How does the welfare of a homeless, unemployed military veteran in Pittsburgh connect to a group of nonprofits collaborating on a high-tech business solution to fundraising?
The link begins with a Harvard Business School blog post several years ago in which entrepreneur and angel investor Martin Zwilling wrote about the shocked reactions — “paranoid and afraid” — he received when advising company officials to find opportunities to collaborate, even with their toughest competitors.
Zwilling believes so much in the practice, he gave it a name: “Coopetition.” The goal: “… to partner with your competitor in such a way that both parties can substantially benefit from the other’s resources without stealing customers or damaging anyone’s credibility.”
Strategically collaborating
From my vantage point leading the Forbes Funds, where our mission is to strengthen the nonprofit sector, many aspects are similar to the business world. Organizations compete for the same revenue sources and share varying percentages of the same “customer base” in delivering services.
But we see strategic collaboration between businesses and nonprofits as delivering exponential benefits to both. In business, it is cooperation focused on a product or service and investors may fund the “coopetition.” With nonprofits, it is collaboration centered on a cause through a multi-platform effort known as a fundraising collaborative.
Coming together through VetStrong
Now, let’s loop back to that recently returned veteran. Actually, southwestern Pennsylvania is home to 260,000, with many facing homelessness, lack of education credentials, legal issues, absence of a network, unemployment and substance abuse.
A group of nonprofits providing services from medical-behavioral care to housing to legal services has partnered with TowerCare Technologies, a software development firm that offers DonorPro Nonprofit Fundraising Solutions to engage donor-members more effectively.
The business-nonprofit focus is to develop a public high-energy campaign under the banner VetStrong.
“Most of our clients are fabulous in being dedicated to their mission,” says Donna Myers, TowerCare’s president, “but they don’t have core competencies in fundraising and engaging donors toward the cause for the long term.”
That’s where DonorPro comes in. Organizations with varying levels of demand for veterans’ services collaborate through VetStrong, which is powered by the DonorPro engine at horsepower traditionally available only to large organizations.
Sustaining for the long term
The key pieces are carefully orchestrated to generate revenue streams and a battalion of true believers. The goal is to make these sources sustainable, even when the public and media buzz has quieted. Funds raised are distributed to VetStrong organizations by way of an agreed-upon formula.
Among the thousands of nonprofit causes pushed in front of us daily, few rise to the level of VetStrong in activating a sense of community responsibility.
When heartfelt nonprofits collaborate with tech-smart businesses to provide a steady stream of support, the community response for our veterans is nothing short of heroic.
Donna Myers is president of TowerCare Technologies, a Wexford-based software development firm. The company’s flagship product, DonorPro Nonprofit Fundraising Solutions, helps nonprofits raise more money, operate more efficiently and communicate more effectively with the donating public by combining technology with fundraising education and marketing. For more information, visit www.donorpro.com.
