Profiles in Partnership
A series on best practices and sound advice for developing and maintaining successful partnerships between nonprofit and for-profit organizations
Part 3
BB: I had one nonprofit executive tell me that they almost discourage corporate volunteerism because they’re finding that it costs them more and not just personnel time, but literally in dollars and cents to manage a volunteer program rather than having their own staff do it. It’s that kind of catch-22 where you want to add value but at the same time not detract from either your program or your staff.
AW: Right, and it’s why the low-skill, group volunteer opportunities – such as “clean the beach” and “pack the food baskets” get over-resourced. Don’t get me wrong, those things need to be done. And they are easy for companies and their volunteers to do – they’re very tangible and the boundaries are so clear. There’s a beginning, middle and end to the project. So these are great opportunities, but we also know people want to do other kinds of things - they want human contact.
BB: Are organizations that work with you or have you seen in other partnerships, coming in and helping build that capacity as part of the expertise they would bring? Are they coming with that understanding of the need for that?
AW: I don’t think we have cracked the code on that because there is great variety in the backgrounds and experiences of the people who get the assignment to run their companies’ volunteer program. They mostly know the company very well, and they know the people of the company very well. They also know the brand and what the brand’s interests are, but they may not know as much about volunteer management and also these project design questions. Their hearts are willing, but they just haven’t had that experience.
BB: The challenge seems to be understanding the benefits and making it work for both sides of the nonprofit/for-profit equation.
AW: Yes, really trying to figure out what is the benefit to be derived from the volunteer experience. There is the inherent good of just being there. Our Week of Caring program will put out 7,000-8,000 people into nonprofit experiences, “do-it-in-a-day” projects. The fact that they come face-to-face with poverty in their community - that benefit alone is worth the effort because many people, in their normal course of life, have no idea that there are people who don’t get enough to eat, who can’t make ends meet, kids who are coming into under-resourced schools or showing up for kindergarten not knowing how to hold a book. That benefit alone is worth the expense on a certain level because it might cause them to find other ways to get involved in their community. For example, if it causes them to vote next time about something, from a societal standpoint, there’s an inherent benefit in that.
Up Next: Part 4: Recognizing the value of interactions with the community.
For more information on developing highly successful partnerships please visit: www.bruceburtch.com
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