Book Excerpt
Corporate social responsibility: Where money meets marketing.
I know, I know.
You social sector and NGO purists out there simply loathe capitalism. You curse the private sector for the ills it has caused (I sometimes curse it too). And the very idea of partnering with corporations makes you squirm.
That’s somewhat fair. But here’s the tough love:
Big companies aren’t going anywhere. Besides, it’s presumptuous to think that one sector alone can solve poverty and injustice.
“In terms of power and influence, you can forget the church, forget politics — there is no more powerful institution in society than business. The business of business should not be about money, it should be about responsibility. It should be about public good, not private greed.” — Anita Roddick, human rights activist
Kevin L. Brown is CEO of Mighty Ally, a B Corp brand consultancy that maximises funding with growth-stage nonprofits and foundations. As an American with three daughters from the global
south, he’s lived in three African countries and Malaysia.
Yet our sector thinks of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as merely a donor audience for money. But CSR is your only funding source that’s also a marketing machine. Because your corporate partners are brand megaphones. A source of free resources and tools. An extension of your team.
If you focus only on the money, you miss valuable opportunities to grow your brand, tap into expertise, and gain new resources.
CSR partnerships should also be mutually beneficial. Too often they’re not. And corporates are left underwhelmed. So when a shiny new NGO comes along, the corporation switches partners. There was little driving value in its direction.
Nonprofits beg corporations for money, desperate for any funding. And for-profit companies do often donate, pulling cash from their overflowing coffers. We’re conditioned to expect this dance. It’s ingrained in our sector, underscored by scarcity mindsets, upheld by power imbalances, and cemented by inequitable relationships with funders.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. The relationships brokered between for-impact and for-profit organizations can be a powerful, mutually beneficial machine.
Like any other marketing communications activity, corporate partnerships don’t happen overnight. But they can and should be considered part of your long-term success strategy. These partnerships generate both tangible and intangible returns.
Shared value — a term coined by Michael E. Porter and Mark Kramer — can structure the relationship between for-profit and nonprofit. Instead of creating net-new initiatives for delivering on social good, companies can work alongside existing organizations. They can trade value for value and share in the positive outcomes.
This meaningful shared value conversation allows you to elevate and differentiate your brand. So channel your inner Robin Hood. And learn how to create your CSR pitch the right way, along with four client examples.
The 4Ps of CSR.
Below are the four main ways that you get (as the nonprofit) and they get (as the corporate) in a genuine, shared-value partnership. When approaching a potential corporate partner about CSR, remember to structure your two-way relationship around all four Ps: philanthropy, platform, people, and product.
(Illustration by Michelle Benson).
Philanthropy (financial donations)
- You get: Thoughtful, strategic, aligned grants. A savvy injection of much-needed capital that yields substantial social change returns.
- They get: A trusted home to invest their mandated giving. Clear ROI and impact reporting. A connection to where the money is going and the difference it’s making.
Client example: Lwala Community Alliance has a multi-pronged partnership with the corporate side of Tivity Health, its nonprofit Health eVillages, and even the CEO’s personal fund — the Tramuto Foundation. For large corporations, philanthropic money will often flow through their foundation or even a wealthy executive’s personal office.
Platform (storytelling and promotion)
- You get: A potentially massive new audience for which to broaden your reach. And new marcom channels to amplify your story.
- They get: Strengthened brand positioning and powerful differentiation. And the ability to tell a purpose story that goes well beyond surface-level cause marketing.
Client example: Waves For Water has partnered with the global travel brand Tumi for years. Besides funding, Tumi helps capture images, stories, and videos. It then broadcasts this content across its digital channels. It’s a win/win. Tumi’s brand marketing team promotes core attributes of adventure and exploration, while Waves For Water reaches vast new audiences.
People (employee engagement)
- You get: People power in the form of volunteers and expertise. Exponential growth in the size of your team, without the overhead burden.
- They get: Employee engagement via integrated learning and skills-based volunteer opportunities. A happier staff by nurturing autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
Client example: Reach a Hand Uganda is a sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) nonprofit in Uganda. Lucky Bloke is an international condom retailer with vast expertise around safe-sex practices. Instead of just donating money and product, Lucky Bloke spent time with the RAHU team — knowledge sharing around the latest trends in SRHR. And vice versa.
Product (in-kind giving)
- You get: Free resources and tools, for both internal team productivity and external impact with communities in great need.
- They get: To leverage their core business in the service of others. And also to integrate their product into the fabric of a purpose platform to yield insights, returns, and tremendous value.
Client example: Ubuntu Life is a Kenyan nonprofit that has brokered a mutually beneficial partnership with the African restaurant chain Java House. Through Ubuntu Life’s social enterprise, they sell co-labeled bottled spring water and coffee sleeves to Java House. And Java House provides industrial cooking products for Ubuntu’s own cafe.
How to create a shared value CSR pitch
After you get your 4Ps partnership pillars in order, it’s time to develop your CSR pitch deck.
Here’s the formula:
- The problem: Open with a bang: 1–2 pages about the issue at hand. Get the audience leaning in, understanding why this work matters, and triggering their primal instinct to either thrive or survive. Important: this piece is not about your organization!
- Solution or mission: With the proper framing in place, spend 2–3 pages explaining your solution, idea, or mission. The rule-of-three can work well here, like three interventions or a three-phase process. Best would be a graphic that visually illustrates your work.
- Evidence and about: Next, give the audience confidence that your organization can execute well. This piece can include your impact results. And some typical about us language. Or possibly about the partners or funders you’ve worked with so far — to add social proof.
- Vision: The final step before having an open discussion is telling the audience where you’re going. And getting them excited about joining the journey ahead. Ideal for this element is the 10-year target or vision statement from your theory of change.
- Partnership pillars: Now shift the conversation to your potential CSR partnership. And introduce the concept of shared value. That means how you structure corporate partnerships via these four pillars: philanthropy, people, platform, and product.
- CSR examples: Next you need to show that you’ve successfully pulled it off. So showcase 2–3 case studies of your most impactful corporate partners to date. If you’re just starting on your two-way corporate-partner journey, at least display the logos of corporates you’ve engaged with in the past.
- Call-to-action: Finally, make the ask. Give them contact information. Prompt a question. This is your chance to create urgency — why now is the time and exactly what they can do to join you and your cause.
CSR isn’t charity. It’s smart business.
See how this works?
Not only is the partnership multifaceted (and much more than just money). It’s delivering two-way value, them to you and you to them.
Partnerships that give and grow — both ways. It’s time to trade value for value. Because real impact takes both sectors.
That’s the hallmark of this four Ps framework.
Think beyond donations. Think collaboration.
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