Listen up, corporate America!

I wish corporate America understood non-profit culture a little better. In the strange, circular way the universe sometimes operates, there's a fairly sizable portion of the corporate world that depends on the business of non-profits and NGOs to stay afloat. But NPOs and NGOs don't run on the same fuel (i.e. profit) that corporate America does, which means the latter is sometimes left scratching their collective head over what their non-profit clients want, or why they may not have landed a particular non-profit account after making a pitch that seemed, well, pitch-perfect.

When it comes to attracting business, marketing yourself well is key - the same goes for attracting donors in the non-profit world - and corporate America understands that very well. They just don't seem to realize that the vast majority of non-profit employees and managers care a zillion times more about getting their message out as far and wide as possible than they do about which company is going to bend over backward the furthest to get their business.

My "bat cave" (I don't actually have an office, I have about 1/3 of our reception area, sectioned off with various pieces of strategically-placed furniture, which a former co-worker took one look at before deciding it looked enough like Bruce Wayne's secret lair to warrant the nickname.) is regularly deluged with marketing freebies. Sure, the pens can be useful and the super-bouncy mini foam football is a good prop for pretending I'm Toby Ziegler when I have writer's block but for the most part, the gimmicky giveaways do me absolutely no good. Same goes for lunch with a corporate service provider who slips and reveals, halfway through the meal, that he actually has no idea what my organization does after working with us for nearly a year. I'd rather have eaten a sandwich sitting at my desk, thanks all the same.

What would do me a lot of good and have me taking a second look at the company, rather than rolling my eyes and practicing my trash can jump-shot, is a company that sends me a letter (better, an email, since most of us progressive non-profit types are suckers for saving the environment) letting me know they've just made a donation ($5, $10 - whatever that ridiculous pad of paper-cum-magnet I've got 20 of cost you to have produced and shipped) and would like to talk about what they can do for my cause. Because, hey, I care about what I'm doing. And I'm much more likely to listen to your ideas on how I can do it better if you seem to care about what I'm doing, too.

With very rare exceptions, the non-profit world is made up of people whose bottom line is wanting to make a difference - we're definitely not here for the money, and we're not going to sign a contract with a consultant or service provider based on the perks they're willing to offer us. We're here because we believe in something, and we want to pull together the voices of everyone who agrees with us while standing up and saying to whatever authority applies, "Hey! People care about this, and they want you to make it happen - we'll help you do it!" If a company not only offers a good product but seems to say "You know, I like what you're doing, keep up the good work," they're on my short list of go-to firms pretty much immediately. Whereas the company that's sent me two expensive, overly-packaged, overnighted gimmicks with business cards tucked inside this week is not likely to ever convince me to sit down and talk to them.

Isn't one of the first rules of Business 101 knowing your customer? Well, corporate America, getting to the heart of a non-profit is easy: know and like what they do. Bonus points if you click "donate now" or "take action."