Building a partnership between a charity and a corporation is time-consuming and a lot of hard work, on both sides! Due to the upfront time involved, it can be an expensive venture.
No charity, (or hard working fundraiser.), has the time and resources to invest in building these sorts of partnerships if they don’t last. So, it is critical to have a plan to build stickiness into your partnership to make sure that the investment is worth it.
What is a sticky partnership?
Corporate partnerships that are sticky are:
How do you make sure you build sticky corporate partnerships?
1. Partner with the right companies
You can’t build a great partnership on a shaky foundation so make sure before you invest time and effort that you and your partner prospect have mutual values and goals. Finding aligned corporate partnerships may take more legwork, but it will pay off in the long run.
2. Solve a business need
The best way to build a sticky partnership is to solve a business need. It is even better if you solve a problem on the charity side and the business side. For example, corporations are often looking to receive positive public relations around their involvement. Charities are often looking for increased exposure. Together, a corporate partnership can achieve these objectives for both parties - which is AWESOME!
3. Steward the person and the company
As I wrote about in Top 2 ways to give corporations #donorlove, stewardship comes in two parts: the company and the contact. Always be thinking about how to serve the partnership needs and how to make your contact's job easier, bonus if you also help them show success. This kind of thinking helps you to be perceived as an asset, strengthening your relationship.
4. Get employees at the company involved as volunteers
Employee engagement opportunities often solve a need on both side. These opportunities can be large scale volunteerism, board director positions, or individuals working on specific projects, the specifics are not as important as the number of opportunities to get involved. The more the better.
Follow these steps, and work towards building sticky corporate-charity partnerships that will last, driving revenue and lucrative relationships. Oh, and did I mention when these are clicking, they are fun?
If you want to talk about great partnerships more, I do too! Comment below, drop me a note, or continue the conversation on twitter @heathernelson12.
I can't wait to hear about your success!
Heather
Heather Nelson recently started a cause marketing, corporate partnership consultancy. Prior to this new adventure, she was at Food Banks Canada where she developed a corporate partnership program that grew from $1M to $9M. Heather is deeply engaged in the sector, having been on the Board of Directors with AFP Golden Horseshoe and is currently on the Board of Directors, as Chair of Governance for Canadian Feed the Children. Heather teaches Introduction to Fundraising at Ryerson University. In her spare time, she manages her son’s hockey team and squeezes in some time to connect with nature. You can follow her thoughts on cause marketing, fundraising, and occasionally baseball on twitter @heathernelson12.
