How to Turn Community Partnerships into Business Pipelines
Community partnerships are defined as networks of voluntary and community organizations that work together to improve outcomes for their local populations, usually by addressing inequalities. While community partnerships are often considered altruistic endeavors, they can become powerful tools for business growth and career advancement. These partnerships can evolve into sustainable business pipelines when approached strategically. This article sheds more light on different ways to transform community partnerships into business pipelines.
Table of Contents
How to Turn Community Partnerships into Business Pipelines
Establish effective communication
Position yourself as a problem-solver
Define strategic objectives
The most important thing to bear in mind is that not every community initiative will become a business pipeline and not every partnership should. In order to transform community partnership into a business pipeline, it’s necessary to take a few moments to think about customers or stakeholders you want to connect with or talent gaps and workplace needs you may have. Think about potential causes that are the perfect match with your brand and mission. This is about alignment because the goal is to make a significant contribution while identifying areas of reciprocal value.
Choose the right partner
In order to turn community partnerships into business pipelines successfully, you need to choose your partner wisely. Not every partner is a good partner. The most fruitful partnerships are built with organizations that share your values, serve a community or need that overlaps with your business goals, and are open to collaborations, not just donations. Your potential partner should have existing trust and credibility with your target audience. Choose the partner wisely so you can get the most from the partnership you build.
Establish effective communication
A cornerstone of successful community partnerships is clear and consistent communication. This is the case even when you’re just sourcing the talent pipeline and giving a chance to talented candidates to grow their careers.
Businesses and organizations need to be able to articulate their specific needs, including desired skill sets and cultural fit, to their community partners. Doing so is important for clarity, which makes sure that community organizations can successfully identify and recommend candidates who meet these criteria.
Providing detailed information about expectations and roles allows community partners to source candidates efficiently, thereby saving time and resources.
Even if you’re not focusing on the talent pipeline but on business growth itself, communication is crucial. After all, communication is vital for any kind of relationship, and it is one of the key competencies in community partnerships. Communication entails the ability to actively listen and be open to the diverse views and voices of others.
Listen and learn
One can never know absolutely everything. In order to turn community partnerships into business pipelines, businesses should actively listen to feedback from their community partners. If you don’t listen and learn, you put yourself at risk of overlooking important cues that you could use to modify your partnership, business approach, recruitment process, or goals in general.
The two-way communication fosters a deeper understanding of the community’s needs and perspectives thereby allowing for refining the recruitment strategies and business moves accordingly. Just by being attentive and listening carefully, you can gather valuable information. You can use that information to modify your approach and turn the partnership into a successful business pipeline.
Position yourself as a problem-solver
Business success, regardless of its size and industry, depends on how quickly and effectively the team can address challenges that come along and solve problems. Problem-solving creates value and builds trust. Whether you’re in a community partnership or any other type of business-related partnership, you need to position yourself as a problem-solver in order to succeed. This can also help turn that partnership into a business pipeline.
Ways to position yourself i.e., your company as a solution provider, include hosting free workshops, offering pro bono services, participating in local task forces or councils on issues you care about, and creating shared value projects that are beneficial to the industry and community alike.
Don’t forget about marketing
Marketing is one of the most significant aspects of business and its success, especially in the era of social media. A well-crafted marketing strategy can turn community work into business momentum. For example, you can highlight the partnership’s influence on people and use the voices of community leaders in your campaigns. Make sure to share the journey, not just the outcomes. Use your channels to elevate the cause.
Storytelling is a powerful bridge to potential customers. However, it all comes down to the execution, which is why your marketing strategy should be rooted in respect. Avoid overshadowing your community partner or turning every story into an ad. Steer clear of using hardship or trauma as a promotional tool.
Let your marketing strategy show off your loyalty to the community while highlighting your business-related strengths. This is a great way to build a brand.
Track outcomes of the partnership
Partnerships can be successful or not, but without tracking the outcomes, it’s impossible to tell whether your relationship with a community partner has been fruitful or not. Ideally, you should track community impact and business outcomes.
Community metrics may include a number of people served, long-term partnerships formed, or improvement in local conditions (education, employment, health).
On the flip side, business metrics should involve leads or referrals generated, brand sentiment and engagement, recruitment success, and new customers from local exposure.
Tracking these metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) allows you to improve, justify continued investment, and show that community-based work can turn into a business pipeline.
Conclusion
Community partnerships are incredibly important for local communities, growth and development, and funding opportunities. They have a purpose and strive to make a difference. However, community partnerships can become business pipelines when executed properly. Whether you want to reach more customers, expand, or feed into the talent pipeline, these partnerships open many doors. With proper communication, marketing strategy, and focus on problem-solving abilities, you can reach a whole new level of success and help local communities even more. Keep in mind that the success of a community partnership depends on the actual partner you choose so, choose wisely.
References
https://compact.org/resources/key-competencies-in-community-partnerships
