How charities can find the right corporate partners

You’re just a charity, standing in front of a business, asking it to support you.

Alas, we know that life isn’t written by Richard Curtis. Finding the perfect match is difficult. People spend lifetimes looking for the perfect partner, someone who can support them through thick and thin, and for whom the relationship is mutually beneficial.

But when it comes to charities and businesses, it shouldn’t be that hard. Both parties have a vested interest in making corporate partnerships work. They are interdependent and, like any healthy relationship, require balance, with each meeting the needs of the other party in a way that rewards both.

Find out how Neighbourly can help

For businesses, community investment is an increasingly important part of corporate strategy, and they are rewarded with the knowledge that the work they are doing is benefitting good causes and communities they care about.

Employees are happier and more invested in their work, and are able to build team skills and a sense of connection while working towards a shared goal. Customers, too, can engage with them with confidence that the company they buy from is creating social and environmental impact and giving something back.

The benefits are even bigger for charities. Businesses typically have one thing that charities don’t – resource.

Charities, used to tight budgets and scrutiny over how they spend it, also have very limited time. By partnering with businesses, they can harness a new bank of volunteers, fundraisers, and much more. Some companies even donate their products, whether that’s books, food or something else –whatever charities are looking for, there’s a business out there for them.

For some charities, time is of the essence, particularly during the winter. According to award-winning giving platform Neighbourly, 92% of food banks believe that this winter will be their busiest on record, with 69% worried that they won’t have enough food to meet demand.

But matching up with companies that can help with that deficit will help them continue to deliver services to people who need them most.

Here, we consider what charities should look for in potential partners, what businesses want from the relationship, and the most efficient way to match these two up.

What charities are looking for in a partner

For charities, the emphasis is on working with businesses that can support them and meet their needs. As we mentioned above, there are three main ways that businesses can do this – volunteering, financial donations, and product surplus. The best way to identify a good match is for charities to outline clearly what they need and identify potential partners that can address this.

Indeed, the best charity/corporate partnerships are those that make sense. Supermarkets, for example, have become prime partners for food banks because they both address each other’s needs.

Reports suggest that supermarkets are generating the equivalent of 190 million meals worth of surplus food a year hat could be donated to communities. But by donating their surplus to good causes and food banks, they can deliver what they don’t need to the people who need it most.

Charities can partner with businesses on platforms like Neighbourly, which connects corporations with good causes to provide time, surplus, products, or money. To date, more than £16 million has been donated through Neighbourly and more than 18,500 good causes are now registered on the platform.

Through Neighbourly, supermarket Aldi matched each store with charities across the UK to donate its surplus food – donating a total of more than 20 million meals through the platform since their partnership began in 2019.

Neighbourly is free for charities – with good causes of all sizes able to benefit. If Neighbourly’s work has proven anything, it’s that charity size doesn’t matter when it comes to corporate partnerships – in fact, sometimes it even works in their favour, as businesses are able to localise and maximize their impact by working with a number of smaller partners.

East London-based community interest company icanyoucantoo has so far received £1,300 in grants from Sainsbury’s, Aldi, and the Neighbourly Community Fund. The youth-focused charity has also received 28,000 meals worth of surplus from M&S, Aldi, and Lidl.

Craigshill Good Neighbour Network in Edinburgh has also gained support from the likes of Heineken and M&S, and has recently started a new partnership with investment firm M&G and the Financial Conduct Authority where volunteers sent Christmas cards to the charity’s beneficiaries.

So, whatever the charity and whatever the cause, there is a match out there for you. Businesses, like Mark Darcy, will like you, just as you are.