• Reach potential stakeholders in a language they can hear
• Engage your target audiences in action steps that create lasting change
• Attract new partners who help promote your mission and support your work
• Become recognized as an expert resource by your target audiences and a pioneer for innovation in your field

Visit www.echocommunications.net to learn how we can help you amplify your work for greatest impact today. 

When nonprofits and foundations find ways to partner to promote innovation, the consequences can be much richer than a check simply changing hands. Many nonprofits are stuck in the old framework of simply asking foundations for money and ending the conversation there.  This tendency can cause foundation leaders to interact with grant-seekers in a guarded, instead of truly exploratory, way. Sadly, this framework often inhibits leaders in both communities from having an open, peer-to-peer exchange about ideas, and can actually hinder the forward progress of social movements.
 
The cost? Impossible to put a price tag on it.
 
Many funders welcome the opportunity to dialogue with leaders in the nonprofit sector about innovative ideas and new approaches to advancing social issues - especially if there isn't an "ask" attached to the conversation. Exchanges like these benefit both parties. They give foundation officials a neutral environment to further develop field-wide funding strategies and envision possible new alliances. They also give nonprofits the underutilized opportunity to deepen relationships with potential funders, allowing them to become more than just seekers of resources, but also real thought partners to the philanthropic community on issues in which they are experts. The result? A movement that is more focused, coordinated and effective.
 
What's needed for the successful nonprofit-foundation relationship is a change in nonprofits' investment strategy - not in dollars, but in time spent creating a common space to discuss ideas. By focusing on the development of peer-to-peer relationships and de-emphasizing the question of funding, nonprofits can play a key role helping foundations invest resources to achieve maximum impact on the issues that matter most to both of them. Ironically, when they work with investors in this kind of non-transactional way, nonprofits are often spotlighted as thought leaders within the philanthropic community - putting them exactly where they wanted to be in the first place.
 
How Can Nonprofits Cultivate Peer Relationships with Investors?

Here are some simple strategies that can help nonprofits promote themselves as strategic issue partners to foundations regardless of immediate funding opportunities. As in the cultivation of any deep relationship, the key is to build on trust and mutual interest.

1. Focus on relationship-building in your meetings with current and potential funders. Make a point of focusing primarily on the issues and secondarily on the grantmaking process. Share ideas about trends in the field and gaps in the research. Discuss which other sectors and potential stakeholders need to be brought to the table, and how to get them there. Ask about the work of other organizations the funder supports in your field and explore possibilities for collaboration. The goal is to create a connection that enriches both parties in ways that are not just financial. This process can take time, but the energy you invest working with funders is time well spent. It can give your nonprofit greater credentials within the philanthropic community - and allows you to infuse your unique perspective to donors developing funding strategies to seed the field.
   
   
2. Develop a list of ten innovative movement-building strategies that do not focus on your organization, which you want the philanthropic community to consider supporting because they would significantly advance the field. Share them with current and potential funders, without an "ask" for resources. Many program officers will likely be glad to engage in dialogue around your ideas if they are informational and not perceived as self-serving. And, a foundation is more likely to explore partnership possibilities with a nonprofit that can think beyond its own institutional interests.
   
   
3. Leverage relationships with foundations to bring your ideas to other funders in your field. The philanthropic community is a highly networked one. For example, funders often belong to issue affinity groups and regional grantmaker associations. Ask your funders which networks they belong to, and explore the possibility of your group making a presentation at one of the foundation network meetings about the state of your field and your perspective on how to advance it. A funder who has a stake in the ideas you have developed is likely to help seek opportunities for you to have visibility with their peers.

Philanthropists read a great variety of media to get their giving-related news, including online magazines, newspapers, journals, and blogs. Many rely on so-called "philanthropic media" for leads on worthy organizations and causes. By including such print and online publications in your media outreach, you'll increase your chances of attracting the attention of valuable philanthropic investors. Many story hooks can work -- try pitching a new or ongoing initiative, announcing capital campaigns and significant gifts from new funders, and informing philanthropic journalists when you win policy battles.
 
Below are a few not-to-be-missed philanthropic outlets to explore in your outreach efforts: 

1. The Chronicle of Philanthropy -- the newspaper of the nonprofit world
   
   
2. Philanthropy News Digest, a service of The Foundation Center - an online compendium, in digest form, of philanthropy-related articles and features 
   
   
3. There are also a growing number of blogs that focus on nonprofits and philanthropy - check out the blogroll at Give & Take for an excellent list.