Building Corporate Partnerships with Emily Kane Miller

This week, your host, Matt Barnes, sat down with Emily Kane Miller, the founder and CEO of Ethos Giving, to discuss building partnerships between nonprofits and organizations.

Who is Ethos Giving?

Ethos Giving is a consulting firm that helps families and businesses think about social impact in a philanthropic model. 

Emily explains, “You really have to be spending time thinking about, ‘Who am I in the world? What are my opportunities? How can I be more responsible? How can I be more additive and not just do it once but do it day in, day out, quarter in, quarter out?’”

Five years ago, Emily had to prove to organizations that social impact work mattered. Today, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) departments are far more prominent, and leaders are more likely to get involved in social impact work.

Emily’s Three Top Tips for Nonprofits

After working with organizations on their social impact, Emily has three top tips for nonprofits hoping to gain traction with corporate organizations.

First, she recommends ensuring that any solicitations or requests have at least a tailored sentence or paragraph to the specific business. Often, those that don’t make it past the CSR desk are the ones that are too generic. Even if you use an automated system to send your emails, you’ll see far more positive responses if you include a unique line for each recipient.

Second, offer to engage with the CSR department early in your conversations. Ask questions and be responsive to identify where you can add value to their current social impact model, and you’ll put your best foot forward. 

Finally, if you hope to establish long-term partnerships, she recommends building solid roots with partners you like. She says, “If you can really become intertwined with these partnerships, they're going to be more powerful, stickier, and ultimately going back to this constituent mindset.” 

Want more on corporate partnerships for nonprofits?

Listen to this episode of the Nonprofit Connect podcast to hear the rest of Emily’s insights!