By: Erika Ekdahl and Allison Basco
For Momentum works with a wide range of nonprofits, from organizations just starting to build a corporate partnership program to those with best-in-class cause marketing partnerships that want to grow their pipeline. Regardless of differences in size or expertise, a critical element of successful corporate partnerships and a hallmark of successful cold outreach is the ability to articulate why partnership makes sense. In fact, 97% of corporate leaders said that brand/mission alignment is the top factor companies consider in partnership selection.
In our last article, we shared the First Steps to Finding the Right Corporate Partner. This post digs a little deeper into the key components that we use at For Momentum to help our clients craft and implement successful outreach after identifying perfect partners.
Step 1: Identify What Differentiates your Organization
With over 20 years of social impact work and hundreds of nonprofit clients, For Momentum knows that no two nonprofits are alike. It’s our job to articulate what makes your nonprofit unique and what a partnership could look like with your nonprofit in a way that cuts through the clutter and resonates with companies. Our account teams immerse themselves in all aspects of each nonprofit organization we serve:
- Mission
- Impact
- Existing programs
- Partnership history
- Strengths
- Challenges
- Long-term goals
It’s impossible to differentiate your organization without a solid understanding of what other nonprofits are doing. We also complete a landscape analysis and research other non-profits of a similar size, structure or mission to better understand unique aspects of our clients’ impact and approach. This initial phase is critical to inform all partnership positioning and content creation.
“The For Momentum team has been absolutely amazing to work with and I’ve been so impressed at the level of work, quality and meetings they have helped us achieve. They’ve taught us so much along the way and have done an incredible job of being a seamless extension of our organization.”
Staci Cross, Vice President, Business Development for CMN Hospitals
Step 2: Mission Alignment & Partnership Positioning
Over the years, purpose and impact have become business imperatives woven into the fabric of a company’s values, brand and culture. In today’s cause landscape, simply sharing your organization’s mission and its impact is not enough to get a company excited about partnership. Companies are increasingly intentional about the issues they support and the way they publicly share information about their nonprofit partners on their websites and social platforms. (Search “Brand Values,” “CSR Strategy,” “Community Giving,” “Giving Pillars” or “Social Impact.”) As companies become more explicit on the types of issues they support and their goals for partnership, nonprofits must do more to clearly articulate the value of a partnership.
Whether a nonprofit is looking to build a pipeline or approach cold prospects, brand positioning is critical. Reach out to us if you’re interested in learning more about how For Momentum can help maximize your outreach and custom-build your corporate partnership pipeline.
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