4 Ways to Strengthen Your Nonprofit’s Corporate Sponsorships This Summer

Fundraising diversification is a critical piece of any nonprofit’s long-term success. It can help mitigate risk, boost visibility, increase autonomy, and much more. Corporate sponsorships are one way to spice up your fundraising portfolio, and the slower summer months are the perfect time to nurture those relationships.

Here are four ways to engage new or existing corporate sponsors this summer to transition into the peak giving season with everything you need to reach your goals.

1. Event Sponsorship

A simple strategy to engage corporate sponsors is inviting them to support your next event. To secure their buy-in, clearly communicate how your partnership will be a win-win, including benefits like:

• Social media engagement
• Brand awareness
• Connection to a wider audience

Sponsorship might look like donated event space, in-kind items for a raffle, or complimentary catering, depending on your sponsor and event type.

The nonprofit African Community Education (ACE) hosted a hybrid gala event in 2021 with the support of a few highly-engaged sponsors. Redemption Rock Brewing Co., for example, teamed up with ACE to brew a special Kahawa Coffee Pale Ale just for their event.

2. Matching Gifts

Tap into sponsored matching programs to double the impact of each gift. To get started, determine which program type makes the most sense for your goals:

• Corporate match: A company pledges to match dollar-for-dollar any gift made to your fundraising campaign, typically up to a set amount
• Employee giving match: A company will match its employees’ donations to their favorite nonprofits upon proof of donation

Many corporations have funding set aside for matching gifts, yet around $4 to $7 billion of this budget goes unclaimed each year. Taking some time to learn about potential sponsors’ existing matching programs can lead to a big return.

Team Rubicon, a nonprofit that mobilizes veterans to respond to natural disasters and humanitarian crises, partnered with Jack Link’s Protein Snacks to offer a match for both in-kind and financial gifts.?

?On “National Jerky Day”, the company donated a bag of jerky to Team Rubicon’s volunteers for every bag purchased, and matched all donations dollar for dollar.

3. Employee Volunteering

Partnerships between for-profit and nonprofit organizations can increase employee retention rates by 5 to 7% and sales up to 7%. With this in mind, consider how you can frame your partnership opportunity as a way for businesses to boost employee morale.?

Coordinating volunteer opportunities is a fun way to expose your cause to a wider audience while also strengthening employees’ connections to their employer. Depending on your mission, these opportunities might include:

• Meal prep for your emergency shelter
• Litter pick-ups in the local park
• Virtual help with your social media, data entry, or research projects

Burlington Stores partners with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in a variety of ways, with a special focus on employee engagement. Burlington associates have the opportunity to volunteer with the nonprofit’s local Light the Night events, recognizing people impacted by blood cancers and providing them the resources they need.

4. Brand Affiliation?

COVID-19 caused a shift in the way marketers communicate with their audiences. Adopting a more empathetic tone proved to resonate with people across a variety of platforms.?

One way corporate sponsors can align with this shift is to partner with causes that resonate with their employees and customers—AKA: your cause!

Engage corporate sponsors by offering easy ways to share each other’s messages. Be clear about how your partnership can strengthen their brand.

The Trevor Project embraces companies with a similar brand ethos to elevate its mission of providing crisis intervention for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) young people.

The nonprofit partnered with SoulCycle to create a short promotional video that tells the story of their partnership while celebrating Pride. SoulCycle also includes The Trevor Project on its website within a list of resources aimed to grow support for the LGBTQ+ community.

In another example, The Trevor Project partnered with Abercrombie & Fitch to co-create a new gender-inclusive clothing collection.?

Tap on Corporate Sponsors to Raise More This Summer

Summer may be a historically slower month for nonprofit fundraising, but it’s the perfect time to ramp up your corporate sponsorships ahead of the end-of-year giving season.

Put these tips into action to add valuable diversity to your revenue streams, expand your audience reach, acquire more donors, and nurture lifelong relationships with loyal supporters.

Download The Guide to Pitching Corporate Sponsors to help reach your goals and accelerate your impact.