co’s, Manufacturing, Freight | Delta, Airbnb, Samsung, MSC, UPS |
Religion | St. Vincent De Paul Village, Jewish Community Center | Varies; focus on employee match vs. partnership | – |
