Corporate Relations & Engagement

Cultivating and sustaining relationships with corporate partners is a necessary but often difficult task for the nonprofit corporate development officer. This officer is charged with demonstrating to the corporate partner how and why the nonprofit’s mission aligns with the corporate partner’s priorities, as well as ensuring the corporate partner’s continued support of the nonprofit’s mission, even when the partner’s priorities evolve...

Give Kids the World Village, (GKWV) is a nonprofit situated on a "79-acre, nonprofit resort in Central Florida that provides weeklong, cost-free vacations to children with life-threatening illnesses and their families." Since 1986, more than 146,000 children and their families have come to the resort to visit Central Florida and its collection of theme parks and other attractions. But until a couple of months ago, I had never heard of it...

Since October 2015, at least four major pharmaceutical corporations have received subpoenas from the U.S. Justice Department investigating their relationships with patient-assistance charities. Add one more to the list. A whistleblower lawsuit last week accused Celgene, a biotechnology giant best known for producing the $644-per-pill cancer drug Revlimid, of donating hundreds of millions of dollars to patient-assistance charities as part of a "scheme to gain billions"...

Nonprofits have been strategically partnering with businesses for some time to build cause-marketing programs. The benefits are plentiful for both the corporation and the nonprofit, but it isn't necessarily the right fit for every nonprofit. Before you begin a cause-marketing partnership, ask yourself these critical questions...

The increasing trend toward globalization over the last 30 years has changed the way American interests do business. As America’s preeminent companies find themselves competing for markets and influence outside the U.S., the targets of their philanthropic efforts have also shifted...

In 2009, to celebrate the opening of a new headquarters in Hangzhou, China, Alibaba Group held a swimming race across the city’s Qiantang River. But as employees came ashore, they carried with them plastic bags and other garbage they’d picked up along the way. Shocked by the state of the river, a source of water…

These are the most charitable donors in corporate America. By surveying the top 150 companies in the Fortune 500 and collecting data from public documents filed with the IRS, and Securities and Exchange Commission, The Chronicle of Philanthropy has published a list of the most charitable public companies, which can be viewed here. With help…

Many organizations, nonprofit and for-profit alike, are strengthened when they team with others. The legal services firm Ralli Partnership Law researched eight of the most famous business partnerships and came up with the great infographic below (keep reading after for the rest of this post): It is important to partner, but why should a nonprofit…

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin and the 286th richest person in the world, is an accomplished philanthropist. And he's never been shy about sharing his philanthropic vision. But at last week's Coupa Inspire '16 conference, Branson hinted at a new approach to his philanthropy, one that appears to rely less on the nonprofit sector and more on the business world...

For-profit companies have often sought to generate goodwill through charitable donations and a combination of environmental and social advocacy. For some companies, however, the occasional goodwill gesture isn’t enough. That’s what B Corporations are for: These for-profit companies intend to make money, of course, but doing good also is one of their goals...