I had a great experience writing case studies for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. They are a great organization with an excellent team and wonderful corporate partnerships. ?? ?? You can learn three things from BGCA about producing outstanding case studies for your partnership sales team. ? Assign a point person. I was lucky to have ​Tameka Kee​, BGCA's national director of cause marketing, as my point person. Whenever I had questions about a corporate partner, Tameka was my first call. She got me answers ASAP. If someone was being unresponsive, a word to Tameka promptly resolved the is ..read more

    The American Revolution started over a broken contract, so discussing partnership contracts the day before Independence Day seems appropriate. According to the Declaration of Independence, King George III broke the social contract between himself and his subjects, the American colonists. (Boy, punctuation and capitalization were off the rails in 1776!) "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure thes ..read more

Today, I want to share something that could be useful to your corporate partnership efforts: watching session recordings of visits to the partnership pages on your website. Many of you have corporate partnership web pages with email signup forms and "contact us" forms. For example, I found this ​"contact us"​ form via No Kid Hungry's corporate partnership web page. But what happens when the visitor doesn't complete the form? ? That's where session recordings come in. ?? ?? Using tools like ​Clarity (FREE)​, Lucky Orange, or HotJar, you can watch how visitors interact with your forms. You’ll s ..read more

Last week, I stumbled upon this fantastic concept called BATTLE CARDS, which could be a game-changer for us in the partnership world. Get this: Battle Cards help us stay ahead of the competition, craft personalized pitches, and train our teams more effectively. I was so impressed that I had to share it with you all. Here's my pitch. ?? ?? Do you ever find yourself fumbling for the perfect pitch or losing out to other nonprofits in the race for corporate partnerships? It’s time to add BATTLE CARDS to your toolkit. These streamlined guides pack a punch and will keep you sharp, informed, and winn ..read more

I always ask my nonprofit clients if they have charity or marketing sponsors - or do they have both? The distinction matters because each type requires a different strategy for recruiting sponsors for your fundraising events and programs. ? Charity Sponsors support your nonprofit because they love what you do and are motivated by your mission and impact. ? Marketing Sponsors support your nonprofit because they see a bottom-line benefit to partnering with you. In short, your audience has them seeing dollar signs. If you want more charity sponsors, cultivate strong relationships with donors and ..read more

Writing so many case studies has taught me that they do more than showcase a partnership's success—they affirm and validate its strength for the business being profiled. ?? ?? The first goal of a case study should be PARTNER RETENTION. Here are my recommendations for writing a case study that will have your corporate partner exclaiming, "Wow, this is a great partnership!" ⬆️ Shift the emphasis on who benefited. Focus on the benefits to your corporate partner. It might seem obvious — after all, showcasing the benefits to the client is the essence of a case study. Yet, in the nonprofit sector, i ..read more

Writing so many case studies has taught me that they do more than showcase a partnership's success—they affirm and validate its strength for the business being profiled. ?? ?? The first goal of a case study should be PARTNER RETENTION. Here are my recommendations for writing a case study that will have your corporate partner exclaiming, "Wow, this is a great partnership!" ⬆️ Shift the emphasis on who benefited. Focus on the benefits to your corporate partner. It might seem obvious — after all, showcasing the benefits to the client is the essence of a case study. Yet, in the nonprofit sector, i ..read more

Nonprofits may not splurge on flashy marketing campaigns, but at least we've always had fruit and veggies to chuckle at. Maybe it's just the marketer in me, but am I the only one to ever wander down a supermarket aisle, gazing at the rows of bananas, oranges, cucumbers, and radishes, and think, 'Who's the marketing genius behind this?' ? No snazzy packaging, no catchy slogans—just plain ol' produce. As a nonprofit marketer, it always made me feel good. "And I thought nonprofits had bad marketing and branding!" ? Well, say goodbye to your self-assurance because the humble produce aisle is under ..read more

    Over the past two weeks, I've received great reader feedback on my ​Anti-Partnership Partnership Strategy post​ in my last newsletter. Corporate partnerships can be frustrating for those who lack the resources, time, experience, and staff to execute them properly. "Joe, I am feeling so defeated by (the lack of) corporate partnerships in my development department of one (me!). It really knocked my confidence in fundraising as a whole, and reading was like therapy. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one struggling. I’ve flirted with the idea of stopping any effort in that dept, an ..read more

    I got a reader's message after sharing my ​Partnership Solicitation Process Map​ two weeks ago. "Wow. Corporate partnerships are a lot of work. Not sure it's worth it." True story. Most nonprofits don't realize how much money, time, staff, and energy they need to invest in a corporate partnership program to make it successful. ?? ?? Today, I want to suggest a corporate partnership approach that 90% - maybe even 95% - of nonprofits should adopt. I call it the Anti-Partnership Partnership Strategy (APPS). Here's how it works. We begin by acknowledging some uncomfortable facts abou ..read more