Nonprofit organizations looking to forge stronger ties with Milwaukee’s business community may have an opportunity to do so through FUEL Milwaukee’s year-long Adopt-a-Nonprofit Program.
Entering its fourth year, the program connects area nonprofits with the networking group’s business members to ramp up exposure around their missions as well as foster collaboration on nonprofit projects, strategies, events and more.
Through the program, FUEL Milwaukee, which operates under the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC), selects eight nonprofit organizations in the M7 region to adopt.
FUEL focuses on organizations within eight broad focus areas, including arts and culture, diversity, and health, selecting one nonprofit per focus area to work with.
Adopt-a-Nonprofit applications are vetted by a group of FUEL volunteers as well as by volunteer teams representing each focus area.
Those nonprofits chosen to take part in the coming year will benefit with an invitation to attend a recruitment event during which FUEL members will learn about adopted organizations and likely commit to volunteering with one.
Adopted nonprofits will also have a chance to be featured at a FUEL Purely Social after-hours networking event as well as host a customized page on FUEL’s website, post jobs and volunteer positions on FUEL’s online career center, engage with FUEL’s social media networks, and promote upcoming events in FUEL’s weekly newsletter.
“For the most part, we’re introducing these nonprofits to a completely new base of potential volunteers (and) donors,” said Corry Joe Biddle, executive director of FUEL Milwaukee. “There’s good visibility for them among the FUEL network.”
In past years, adopted nonprofits have further benefitted from pro-bono services provided by FUEL members, such as website development, graphic design, strategic planning, event planning and fundraising.
In part, the Adopt-a-Nonprofit Program serves as a seed to grow long-term relations among area professionals and nonprofits in need.
“We commit to the nonprofit for a year, but our members end up sticking with them for much longer,” Biddle said.
The program also acts as a tool to retain talent in Milwaukee as it allows professionals to find new ways to be engaged in their community and actively contribute to solutions for social issues facing the city.
“It makes Milwaukee for them a community rather than just a place where they live,” Biddle said.
To be considered for FUEL’s Adopt-a-Nonprofit Program, organizations must submit an application by 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 6., to Sofina Ziu, FUEL communications and technology manager, at sziu@mmac.org.
For more information about the Adopt-a-Nonprofit application and program guidelines, click here.
