1A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate

Donations & Sponsorships

2A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

If you downloaded this guide …

You already know that companies in your community

are looking for meaningful corporate social responsibility

(CSR) projects to support. Corporations want to give back

while increasing employee engagement, attraction, and

retention at the same time.

Are you using EVERY online technique you can to

encourage employers, employees, and their extensive

social networks to donate to your cause? Corporate

support of your nonprofit organization can go so far

beyond making a pitch and getting a check!

This step-by-step guide will demonstrate how nonprofit

organizations like yours are using digital marketing

techniques to increase corporate donations. You’ll learn

how to optimize your online presence to reach the right

corporate audiences and understand what businesses

look for when vetting charities to support!

Corporations want to give

back while increasing

employee engagement,

attraction, and retention at

the same time.

3A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

The problem: In your own words

We asked 500 individual nonprofit professionals to

complete an extensive survey related to corporate

sponsorships – and for the most part, we found that

organizations are looking for cash. However, a chunk of

requests were for in-kind donations, with gift cards and

vouchers typically topping that list.

When we asked charities to tell us what their experience

was like working on corporate sponsorships, we heard a

lot of the same themes:

We collected 486 comments and discovered they fell

into three categories:

Competition: Our organization doesn’t stand out

in the crowd of good causes.

Motive: Corporations don’t see a connection between

our cause and what they do.

Network: We don’t know how to get in touch with the

right person at the business.

When we talk to corporations who use FrontStream

products for workplace giving projects, we hear that they

are often overwhelmed by requests from good causes.

For instance, the average hotel chain receives roughly

400 donation requests a year. A sports team receives

TRIPLE that amount!

Those requests range from the request for cash or grants,

to gala items like tickets or gift certificates.

“ (We face) competition from higher profile or

preferred type of hosts – hospital foundations,

national or regional charities, international

disaster response.”

“ We are a tiny nonprofit organization, and it’s difficult

to find time for relationship building.”

“ There’s just never enough time. Wish I had

started sooner.”

WHAT TYPES OF DONATIONS DO YOU REQUEST FROM BUSINESSES OR CORPORATIONS?

IN-KIND DONATIONS physical items such as gift cards, autographed memorabilia, spa pack-ages, etc.

99.9%

SPONSORSHIPS Events-based monetary donations for things such as a gala, walk / run / ride, etc

92%

GRANTS Project based monetary donations for things such as building a playground or community garden

63.8%

UNRESTRICTED FUNDS Money for operations or where most needed

73%

IN-K

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4A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

Employees of all

demographics are

increasingly saying

that they want to have

a say in how their

funds are used

5A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

But, how do businesses want to support

good causes?

For corporations, philanthropy is becoming more clearly

defined and is expected to be strategically aligned with the

goals of the business. We asked hundreds of corporations

why they choose to support a charity and discovered quite

a few distinct themes stand out.

Corporations consistently tell us they look for three things

in a charitable partnership:

• Alignment with mission/values

• Opportunity for unique employee experiences

• Your ability to show measurable results

The importance of targeting the right

corporate partners

Research by the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at

Indiana University found a healthy majority of companies

(77%) say they only establish a corporate giving

partnership with nonprofits whose mission overlaps with

the company’s values.

Where is this coming from? Rising trends in

workplace philanthropy!

Employees of all demographics are increasingly saying

that they want to have a say in how their funds are used.

They are looking for unique participation experiences

(like peer-to-peer events and challenges!) and want their

employer to engage in causes that reflect their values.

“It’s easy to engage Associates when they

feel so strongly about Avon’s causes, and

we make it easy for them to participate.

They can see an immediate impact of

their efforts.” – Avon Foundation

This really comes into play when we look at the Millennial

and Generation X cohorts. These employees regularly

tell their bosses that they want to choose how they give,

and they often want to participate in an activity that

benefits a charity. If there’s a cash match or opportunity

to give from the company as well, that’s fantastic – but

employees are prioritizing experiences when it comes to

workplace philanthropy.

A disconnect exists between the businesses that want

to give back and the charities that need support, some

of which can be explained by how nonprofits solicit

sponsorship requests:

The majority of requests are happening in person and by

phone. This means that one of the biggest hurdles has

already been conquered: access. If you’re at the point

where you have a face-to-face meeting or a phone number,

your organization is already a few stages into

the sponsorship journey!

80%

60%

40%

20%

SPONSORSHIP REQUESTS SOLICITATION BY

COMMUNICATIONS CHANNEL

BY

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ON

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IN P

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R O

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AX

6A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

But take a look at the least used solicitation

channel: online

The online category includes email, content marketing,

social media and advertising. This channel is the least

used by nonprofit organizations, and contains the most

opportunity for future success.

What can you do about this?

Digital tactics can help your organization stand

out to corporations looking for philanthropic

opportunities. Let’s talk about how we can get

that done.

First, build your ideal corporate partner profile

Many charitable organizations already have typical donor

profiles that list the common characteristics of your most

loyal supporters. You might even have a digital donor

profile that includes more specific information about your

supporters’ online habits and interests.

What does an ideal corporate partner look like to you?

