Every year we look back on things we loved and experiences we’d prefer not to repeat. The haircut that promised gamin chic and looked more like a fugitive Muppet or the gender reveal party that set fire to the fence. We’d prefer to head into 2025 with a clean slate and a fresh perspective on things that will make us happy, fulfilled and less embarrassed.
For partnership people it means shedding habits and practices that conspire to make your life a lot harder than it needs to be. Like the sea moss diets that leave you camped in the bathroom, it’s best to avoid what’s not working and get back to the basics for real results.
Here are five partnership practices we’d like to say goodbye to in 2025.
Awareness doesn’t pay the bills
If you’re a small non-profit, or a cause that’s less well known, of course you want more awareness. But it’s best not to build it with a corporate that offers no financial support behind it. If you’re contributing your brand, reputation and expertise then the corporate partner should appropriately reward you for it. If the partnership is with a retailer, there should be a minimum financial guarantee before you’re seen in public together. It’s like the social media influencers who offer ‘exposure’ to a brand whilst scrounging freebies. Awareness is great if you’re tapping into a corporate partner’s media or marketing budget like Dolly’s Dream with EssencemediaCom, because it drives more financial support and grows the donor database. The vague promise of awareness can be a smokescreen for some shameless brand washing if there’s no genuine commitment behind it.
Being the humble hero
Non-profits spend their lives trying to deliver Rolls Royce services for the price of a Fiat 500. It’s seen as bad form to trumpet your achievements and worse, a risk that donors will stop giving if they think you’ve solved the issue. The problem with the humble hero mindset is that you start to think that any corporate donation is a good one. When you’re a tiny grassroots charity you may be grateful for every dollar that keeps the doors open. But what are you offering in return? Understanding that you are offering value in return will change your view from supplicant to solution maker. Which leads me to the next practice that bedevils corporate partnerships.
Not understanding your cost to deliver
Of course, you’ll be offering benefits to a corporate partner. You’re so excited about their interest that you throw the whole buffet at them. But the risk is when you don’t have a clear understanding of what it costs you to deliver those benefits, in terms of time, resources and opportunity cost.
We worked with a performing arts company who offered their premier partners tickets to the opening night, green room hospitality and loads of promotion. When they added up the commercial cost of the benefits versus the partner commitment they were making a loss. Similarly, we noticed another charity offering 3 media posts per month to a new partner. Given that they aimed to bring on another 10+ partners, that’s an entire year of social media devoted to partner promotion. I wonder if they told their marketing department that every day would be focused on corporate shout-outs rather than raising understanding of their cause. Take a hard look at the implications of delivering on your promises and assess whether it’s worth the investment.
Trying to do everything by yourself
We know that partnership people are creative, resourceful and hard working. But managing a corporate partnership can require a long list of things beyond just good relationship management. For example, coordinating volunteers, helping set up workplace giving, providing content for social media, writing press releases, attending events and organising ambassadors. Of course you can’t do it by yourself. You’ll feel like you’re stuck in the narrow point of an egg timer, where you’re navigating the demands of internal stakeholders and external partners. Mobilise your colleagues and set up a working group for your important partnerships. You really do need the whole village to be successful in partnerships.
You don’t need to be in every meeting
Partnerships are often squeezed in with fundraising or marketing in a typical organisational structure. They don’t really fit in either, but CEO’s aren’t usually confident to manage them directly themselves. It means that partnership people get dragged into endless internal meetings that are actually value destroying for them. Yes, you may report to the Head of Fundraising, but no, you don’t need to input into the latest direct mail campaign or review of face to face acquisition. Be selective about the internal meetings you attend, as they add up to multiple hours missed on prospecting, relationship management and growing partnerships.
Partnership success depends on you making some tough choices about where you spend your time in the coming year and how quickly you can shed unhelpful practices. You quickly got rid of those fashionably low slung jeans when you saw the embarrassing photos, so don’t wait to take action for a year that will make you proud.