Giving Compass' Take:

• Social Solutions, a technology company that provides software help to nonprofits, hosted its annual Impact Summit which covered advice on how nonprofits can obtain corporate support. 

• How do donor-advised funds impact nonprofit organizations? 

• Read about how to build a corporate, nonprofit volunteer partnership. 

Corporations donated more than $20 billion to nonprofits and charities last year, according to Giving USA. But forming successful and lasting relationships with corporate partners remains a challenge for many nonprofit groups. How do you attract a corporation’s attention? How do you interact with their team? And how do you create a bond that will stand the test of time?

Social Solutions—a technology company based in Austin, Texas—provides performance management software to help government agencies and nonprofits, such as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the United Way of Metro Chicago, maximize their impact by tracking the outcome of their programming.

At the company’s annual Impact Summit in Austin this week, experts representing both the donor and nonprofit perspectives discussed how charitable organizations can best position themselves to attract and retain corporate partnerships.

  1. Be clear about the business case. 
  2. Keep your mission front and center.
  3. Understand the company’s culture.
  4. Form relationships across the company.
  5. Treat donors as people, not paychecks.
  6. Don’t forget donor-advised funds. 

Read the full article about corporate support of nonprofits by Mary Mazzoni at TriplePundit