Partnering Small Enterprises and Local Nonprofits to Help Sustain Local Economies and Reduce the Spread of COVID‐19

• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Author: Patricia Farrell Donahue
• Date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.360

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doi: 10.1002/wmh3.360

© 2020 Policy Studies Organization

Partnering Small Enterprises and Local Nonprofits to

Help Sustain Local Economies and Reduce the Spread

of COVID‐19

Patricia Farrell Donahue

A lesson learned from decades of research is that businesses and nonprofits can form private part-

nerships to serve the public good. One such partnership is a cause‐related marketing campaign, where

a business donates a portion of its sales to a nonprofit to address a social need. To help counter the

devastating health and economic impact of COVID‐19, this article briefly describes how small

enterprise and nonprofit partnerships might implement local cause‐related marketing campaigns

focused on sustaining economic activity and slowing the spread of the pandemic. Successful cam-

paigns may also enhance community self‐reliance and reduce health inequities. Public policies and

programs could encourage these private partnerships.

KEY WORDS: cause‐related marketing, community, COVID‐19, development, nonprofit,

small businesses

Introduction

In just over six months, COVID‐19 spread from China to 188 countries,

resulting in nearly 13 million confirmed cases, and over 566,000 deaths worldwide

(Center for Systems Science and Engineering [CSSE], 2020). In response to this

global pandemic, many countries or smaller jurisdictions have implemented partial

or complete shutdowns of nonessential economic activity. Early estimates predict

that protracted partial shutdowns could reduce the level of gross domestic product

by over 20 percent in many advanced economies. To mitigate the economic impact

of this pandemic, international, national, and subnational agencies are offering a

wide variety of financial and technical assistance to key stakeholders in the public

and private sectors (Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development

[OECD], 2020a, 2020b).

In addition to the laudable public–private partnership model, research has

also shown that businesses and nonprofits

1

can form private partnerships to help

serve the public good during a crisis. For instance, businesses might work with

nonprofits to improve social well‐being through philanthropic donations, work-

force volunteering, and other socially responsible activities (Kotler, Hesse kiel, &

Lee, 2012). One type of partnership is called cause‐related marketing (CRM),

where a business donates a portion of its sales to a nonprofit partner to help it