A Resource for Charities Seeking Partnerships With Businesses

By M.J. Prest
Senior Editor, Solutions

March 23, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute

Part of the Solution: Leveraging Business and Markets for Low-Income People, by John Weiser, reports on an eight-year project of the Ford Foundation to study how corporations and charities work together. The foundation surveyed 52 of its grantees and their collaborative work with businesses, focusing on the impact of the partnerships in the areas of financial services, regional economies, sustainable economic opportunities, and work-force development. The most successful collaborations increased revenue and expanded markets for the businesses, created jobs for low-income people, and prompted corporate contributions to the nonprofit groups.

Publisher: Ford Foundation, 320 East 43rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10017; (212) 573-5000; fax (212) 351-3677; http://www.fordfound.org; 72 pages; available free for download on the organization’s Web site.

About the Author

M.J. Prest

Senior Editor, Solutions

M.J. Prest is senior editor for solutions at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where she highlights how nonprofit leaders navigate and overcome major challenges. She has covered stories on big gifts, grant making, and executive moves for the Chronicle since 2004. Her work has also appeared in the Washington Post, Slate.com, and the Huffington Post, and she wrote the young-adult novel Immersion. M.J. graduated from Williams College and after living in many different places, she settled in New England with her husband, two kids, and two rescue dogs.