Restauranteur Peter Herrero spent $4,500 to sponsor a tasting event for Feeding Westchester last April. Herrero, whose White Plains-based New York Hospitality Group operates Sam’s of Gedney Way, C.V. Rich Mansion, Caperberry Events, The Great American BBQCo., and four Everyday Healthy Café locations, felt good about donating to an organization that addresses food insecurity in the county. But Herrero freely admits there’s a bigger reason he supports the well-known nonprofit. “I get to feed my soul through my wallet,” he points out. “And also, it helps my business.”
Herrero is involved in several successful partnerships with nonprofits around Westchester. And while he certainly wants to be known for his philanthropic endeavors, he is, at heart, a businessman. “There has to be an ROI,” he says.
Whether he’s hosting a “10 percent Wednesday” at Sam’s of Gedney Way (where 10 percent of the sales go to a particular charity) or he’s teaming up with Feeding Westchester, he says partnerships pay off on two levels. “They spread the word about an organization, but they also make people think, ‘Oh, Pete’s a good guy’ and ‘Sam’s is a good business.’”
Partnerships between businesses and nonprofits are on the upswing here, according to Dr. Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of the Business Council of Westchester (BCW). The simple reason is that both sides benefit. She says that the BCW encourages partnerships and appreciates businesses that contribute to community-based nonprofits, not only financially, but also with ongoing active engagement. Gordon sees companies of all sizes, sectors, and types collaborating, from the smallest businesses to the largest corporations.
Partnerships 101
When it comes to defining a partnership, “There’s a whole range,” says Lauren Medalie, founder of Do Some Good, a Westchester-based agency that connects businesses and nonprofits for meaningful and mutually beneficial collaborations. It might be as small and grassroots as a retail store donating a percentage of one night’s sales to a charity; it could involve a corporate behemoth like MasterCard giving employees time to volunteer at Cranberry Lake Preserve or involve Con Edison and NY Presbyterian Hospital sponsoring Sunday bike rides on the Bronx River Parkway.
Whatever the collab, nonprofit and business executives agree: Successful programs require careful planning, shared expectations, meticulous execution, and attention to each partner’s needs.
The Manu Upsides
Partnering with a nonprofit can have multiple benefits, such as developing employee pride, enhancing teamwork, or making a firm a more attractive employer, especially to younger workers, according to Gordon. Gen Z talent is drawn to cross-sector partnerships because they reflect a company’s culture and values, she says. “They want the ability to do something outside of their regular work that is fulfilling, personally and professionally,” she says.
Done right, the corporate partner “gets as much, if not more, out of the partnership, because it can drive visibility, increase sales, and improve employee engagement,” says Medalie; it can also create good will among current and prospective customers. Herrero notes that he usually meets people at charity events that later come to his restaurants or hire his catering services.
Beyond boosting the bottom line, nonprofit partnerships can strengthen the environment where a company operates. For instance, Wiley Harrison of Business of Your Business (BYB), a White Plains business services company, says that partnering with an organization such as the Thomas H. Slater Center in White Plains or African American Men of Westchester helps him sleep better at night. “I like living in a strong community where there’s little crime and little poverty. I just want to be part of that success.”
Good Matches
A meaningful partnership can result from respecting an organization’s mission or by realizing you have resources that could help. And sometimes it’s both. Evan Rohrlick, a developmentally disabled person, has been working in the warehouse at The Mines Press for 28 years. He was placed by nonprofit The Arc Westchester, a Hawthorne-based agency that provides a broad range of programs to support kids, teens, and adults with developmental disabilities. Steven Mines, president of the printing business headquartered in Cortlandt Manor, had a life-changing moment in 2016 while attending a breakfast sponsored by The Arc. “There I am in this room, and I realized that these people with disabilities are hidden from view. I resolved then and there to get involved,” he says. Terming himself “blown away,” he went back to the office and said, “We need to hire someone else.”
Soon Rohrlick was joined by another person placed by The Arc. Mines knew it could be tricky. “When you take a person like Evan or Dennis [the other Arc employee] and drop them into the workplace, it can pose a challenge to the group,” he admits. “The initial reaction was, ‘No, I don’t wanna work with this guy.’” But in the end, Mines says, “I have never experienced anything better to draw the spirit of our place together. Once you work through any issues, it makes everybody feel really good about themselves.”
Mines is now a huge booster of The Arc; beyond offering employment opportunities, he sits on the organization’s board and encourages donations to the group through a link on his company’s web site and offers to match contributions dollar for dollar.
“There I am in this room, and I realized that these people with disabilities are hidden from view. I resolved then and there to get involved.”
—Steven Mines, president of The Mines Press
Judith Heimowitz, owner of 7B Designs in Scarsdale, offered her services to transform an underutilized fitness space in a Ronald McDonald House in Valhalla into an office for staff who work with families. The organization’s mission, to house parents whose sick children are being treated nearby—in this case, at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital—spoke to Heimowitz, whose own daughter was once hospitalized there. By teaming up with vendors to get lighting, flooring, electrical work, and furniture donated, Heimowitz says she experienced an “exact match in expertise and experience.” The project became a personal mission to help parents currently going through what she’d dealt with in the past.
