Non-Profit businesses are built to serve the community, and causes they believe in. These organizations help raise awareness and fight for things like the environment,
health services, homelessness, child services, criminal justice, and so much more.
You and your business can help them too! Partnering with Non-Profit organizations are a great way to engage your community and help causes you support. And there’s a lot of benefits that can help your business as well!
New Audience
Your business may not cater specifically to whatever the Non-Profit serves, but not for long! If you partner with an animal rescue service, you’re showing all the people of the community that you care about helping the animal population. Consumers don’t just think with their wallets, they also do so with their hearts. They want to do business with businesses that share their values.
The Non-Profit is likely to showcase you in their marketing efforts as well (which we’ll get into later), and that gives you free publicity right there. You’re able to reach markets that you may not have had access to yet. Now, you’re naturally expanding your reach, and automatically leave a good impression while you do so.
Boost Morale
While humans are social creatures, they also do a lot of introspection. Think of all the times where you think about your business and what you do. “Is what I’m doing really worth it? What kind of legacy am I going to leave behind? Will people even remember me?”
It’s not just you that is thinking like that, your employees are too! Your employees want to know that whatever they’re doing, they can make a positive difference.
When you tell your team “We’re partnering with an organization that helps build houses for people after natural disasters.” You’re telling them that when they do something, they’re helping that cause. Now, not everybody is indeed going to get excited about the organizations you partner with, it’s a way to show your business walks the walk. Plenty of businesses talk about giving back to the community, but this shows it.
Speaking of shows, it’s not going to be kept quiet about the good you do. No, you’re going to project that altruistic image and market it! Just like how good writers show don’t tell, so to do businesses.
It’s all well and good to say that a business cares about its community, but you’re out there doing it. What does more for showing the community you care about it? A post on Twitter about how your community is what drives them? Or showing how your team volunteered to help pass out toys around Christmas for less fortunate families?
Exactly.
This isn’t being cynical either. You’ve done something good, and you should be allowed to talk about it. That doesn’t mean you should present yourself as a charitable company on the level of the Non-Profit. After all, this is something your business does in its spare time, unlike the Non-Profit you partnered with. You aren’t here to take the spotlight. You’re here to help, and to share the spotlight.
Networking
When you partner with a Non-Profit, you’re showcasing yourself to their entire network. Beyond the people who are regular patrons, donors, and employees, you’re also going to likely meet their other partners. These could be businesses, government organizations, or other Non-Profits. All of whom could use your business in the future.
And while you’re busy building up a list of potential clients, you can also be on the lookout for more talent. The best businesses are the ones who never stop improving, and that includes always improving the quality of employees that your business has. The best workers always stand out, so when you work with these Non-Profit organizations and their partners, you’ll get a front-row seat to see who the best people are.
Combined Marketing with the Non-Profit
As we’ve mentioned earlier, you’ll be getting a boost when the Non-Profit markets you and shares how you’ve helped. But you should have more of a say in it than just “Thanks for the retweet last month.” Effective partnerships actively try to make the other grow. As one business can increase in popularity and size, so too will the other. It’s a symbiotic relationship that should be nurtured.
When you’re working with these Non-Profit organizations, you should have a clear list of exactly how you’ll support each other. This can come in the form of working on a project together, blogging about the partnership, publishing eBooks, cross promoting each other’s activities and so on. Just like how partners that own businesses will put in equal work, so too should you and the Non-Profit.
So, when you get ready to talk about all the work that your business has done to help, be sure to explicitly and clearly talk about who it is you’re partnering with. The extra benefits that you get from the partnership should also be felt by the Non-Profit.
Target Your Customers
While you revel in all the new potential customers you’ll be gaining, don’t neglect your current audience. Most of your target audience should already have some level of awareness of you. Now you need to differentiate yourself from the competition. Like we said earlier, your business isn’t just good at what it does, it’s plain-old good.
Warning: Just like how we mentioned in our Going Green blog, you need to make sure that you’re being genuine. People are smarter than you think, and if you come across as even just a little disingenuous or fake, you’ll get called out for it. And not only that, but the backlash could lead to existing customers leaving your business.
Helps Causes You Believe In
Like we mentioned earlier, you need to make sure that you really believe in the cause that the Non-Profit is working towards. So instead of going after the Non-Profit, that has the biggest audience, go for the one you want to help the most. This guarantees that whatever efforts that you do give, they are genuine. Authenticity is critical for your business!
Remember when we said that you people think about whether what they do matters? That still includes you! You are the master of your business, and you’re in charge! Use the tools and resources at your disposal to help the causes you believe in! You have the power, so you might as well use it!
It Helps You Improve Your Business
When you’re working with a different company, you’ll be working with people who do things totally differently. They may have a different management structure, a different marketing strategy, or even how they do meetings.
The best way to know where you can improve is to see somebody who is doing it better. Even if it isn’t better, seeing the different way organizations operate makes you think about how you could operate. You start to think about how you could be doing things differently. And then you’ll be inspired to improve in ways you never even thought of!
Speaking of inspiration, here’s a quick bit to get you started. One great and easy way for your business to improve is to get rid of paper. It’s expensive, inefficient, and wasteful!
Switch to digital forms and get rid of paper, improving your efficiency, profits, and your impact on the environment. See how easy it is to switch with a free 14-day trial with naturalForms.
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About naturalForms®
naturalForms is an innovative software company based in Dayton, Ohio USA and is the leader in natural input technologies and provides an end-to-end mobile data capture platform that automates the collection of natural input (such as handwriting, photos, notes, drawings, and signatures) instantly at the point of entry. Information captured with tablets or other mobile devices is immediately converted to digital data and seamlessly integrated to backend systems. Straight-through processing eliminates cycle time delays and human data entry errors, creating unsurpassed workflow optimization and significant cost savings. naturalForms’ solutions are used around the world, delivering value in multiple industries. To learn more, visit http://www.naturalforms.com.
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