I hope you’re starting to see how powerful audience personas can be, especially when you understand what each one brings to your mission in new supporters, brand reach, and donations. Today, let’s look at a persona many nonprofits overlook: local businesses.
Meet the Local-Business Partner Persona
What they care about:
Community visibility and foot traffic
Staff engagement and morale
A clear, simple way to show social responsibility
Client Spotlight: How Rosewood Initiative Brought Local Partners To Life
Last month, we worked with the Rosewood Initiative in Portland, Oregon to develop audience personas as a part of their content strategy, which is included in our Tier 3: Done-for-You Digital Strategy Service.
This place-based nonprofit enlists the help of local business partners to expand its mission and help deliver services to the community. We knew that we needed to clearly define this persona and build the messaging into the website and distribution strategy.
Step 1 – Understand the Partner
Because we did the content strategy first, we had a fully documented research for the Partner persona and knew what types of businesses near us would fit. We mapped what neighborhood shops and service firms cared about: public recognition, tangible impact, and an easy way to give back.
Step 2 – Give the Persona a Home
Rosewood built a “Partner Spotlight” section on its new blog and a dedicated Supporters page on its website. In its latest Impact Report, they discuss how their partnership with the PDX Diaper Bank resulted in thousands of diapers being donated to Rosewood families!
Partner Spotlight category on their new blog!
Step 3 – Celebrate Everywhere
Each spotlight also now runs in the monthly newsletter under a “Supporters” banner, so donors, volunteers, and neighbors all saw which businesses were stepping up.
The Result
Businesses got public credit for being socially responsible.
Rosewood gained new in-kind gifts and fresh content for every channel.
The community saw a real, working partnership—proof that local dollars stay local.
That’s the power of treating partners as a distinct persona: everyone wins, and the story practically tells itself.
Ideas For Your Organization
Idea
Why It Clicks
Round-Up Campaign
Shoppers round up at checkout—steady micro-donations and goodwill.
Cause-Marketing Day
10 % of one day’s sales to your cause. Buzz for them, funds for you.
Employee P2P Challenge
Co-branded peer-to-peer page; P2P typically doubles digital-only revenue.
In-Kind Sponsorship
Gift cards or products become raffle prizes—high value to you, low cost to them.
Why This Works
Local partners bring fresh donors, authentic content, and added credibility. In return, they get publicity and a motivated team. Everyone wins.
Need help crafting your first pitch?
Book a free 30-minute Growth Audit, and I’ll help you identify three local-business targets plus a plug-and-play outreach email you can send tomorrow.
No obligation—just actionable next steps you can use tomorrow.
I help mission-driven organizations get found online and build trust with the right audiences—donors, clients, and supporters—by creating content strategies that boost visibility, drive action, and lead to real growth.