Glenn Pacchiana, president of Thalle Industries, an asphalt and quarry company based in Briarcliff Manor, says the best way to identify a meaningful partner is to align with something you’re passionate about. For Pacchiana, that’s the outdoors. Thalle sponsors trucks and supports the Graffiti Squad for the Westchester Parks Foundation. His company also partners with the Scenic Hudson Land Trust, and supports Paws Crossed, an animal rescue organization that happens to be located in the building next door.
How to Get Started
Finding the right cross-sector partner is a bit like dating; it takes time, thought, and conversation. Keep these tips top of mind:
- ♥ Make sure the company’s leadership is all in. “It has to come straight from the top because no company will have a successful campaign if the leader doesn’t want to do it,” Medalie says.
- ♥ Know your organization’s top priorities. Without a clear destination, no path can get you there.
- ♥ Fine-tune your group’s self-awareness. If you are a company, identify what would seem likely to motivate your customers or employees and what kind of nonprofit connection could stimulate that. If you are a nonprofit, think about what type of corporate partner could help you reach goals in a broader sense, such as by getting expert guidance, raising funds, or attracting new volunteers.
- ♥ Build relationships because you never know where they could lead. Glenn Pacchiana of Thalle Industries heard Ned Sullivan, the president of Scenic Hudson, speak at a breakfast. “I wanted to get to know him, so I just went up to him, and now we work together all the time.” Even if you feel your schedule is already too packed, don’t hesitate. “Just put it on the calendar, give an hour a week, and start there,” he suggests. “Then hold yourself accountable.”
Setting Expectations
Partnerships work best when both the business and the nonprofit org have some sense of shared values that have been clearly communicated between both groups, says Lori Glowacki, regional executive director for Blood Cancer United.
“We have to understand the business’s giving guidelines, what they’re hoping to get out of it, how they can make a difference to our organization, whether they want to get their employees involved, and what their ‘why’ is,” she says. “You need to have a conversation at the beginning about how you’ll partner together and how you’ll make this work.”
Medalie agrees that if everyone understands from the outset what they are hoping to gain from the partnership, it will usually work out better. Good discussions might include delineating who will gather volunteers for an event, who will post to social media, how often meetings will take place, and what results can be hoped for.
Nurturing the Relationship
At Ridge Hill shopping center in Yonkers, customers pass numerous colorful murals as they wander the property. These were created through a partnership with Arts Westchester. It’s been a phenomenal program, says chief executive officer Kathleen Reckling, because it supports local artists, matches the group’s mission to make arts more accessible to Westchester residents “where they live and gather,” and makes the open-air shopping center more attractive overall.
Once those murals were completed, however, Reckling and Arts Westchester didn’t walk away. “We are working with them on signage and pushing our partners to think about art not just as visual, but as something that can be functional,” she says, noting that the group has recently paired with real estate developers such as Graystar Property and Ginsburg Development Companies. “Relationship maintenance is really important. You never know when that could generate another partnership.”
“We have to understand the business’s giving guidelines, what they’re hoping to get out of it, how they can make a difference to our organization, whether they want to get their employees involved, and what their ‘why’ is.”
—Lori Glowacki, regional executive director for Blood Cancer United
To keep in touch, “We have status meetings, reports, and a level of involvement,” says Tibisay Guzman, CEO of The Arc Westchester. “We are there to support our partners. It gives reassurance to the business. Preparation and follow up are a big part of what we do.”
Basic etiquette goes a long way, too. Gordon believes most businesses form partnerships out of a desire to “do good things.” But they also want some recognition and support from their nonprofit partners. “Appreciation is important,” she says. “Any good not-for-profit understands that there are many opportunities and many ways to show gratitude, whether it’s a sincere verbal thank you, an award, a piece in their newsletter, or a social media post. That’s not why most businesses are engaged, but it is certainly a good thing to do.”
“Similarly, part of being a good corporate partner is to honor the values of that nonprofit and its culture and to spread the word about what the organization is doing,” she adds. In other words, says Medalie, “It’s really a collaborative relationship.”
Evaluating Results
Once you’ve engaged in a partnership with a nonprofit, how do you measure its success? If you set goals at the beginning, as is recommended, you should be able to assess its effectiveness. Not all initiatives have the same goals, but a strong campaign might include, for instance:
- ▪ Driving sales
- ▪ Increasing visibility
- ▪ Engaging employees or customers
- ▪ Changing workplace culture
- ▪ Raising a targeted amount of money
Whatever the goals, success depends on company and cause embracing the campaign, says Colleen Lee, Northeast corporate partnerships director for Blood Cancer United. Close collaboration increases the chances of success and plants the seeds for creating an even bigger ‘win-win’ scenario the next time around.
Related: Westchester’s Diverse Abilities Job Fair Opens Doors for People With Disabilities
