Where to start with corporate partnerships?
“We need to build more corporate partnerships”. It's a statement we hear constantly from our clients. Often it's followed by, “I don't know where to start”.
“Who should we contact?”
“What should they ask for?”
“How much resource will it require?”
“What type of organisation would be interested?”
Corporate Partnerships are highly desired sources of income, brand exposure and expertise for nonprofit organizations. But, creating these partnerships can be a drawn out, confusing and unclear process. Before you dive in, it is best to have a defined strategy and plan. Otherwise, you may not get the impact you want.
Firstly, you will need to define the factors that are important to each side of the agreement. Once these are identified your organisation can mobilise the necessary resources to establish your overall program.
Simply put, realistic strategic planning is crucial. This is a B2B marketing project. There are lots of elements that will go into it and are some of the more important ones to get you started.
Define what your ideal partner looks like
How would you describe your ideal partner?
What are their values? How big is the company? Where are they located? How many people do they employ? What is their mission and core values? Do their values align with those of your organisation? How committed are they to CSR and charitable work? Do they have existing partnerships? Are they an Irish company or part of a multinational?
As you can see there are lots of elements to work through. But this is a vital exercise as it will create your target market. This will enable your team to concentrate efforts on these organisations and eliminate those that do not suit.
The next step will then be to define the personas at play in those organisations. You will need to understand who the decision makers, influencers and gatekeepers so that you can have meaningful conversations with them.
What do you actually want from a partnership?
Partnerships can take many forms. If you can define what you are looking for up front it can help both sides progress quicker and identify what is possible.
Are you interested in a financial partnership or donation based agreement only? Do you have a specific campaign or initiative that you want an organisation to sponsor? Is there a specific project or asset that you wish a partner to fund such as equipment, premises or service? Could you benefit from your team accessing the partners expertise or facilities? Is the partnership a promotional tool where you wish to co-brand with the partner in order to benefit from their brand position?
Of course we all want to benefit from as many types of partnerships as possible. However it is beneficial at the start to identify 2-3 approaches that you can support as a charity and seek them out. Otherwise resources will be spread too thin and you will not execute the way you would like to.
What does your partner want and why do they want it?
Simply put, why should the company care?
You and your organisation need to ensure that there is a clear value proposition for the potential partner. Make sure to match your overall goals to the goals of the company. You may not have total clarity on their goals, but research and some detective work should get you close.
If you are speaking to a potential partner you should be able to clearly articulate what they will get from any agreement. You should be able to show them from a human perspective the impact the partnership will have. You should also be able to articulate how the partnership can positively impact their corporate goals, especially in relation to PR, CSR and overall stakeholder satisfaction.
The more detail you can provide in these areas the more likely the company will want to be involved with your organisation.
Finally, do’t forget that organisations are made up of people first. The work your organisation does will likely impact or reach people who work for the organisation, directly or indirectly. Companies now more than ever are interested in the wellbeing of their employees and their families. In some instances they will ask their employee base to nominate charities that they should partner with. These employees can be powerful influencers for your organisation. The work your non-profit does may be impacting someone who works for their organisation, a family member or a friend.
Of course there are numerous more factors that will go into building powerful partnerships. But without these three core definition points you could end up flying blind, and targeting too many prospects. These 3 factors can help you and your team frame your corporate partnership program. And when you have these, you can start to think about content, demand generation and other key areas required. But we can get that when it's time 🙂
If you want to discuss this blog please reach out to phelim@alcomis.ie
