Traditionally, when nonprofits and for-profits partner-up on an issue, it is usually because the former needs funding from the latter. In exchange for the cash infusion, the for-profit gets to laud a good deed and enhance its public image as a responsible corporate citizen. This paradigm still holds true today, but as the singer said, the times they are a-changin’.

Where corporate-voluntary sector “partnerships” once meant strictly providing monetary support for less affluent, nonprofit organizations, deeper collaborations between the two sectors are beginning to spring up in surprisingly creative, and more importantly, mutually enriching ways.

Misplaced altruism

Sandra Woodworth is executive director of Contact Brant Child Development Services in Brantford, Ontario. With 20+ years of voluntary sector experience, she recently published Partnerships, Collaborations and Alliances: Managing for Success, a 2005 report outlining how nonprofits can strategize on choosing the right partner, be they corporate or otherwise. But it’s not an easy sell.

“It’s hugely challenging,” admits Woodworth. “The voluntary sector has a real altruistic idea that [for-profits] should help them because they want to be helped. At the same time, they are often very suspicious of the motivations behind any help.” Increasingly though, nonprofits and corporate entities are discovering that partnerships can be mutually beneficial beyond a mere money-for-recognition swap.

No money down

Earlier this year, Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) entered into a non-monetary agreement with U.S. outdoor clothing giant, Patagonia Inc., to sell Patagonia products in MEC stores in exchange for committing profits from those sales to a newly-created, joint Patagonia/MEC Canadian environmental fund. No money changed hands; rather, MEC agreed to join 1% For The Planet, a nonprofit founded by Patagonia owner Yvon Chouinard, and use proceeds from sales to help fund the environmental endeavour. While this is a distinct partnership between two high-profile organizations trading in shared environmental values, there are other examples that are as reciprocal.

The cause unites

Many Canadians have heard of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation‘s (CBCF) annual “Run For The Cure” campaign to end breast cancer. Most also realize that the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) is a title sponsor of this event. Although CIBC commits millions of dollars each year towards the campaign, the decade-old relationship between the bank and CBCF goes way beyond money. Mark Hierlihy, CBCF’s director of development at the national office in Toronto explains.

“CIBC’s motivation is not just about marketing, it’s about cause [which is also] linked directly to their employees,” he says. “Their employee group is more than 70% women. So they know this is a cause that is very important to their employees. It’s an ideal relationship because they have three drivers: the cause, employees, and thirdly the ‘halo’ effect of being a good corporate citizen.” And while it’s true that CBCF benefits from the money and resources for marketing campaigns that CIBC supplies, Hierlihy is quick to point out that his nonprofit has had just as much impact on its big, corporate partner.

“We provide significant influence on their group,” he states proudly. “I was recently asked by [CIBC HR] to provide a speaker to explain breast cancer awareness to them. So we have actually been able to infiltrate, in a positive way, the cause in their actual employee group. They’re very interested right to the core of what we do.” So much so, that out of 30,000 CIBC employees, a full third volunteer annually and generate more than $2.5 million for the cause; and that’s before any corporate contributions kick in.

Rina Cortese, CIBC’s senior manager of communications and public affairs, acknowledges that the company has taken to fostering participation and awareness internally. “We use our branch network to collect registration fees and donations,” she says. “We also use our internal promotional channels to support the awareness message such as bank machine and statement messages, web site banner ads, and in branch signage.”

Clearly CBCF’s cause has become part of their culture. Could this be a trend for future nonprofit/for-profit alliances? Lisa Hartford, manager of media relations and communications at Imagine Canada thinks so.

Changing corporate attitudes

“We’re hearing from the members of our corporate caring program that it’s not just about writing the cheque; corporations want to have a role in shaping the program and have an active role in it,” she says. “Companies know that these [charitable] programs really mean something to their employees. It’s nice when money is sent to a nonprofit and good things are done, but it means more to employees and to a culture of a business when there is active involvement.” This is probably why more companies are becoming interested in finding innovative ways to engage their nonprofit community partners with more than just cash.

A recently announced national community program by communications giant TELUS is paving the way for more hands-on, corporate involvement in the voluntary sector. Officially launched in May 2006, the TELUS Community Board program takes corporate philanthropy to a new level by creating boards in various Canadian cities. These boards are set up to receive funding requests from nonprofits in their communities and will dispense financial support to worthy causes with a focus on using new technologies for innovation.

You may well ask how this is different from TELUS simply giving money to the causes they feel like supporting. Here’s how: each board is constructed so that community and voluntary sector leaders sit alongside corporate officers in order to determine how best to allocate funds. It’s a shared decision-making process designed to not only help good causes, but to inform TELUS on how to be an even better corporate citizen and who best to partner with.

Tapping knowledge

Johnnie-Mike Irving, is managing director for TELUS Business Solutions and vice chair of the TELUS Toronto Community Board. “This is a novel approach to investing corporate resources in the community,” he says. “We felt it was important to give the community a voice when identifying where best to allocate our resources. We believe it will help us to optimize the benefits that accrue to the community.” To that end, TELUS stocked the Toronto board with prominent community leaders such as Shan Chandrasekar, president and CEO of Asian Television Network International Limited; and Christina Fung, the board’s youth representative and recipient of the Ontario Medal for Young Volunteers. They will follow suit in other cities.

While communities will surely profit from TELUS’ generosity, Irving knows that his company is also benefiting from more than positive public opinion; they are also getting smarter.

“As with so many things in business and otherwise, with diversity comes better decision-making. This is exactly what we are trying to achieve with this board. [It] will give us a better perspective on where the needs are in Toronto and what TELUS can do to meet those needs,” he states.

Taking off the jaded glasses

Unfortunately, Woodworth suggests that it is easy for cynics to point to this initiative and the others above as yet more corporations trying to buy good publicity for themselves. She believes this type of thinking is prevalent in the voluntary sector. “It can appear that businesses are only in it for the bottom line. Nonprofits have trouble sorting that out. There is a real culture clash in this area,” she says.

And while that publicity may indeed be a side result, consider that it would have been just as easy for these organizations to have never supported causes other than at a whim – without putting real thought into, and without seeking input from those who know the voluntary sector best. In any event, it is a significant step in a new direction toward shared responsibility as far as nonprofit and for-profit partnerships go. More importantly, it could signal a revolution in the way the voluntary sector and for-profits view each other in business: as equals.

Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf is president of WordLaunch professional writing services in Toronto. He can be reached at andy@wordlaunch.com.