For instance, if you are a food bank, a grocery-store

chain would be an excellent match. If you’re a school, a

company that makes products or services for children

may be interested in supporting you.

Digital tactics can help

your organization stand

out to corporations

looking for philanthropic

opportunities

7

If you’re wondering how to research the best

companies to target, here’s how to get started:

Hunt for CSR or sustainability reports:

Businesses, especially larger or multi-national

corporations, now make a point of publishing

information about their philanthropic projects and

successes. These reports are often available on their

corporate websites.

Dive into the Sustainability Disclosure Database:

This searchable online database includes reports

published by companies all around the world. The free

version contains a limited number of data points per

each registered report. The complete version contains all

available data points.

Sign up for 3BL Media:

3BL Media emails include fresh news reports and

blog articles about corporate social responsibility.

Corporations share information about their charitable

campaigns and social good initiatives.

Google Alerts:

Create and set Google Alerts notifications so

that you are notified when there is news about

local businesses and charitable activities related

to your cause. You’ll be more efficient finding

great corporate partners if you’re reaching out to

businesses who are a good fit for your cause.

Now that you know who to target, you can use

inbound marketing strategies to reach them

Inbound marketing helps you find supporters who are

more likely to convert to donors, event participants,

partners, or volunteers.

8A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

What is inbound marketing?

It’s what Hubspot.com calls the “process of attracting the

attention of prospects, via content creation, before they

are even ready to buy”. While outbound marketing blasts

out to everyone (think billboards or print ads), inbound

marketing helps the right people find you through

strategic articles, social posts, videos, and everything

else you create!

Get started with inbound marketing

1 Give corporate partners a home on your website

Start with a dedicated section on your website with

as much detail as possible. A specific page or area for

corporate partnerships will boost your online visibility

and will be easier for your supporters to share online.

Plus, a partner page gives confidence to partners

who are looking for a structured corporate program

to participate in. Check out how Cancer Research UK

designed their corporate partners page.

2 Write about what sets you apart from

other organizations

Write in a way that is persuasive to the corporate

personas you have determined are the best fit for

your cause. And make sure to give examples that

paint a picture of what employers can do with

their colleagues!

For instance, Little Brother Friends of the Elderly

Chicago uses a section on their website to write about

how: “Groups of coworkers can work together to

purchase special gifts for elders, ensuring every elder

feels remembered around the holidays.”

Great inbound marketing content ideas for blog

articles and newsletters:

• Tell success stories around your events, your programs, and

your other partnerships. Corporate partners need to know their

participation will result in positive outcomes for the community.

• Talk about the demographics of your supporters and highlight

their likes and dislikes. Corporations like to partner with

organizations that reach their target demographic. Be sure to

show how your organization appeals to a corporate partner’s

typical customer or employee profile.

• And of course, include as many photos & videos as possible

(always great for your SEO)!

Robin Hood Foundation of New York created a short

video that tells corporations how partnering with their

organization will benefit their brand:

RHFNY makes the value proposition clear on their

website: “Align your brand with our caring community.

We’ll work with your company to customize a marketing

campaign that positions your brand as a beacon of hope

for struggling New Yorkers.”

9A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

Tip: If employees are participating in a peer-to-peer

event like a fun run or bike-a-thon, you can set a

registration fee or minimum amount to fundraise

to ensure that your organization is compensated

for the effort of putting on your event.

3 Set an appropriate value on your corporate

volunteering experiences

Corporations get a lot out of the experience of

spending a day volunteering! Recognizing this, many

charities ask employers to also contribute financially.

Holland Bloorview Kids Foundation writes: “We ask

our corporate partners to make a minimum donation

of $1,500 per Corporate Volunteer Day to help fund

our Ravine Arts Program.”

Second Harvest reserves food bank sorting

experiences for companies who achieve Charitable

Partner status through “a minimum contribution

of $500.00 or $1000.00 of gift in kind/service

value within the last calendar year.”

10

4 Give employers a branded toolkit

Toolkits are especially handy if you have corporate

participation in a Giving Day related to your cause.

Send them a campaign timeline with scheduled

activities like emails and follow-up reminders to staff.

This can be the same for every employer, as long as

it’s customized!

Ideally you want to make it as easy as possible for

your sponsors to get on board – that means they’ll

need more than just your logo! They’ll need campaign

hashtags, drop dates for their editorial calendars,

cause messaging, and as many suggestions as

possible to help them participate.

Elements of a great employer toolkit

Fundraising email copy that employers can send to

employees

A unique and branded donation form for your partner

that includes a thermometer or donation tracker

Images or graphics pre-sized for social media that

promote your cause

Shareable photos or quotes related to

your organization

Infographics that include your metrics (Canva.com,

Easel.ly and Piktochart.com are good resources for

creating infographics)

Talking points about your organization that your

corporate champion can use to inspire their

coworkers to participate

11A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

5 Measurement matters: Help corporate partners

quantify their impact

Companies are results-oriented! Include metrics

on the successes of your events, projects or

campaigns and personalize them for your

corporate partners.

It’s important because companies need to share

this information with their own stakeholders – this

helps demonstrate the positive impact that your

efforts are creating. Plus, you can then collect the

metrics and information to put together external

reports that anyone can view on your website.

