By: Ashley Byars

Below is a brief overview of the report. You can download the full report here.

Earlier this year, we surveyed nonprofit partnership professionals on what keeps cause partnerships fit for social impact in the current climate. This fall we’ve followed that report with a survey of corporate professionals who work directly on partnerships to learn where synergies and differences were occurring between the two.

The latest study reveals that while there are many common goals between partners, there are also areas of misalignment. Our goal in this report is to help guide practitioners from both companies and nonprofits to better understand one another’s expectations, communicate openly during the planning phase of the partnership, and as a result build a foundation for more impactful partnerships that benefit both.

 

2023 Partnership Income Projections

Uncertainty in the marketplace has complicated cause marketing planning this year. Despite a rocky economic outlook at the midyear point, most corporate partnership professionals surveyed (60%) projected their partnership giving would remain stable in the year ahead.

 

Time to Secure Commitment

One of the most frequent questions we receive from nonprofits interested in tapping into our Partnership Identification and Outreach service is how long it will take to secure new corporate partners. Our latest report shows 67% of nonprofits indicated that it takes 4-12 months to sign an agreement, while 78% of companies believe it takes less time with the average between 1-6 months. Our interpretation of this difference is due to the nonprofit most commonly pursuing the company first.

 

Guaranteed Minimums

The biggest gap between the corporate and nonprofit perspectives was guaranteed minimums. Almost 8 in 10 (79%) corporate professionals stated that their companies do not partner with nonprofits who require a guaranteed minimum while the same percentage of nonprofit professionals reported that they require a minimum of some sort. This gap in expectations was the biggest challenge uncovered in our 2023 data.

 

 

We hope you’ve found these insights helpful and encourage you to take a deeper dive. For Momentum has brought nonprofits and corporate partners together for maximum impact for more than two decades. We regularly share our data-based best practices and market trends from our original research. Driven by both results and relationships, our goal is to see our clients, community and culture thrive.

 

Get more insights from our full report. Let’s connect on any questions.