Our Approach to Vendor Partnerships

The Alliance for Nevada Nonprofits (ANN) is the only professional organization in Nevada that serves exclusively 501(c)(3)’s.  The primary purpose of ANN (its mission) is to strengthen communities by increasing the influence and capacity of Nevada’s nonprofit sector.  Accordingly, ANN actively seeks partnerships with vendors who can provide needed products and services for Nevada’s nonprofit sector in strategic areas.

When ANN considers the creation of a new cost-savings program, we use an approach that we refer to as the three-legged stool.  Our experience has shown us that the strongest vendor partnerships incorporate and embrace the following three components:

  1. Member Benefit – Partnerships must provide ANN’s nonprofit members exclusive access to discounted or enhanced goods and services that they could not get otherwise on the open market.  ANN is particularly sensitive to this component given our mission. Partnerships must provide a special program that is beyond what is available through ANN’s Consultant Directory which is a basic benefit available to all annual sponsors anyway.
  2. Vendor Benefit – Partnerships must make sound business sense for the vendor.  Vendors benefit by gaining targeted access to the one of the largest economic sectors in Nevada with over $19 Billion in Assets, over $6 Billion in economic activity annually, over 55 million volunteer hours (valued at over $1 Billion annually), and over 43,000 employees. Vendors benefit from an exclusive product or service endorsement through ANN.
  3. ANN Benefit – Partnerships must provide ANN (the organization) with an income stream to further support our mission and membership.  ANN’s business model is structured to maximize earned income to enhance long-term organizational sustainability.  Since ANN is a membership organization, at a minimum all vendors seeking endorsements of ANN will maintain an annual sponsor membership at the appropriate level.

It is our intent to structure all vendor partnerships based on the three-legged stool and work diligently to see them thrive over time.  In all vendor partnerships, ANN commits to investing time and energy in marketing and promoting the vendor partnership and providing connections to our members.  In return, we ask that vendors view this relationship approach as an investment in nonprofits and ANN that will pay great dividends in the future for all involved.  If vendor partnerships are well structured with Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs), ANN and our members will thrive, and the vendor’s program will succeed.

Market Opportunity

The nonprofit sector in Nevada is large and growing.  Currently, there are over 4,681 charitable nonprofits in Nevada registered with the IRS (501.c.3. status).

Founded in 2008, and celebrating our 6th year working for Nevada’s nonprofits, ANN has provided $1,678,520 in savings to its members and over 19,331 hours of professional development to more than 6,190 Nevada leaders.  Although the nonprofit sector can be difficult to reach due to isolation and fragmentation, ANN provides a unique connection to the sector given our role as the only statewide organization that represents the entire nonprofit sector.  A few ANN marketing facts:

  • ANN’s popular websites get an average of 5,248 unique visitors per month: AllianceForNevadaNonprofits.com, LasVegasConference.org, NonprofitWebsiteProject.com, and RenoConference.org.
  • ANN has the single largest and most accurate database of Nevada nonprofit addresses that is even more up-to-date than the IRS Master List and Nevada Secretary of State database! ANN conducts 2 regional direct mailings each year prior to Las Vegas and Reno Conferences.
  • ANN has the single largest email list of Nevada nonprofit leaders, currently 4,063 large and growing.
  • ANN’s job board (career center) received over 1,700 views and 146 jobseeker registrations in its first year (2014).

Vendor Partnership Process

ANN uses a standard process to identify potential programs to offer to our members.  That process used the following methods:

  • Periodic polling of our membership to identify needs and priorities for products and services,
  • Identification of strategic goals and initiatives, and
  • Best practices from other state associations like ANN.

Once a need has been identified, ANN researches vendors that may be able to provide a solution, contacts other similar state associations, and may issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit formal proposals.  RFPs require interested vendors to outline their scope of services, reputation, references, proposed products and services, price and distribution channels, other benefits to members, earned income for ANN, and other important information.  Proposals are then evaluated and a decision is made if an appropriate partner is identified.  ANN reserves the right to forego the RFP process if circumstances warrant such an approach.

Unfortunately, ANN does not accept unsolicited proposals for discount programs and vendor partnerships.  However, we do encourage vendors to contact us to inquire about priorities and to educate us about their products and services.  Some programs researched and selected may result in exclusive product promotion arrangements, while others may not.  Questions or inquiries should be directed to and vendor materials with letters of inquiry may be sent to:

Alliance for Nevada Nonprofits
c/o HHOVV
2320 Paseo Del Prado, B204
Las Vegas NV 89102