For example, The Children’s Society created an online

impact report that quantifies the yearly work of staff,

volunteers and partners

6 Focus on keywords to attract corporate support

Don’t forget to do your keyword research first!

Keyword research helps you find the words that can

give you the most traffic with the least competition

from other bidders. When you do sit down to write

your content pieces, make sure your keywords (for

instance: “corporate volunteering”) are in your title

description, and alt tags on images.

To go step further, the Google Ad Grants program

provides free AdWords advertising to select

charitable organizations. It’s designed to help

organizations extend their public service messages

to a global audience in an effort to make a greater

impact on the world.

7 Use social advertising to target corporate employees,

CSR officers & HR directors

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram,

Twitter and LinkedIn offer you the ability to create a

“target audience” of people you’ve identified by their

characteristics (such as location, age, interests and

more). You can then set your ads to display to only

those folks, which can help you find professionals

that are far more likely to support your organization or

participate in your event.

Social advertising is low-cost and you can control your

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

WHAT TYPES OF BENEFITS DO YOU GIVE YOUR SPONSORS

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12A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

Job titles to target in LinkedIn:• Human Resources Officer/Manager/Director

• Corporate Social Responsibility Officer/

Manager/Director

• Sustainability Officer/Manager/Director

• Employee Engagement Officer/Manager/Director

• Development and Fundraising Officer/

Manager/Director

• Community Outreach Specialist

• Donor Relations Manager

• Director of Special Initiatives

Ask if your potential sponsor

can give you time and

resources instead. Like a a few

hours worth of time from their

in-house graphic designer.

daily budget, overall spend, and length of campaign.

LinkedIn is particularly useful for nonprofits, as it allows

you to target individuals by company and job title!

If your budget is tight, LinkedIn often offers users $50 ad

gift cards as an incentive to get them to try the service.

See if someone in your network has a gift card, or try

contacting the LinkedIn For Good team for one.

8 TIP: craft a compelling call-to-action inside

your advertising

“Donate to us” isn’t the only action you can ask your

corporate prospects to take. Think of other call-to-

action items that would encourage people to click,

read, or share.

For instance, you can ask them to sign up for your

newsletter to learn more about your organization,

register themselves or a workplace team online

for a fundraising event, or download a guide about

partnering with your cause.

Also, donor stories or case studies make a great

call-to-action: “Hear how a company like yours was

successful partnering with us!”

9 Reach out to corporate sponsors for

digital resources Diversify how you reach out to corporate partners

and get creative with your ask! If your pitch for a

cash donation is turned down or significant in-kind

donations aren’t possible this year, ask if your potential

sponsor can give you time and resources instead.

Employers tell us they are rarely asked for this!

Some ideas include a few hours worth of time from

their in-house graphic designer, a portion of their

13A Nonprofit’s Guide: Boosting Corporate Donations & Sponsorships | FrontStream

digital advertising budget to run ads for your cause,

or employees to volunteer with these projects for a

longer time period.

10 Always include corporate gift matching on your

donation forms

According to the Giving in Numbers Survey by the

Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, 9 out

of 10 companies offer an employee matching program.

Many employers will match all charitable donations

made by their employees – often dollar-for-dollar!

Reminding donors that their donation could be

matched by their employer is a simple way to

potentially double the impact of the generous gift.

In fact, just mentioning employer matching to

donors on an online donation form can result in a

71% increase in response and a 51% increase in the

average donation amount!

Many employees aren’t aware if their employer offers

corporate gift matching. The best way to encourage

matching gifts is to integrate a gift matching database

into your online donation forms.

When this application is enabled, a field appears near the

payment details section on the donation form. Donors

simply have to enter the name of their employer and

search to see if they are listed. Donors must then go

to their employer (often their HR department) and

submit evidence of their gift so that the corporation will

subsequently donate.

Make sure your donors receive a follow-up email from

your organization that reminds them to submit their

donation to their employer!

“Every time I send out a reminder, I get

money in the door.”

– Linda Stark, California Polytechnic State University,

Matching Gift Specialist

14

If you think it’s difficult to find a good corporate partner

for your nonprofit, think again – there are tons of

companies out there looking to help a charity just like

yours! The result is a win-win situation on both sides: a

solid corporate social responsibility program for them,

and additional fundraising success for you. You could

be forming lifelong partnerships and creating loyal

supporters in more ways than one.

Research potential employers with a mission

alignment close to your own.

Create a “ideal employee profile” to use

targeted CTAs (like social ads) to recruit

corporate sponsors and volunteers.

Build online content that speaks to CSR

objectives and promises to deliver metrics at

the end of the event or campaign.

Offer volunteering experiences that appeal

to employees

Build integrated corporate gift matching

into your online donor experience –

And schedule that follow-up in your

communications pipeline!

Broaden your ask to include digital resources

or “expertise” donations.

Your To-Do ListGet started today!

Want some extra help? Ask us about our 1:1 training options.

Schedule a demo @ www.frontstream.com/panoramaTalk to us: sales@frontstream.com or 800-687-8505 x1

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