This is the fourth in a series of articles on Corporate Giving.  We are now well into discussing some of the motivations behind corporation giving.  Our last article discussed the importance of relationships.  Leveraging corporate connections will likely always be an important part of securing corporate dollars.

This next article discusses the importance of branding, or more specifically, how corporations advance their brand by aligning it with your charity.  Let me preface this by stating that I’m not a marketing guy.  I’ve spent a lot of time in and around marketers but I’m not one.  Having said that, the basic motivation here is a simple one.  The corporation is trying to enhance their brand through some kind of sponsorship, cause marketing or social marketing campaign.

There are many excellent articles and books that have been written about cause marketing, sponsorship social marketing, and how charities can leverage their brand to create meaningful partnerships.  These partnerships typically involve some kind of financial arrangement whereby the corporation is paying the charity to associate its brand with the charity’s brand.  This relationship is based on the notion that this kind of brand association is a good thing for the corporation and will have all kinds of positive ancillary effects (e.g. halo effect, positive image, etc).

In order for a charity to have a truly meaningful branding conversation, it must have a profound understanding of its assets.  This is not always an easy thing to do.  How much is an event sponsorship worth?  What is the value to a corporation of associating itself with a charity’s brand.  There are individuals and firms out there who specialize in helping a charity understand the value of its assets.  In my opinion, this is money well spent.  If you’re selling an asset that’s worth $100,000 for $25,000, you’re doing your organization a major disservice. 

Branding is an important consideration for many corporations when it comes to allocating their community investment dollars.  Aligning its brand with important causes in a positive way sends a signal to the corporation’s stakeholders and the broader community that it is paying attention to social issues (Again, as in previous articles, I will refrain from using language like “the company cares…” because it undermines our understanding of why companies invest in communities and social causes.).  But not all corporations care about social branding.

The single biggest mistake charities make when cultivating corporate relationships, is assuming they understand what the corporation is seeking from the relationship.  Most charities, in their initial approach to corporations, believe that corporations are seeking to advance their branding objectives.  Again, this is true for many corporations, BUT NOT FOR ALL.  If a company isn’t looking to its community investment strategy to advance its brand (and again, many are not), then approaching a corporation with a sponsorship package is going to result in a colossal failure, and perhaps more importantly, it signals to the corporation that you’re simply not listening to what they are saying.    

You wouldn’t go on a date without trying to understand what the other person is seeking in a relationship?  So why are you going into corporate meetings with a prescribed sponsorship pitch.   Start your corporate meetings by asking what they are seeking from their community investments.  And don’t assume that you know the answer.

Brad is currently on the Board of CANSOF Foundation and the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Toronto.  He is a member of the National Advisory Council for Imagine Canada. Contact Brad at brad@spirephilanthropy.com