The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent global shutdown did much to highlight the strength and weaknesses in the global supply chain, as the connection between supply and demand quickly became severed. What used to take a day, soon took a month; what once cost a dollar soon cost ten.

This held especially true for non-profit and charitable organizations that found themselves grappling with increased demand in their services, yet drawing from a significantly drained pool of supplies and resources.

Partnership is a two-way street. Suppliers benefit greatly - by way of reduced administrative costs, predictable revenue streams and tempered competition - from gaining the trust and developing a long-standing relationship from each of their non-profit clients.

Despite some examples to the contrary, we are delighted to report that most of the suppliers we work with have gone above and beyond in support of their non-profit clients. Even though some of these businesses are struggling themselves, they have found creative ways to help where they can, including payment deferrals, product donations and price certainties. Because we’ve seen so many examples of this across industries, we know that lending a helping hand is absolutely possible.

In the small minority of cases however, suppliers are making short-sighted decisions at the expense of their reputation. For example, instead of taking this crisis as an opportunity to build deeper relationships, we’ve witnessed a handful of suppliers treat it instead as a chance to maximize short-term revenue by imposing impossible minimum order sizes and unreasonable price increases. This behaviour is disappointing, but more so, we’re concerned that our for-profit supplier friends may be hurting themselves more than they realize.

It’s important to reiterate that we continue to be impressed by our supplier partners’ response to this crisis. The vast majority have been positive, responsive and supportive. To them we wholeheartedly say “Thank you!”

We challenge those companies that have held onto priorities of times passed (like maximum market share and profit) to reconsider their role in getting Canada through this crisis.

It is said that tough times don’t build character, they reveal it. Before the pandemic hit, the non-profit sector represented a notable 8.5% of Canada’s GDP. This is a community of survivors and that will no doubt hold significant purchasing power again. And when they do, they will be more motivated than ever to forge strong partnerships with those suppliers who demonstrated character and values worthy of the sector.