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Study: Corporate/NGO Partnerships Benefit NGO Branding

As nonprofits compete for the donor dollar, they often turn to for-profit companies to boost their visibility. Americans are rewarding these nonprofits for their partnering efforts, according to a new study.

As nonprofits differentiate their brands and compete for the donor dollar, they often turn to for-profit companies to boost their visibility and raise needed funds for their cause. Americans are rewarding these nonprofits for their partnering efforts, according to the just-released 2004 Cone Corporate Citizenship Study.

The study is the nation's first to benchmark how corporate partnerships impact nonprofits. Findings include:
  • 76% of Americans believe that partnerships result in a more positive image of the non-profit
  • 79% are more likely to buy a product that supports the nonprofit
  • 76% are more likely to tell a friend about the nonprofit
  • 70% are more likely to donate money to the nonprofit
"To stay relevant and top of mind, nonprofits today can't afford to discount the impact corporate partnerships can have on their brands," says Carol Cone, founder and chairman of Cone, Inc., a Boston-based strategic marketing and communications firm. "On the second anniversary of its National Wear Red Day, the American Heart Association (AHA) rallied more than 8,600 companies (up from 700 in the first year) to encourage their employees to participate in the day as part of their Go 'Red for Women' campaign. The result was millions of dollars raised to fight heart disease in women and hundreds of thousands of new enrollees in AHA's movement. That broad-based support would have been far less without strong, initial corporate partnerships and national sponsors, Macy's and Pfizer, which inspired the participation of so many others."

Leadership nonprofits are already engaged in successful, multi-faceted partnerships. The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which raised almost $600 million in 2004, quickly became a leader in addressing breast cancer by igniting corporate support and consumer passion around their "For a Cure" mission. For example, Komen leverages its relationship with Yoplait to increase its marketing reach, engage supporters, and increase donations through Yoplait's sponsorship of the annual The Komen Race for the Cure Series® and the Yoplait "Save Lids to Save Lives" campaign.

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