• Note From Sue
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Happy February!

Where did January go?  I broke my back three weeks ago snowmobiling on Rabbit Ears Pass outside Steamboat Springs here in Colorado.  (Hmmm...knew I should have gone snowshoeing...) Anyway, January for me was about "being" not "doing," getting healthy, and laying a strong foundation for 2010.  

One of the fun stories which came out of my injury is about Garden of Life's new web page showcasing their nonprofit partners. See the Featured Company section below for details.

My January teleseminar for businesses, 5 SUPER Strategies for Business Giving in 2010, generated a lot of interest and had great attendance.  if you missed the call, you can either listen to the recording online or download the MP3 file at: http://www.businessgivingstrategies.com/super2010.

The 3rd edition of my nonprofit toolkit, "Recession Proof Resources: Designing Strategic Partnerships with Businesses" for nonprofit executives, staff, and board members will launch in early March and will include audio training modules and a 100+ page workbook.  I am very excited to be offering this updated version as I know many nonprofits can benefit from the proven curriculum and tools.  As part of the launch, I will be doing a free teleseminar for nonprofits on this topic so pass the word to the nonprofits you support that you think could benefit from this great information.  Details are below.

Until next time, "Do Well and DO Good"!

Sue Hyatt  |  Business Giving Strategist

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As part of my back healing process, I bought Garden of Life’s Vitamin Code Grow Bone System – a raw whole food calcium formula with D3, bone building factors, and BioActive Ingredients.  When I got home and opened the box to take my first dose, I noticed the lid stated “For every Vitamin Code bottle sold, a donation will be made to Vitamin Angels and their Operation 20/20 to eliminate Vitamin A deficiency in the world by 2020.”  So of course, I immediately liked the product and the company even better!!  I was disappointed however when I could not find any reference to Vitamin Angels on the Garden of Life website.  

I wrote a blog post about Garden of Life and their support of Vitamin Angels.  In that post I wrote, "I would recommend they do add a section to show their customers about their support of this worthy effort. Not mentioning it is a lost opportunity to have their customers appreciate them even more."

Later that day, Garden of Life commented on my post and provided a link to a press release about their support of Vitamin Angels.  I wrote back, "Thanks so much for your response sharing the link to the press release about Garden of Life’s support for Vitamin Angels. Sorry I missed it in my digging around. But if I missed it, many others will have, too! I think Vitamin Angels is a great organization for your company to support so making the info a little more visible could really cement customer loyalty. I like your products even better now!"

A couple days later I got an email from Ursula at Garden of Life.  "THANK YOU for posting on your website what you did!  Those of us who understood that our charitable partnerships should be delegated away from the press release page have been trying to do so for a while, so I passed your post on to my other colleagues and thanks to you we now have a dedicated page to our charitable partners!  We do partner not only with Vitamin Angels, but Women Heart and the National Parkinsons Foundation.  Please go to our website and you'll see the link at the top."  So, check it out - they did a great job with their new page!  I am VERY IMPRESSED with this company!

Do you have a page on your company's website which shares information about the nonprofits and causes you support?  If not...you should follow Garden of Life's lead and create one.  It is a great way to cement customer loyalty and attract new customers, as well. In this economy, that gives you a market advantage while you are doing authentic "good" for our world.

• “True philanthropy” is defined by 2/3 surveyed to include giving both time and money.
• 40 percent of Americans volunteered in the past year. 28% have never volunteered.
• Two-thirds of volunteers give money to the same groups to which they donate time.

To read the full article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy, click here.

FREE Nonprofit Teleseminar: Designing Strategic Partnerships with Businesses

Thursday, March 11, 2010 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern

If you are like most nonprofit leaders, you probably are very concerned these days about the impact of a tough economy on your ability to get needed resources for your organization or program. You see the need mushrooming in your community every day…and you see the companies around you starting to tighten their philanthropic belt. So what to do?

No matter how good your program or organization may be, if you can’t clearly make the case for why a business should support YOUR nonprofit organization over all the others also seeking their support, you are bound to fail. You need to know the right formula for approaching businesses to create win-winpartnerships to secure the resources you so desperately need.

In this call, Susan Hyatt reveals how to move past the old school “beg for donations” and checkbook philanthropy mentality to present your organization, NOT as needy, but as a valuable partner – offering to share your assets (such as networks, publications, special events, etc.) with companies that choose to partner and share their resources with you. If you want to strengthen your “ask” and improve your success rate, you definitely need to attend this FREE teleseminar.

• To register, click here.