Million Dollar Partnerships
Consultancy, strategy, facilitation and training to help non-profits find, win and grow million dollar partnerships and other high-value strategic corporate partnerships.
What brings you here?
1. Big Ambitions
You have ambitious growth targets and know partnerships can deliver because you’ve secured major deals before. But scaling beyond one or two partners feels unpredictable. You need structure, pipeline and a repeatable acquisition strategy.
2. Underperforming partnerships
You’ve had partnership success before but performance is declining. Partners are leaving and revenue growth has stalled. Repositioning, commercial clarity and renewed acquisition strategy are needed to reignite momentum.
3. To Diversify Income
You’re over-reliant on traditional fundraising or government grants and looking to diversify revenue. Partnerships feel like a major opportunity but you’re unsure where to start. We assess the opportunity, then build the strategy and infrastructure required to succeed.
Million Dollar Partnerships
Wherever you’re starting from, the pathway to partnership growth requires the same foundations: clarity, structure and confidence in your commercial value.
Having worked with hundreds of non-profits, we know million-dollar partnerships don’t happen by chance. They’re built through strategy, positioning and belief.
The journey to Million Dollar Partnerships
Stage 1: Clarity
Setting you up to win
Why this matters
Million dollar partnerships don’t start with prospecting, they start with clarity.
Clarity on your ambition, your value and what you’re building towards ensures you go to market positioned for strategic, high-value investment.
Do you currently have
- A defined partnership ambition or growth target?
- A clearly articulated value proposition for corporates?
- Visibility of your most valuable partnership assets?
- A pricing or valuation framework?
- Internal alignment on the role partnerships play?
Gentle reframe
If these foundations aren’t fully established yet, you’re not behind, you’re simply at the beginning of the partnership growth journey.
Why this matters
Not all partners are equal.
Million dollar partnerships come from strategic alignment. Where brand, audience, values and commercial objectives intersect.
Without this clarity, prospecting becomes inefficient, and partnerships underperform.
Do you currently have
- Priority industries aligned to your mission and value?
- A defined ideal partner profile?
- A prospect longlist and prioritised shortlist?
- A framework to assess risk and reputational fit?
- Research and profiling processes to guide outreach?
Gentle reframe
If your prospecting feels reactive or relationship-led rather than strategic, this is where we bring structure and focus.
Stage 2: alignment
Finding the right partners
Stage 3: Commercialisation
Develop the right tools
Why this matters
Strategy and alignment don’t win partnerships on their own. Commercial readiness does.
Corporates invest when they see credibility, capability and mutual value clearly articulated.
Do you currently have
- A corporate credentials document?
- A compelling partnership narrative?
- Clearly defined partnership offers?
- Commercial partnership packages?
- Proposal templates ready to deploy?
Gentle reframe
If you’re building proposals from scratch or relying on fundraising materials, you’re not alone. Most organisations haven’t yet developed corporate-ready tools.
Stage 4: execution
Winning partners
Why this matters
Even with the right strategy and tools, partnerships only materialise through confident execution.
This is where capability, confidence and structure convert opportunity into revenue.
Do you currently have
- An outreach and prospecting strategy?
- Confidence opening corporate conversations?
- Structured discovery frameworks?
- Negotiation and deal-structuring capability?
- Stewardship models to retain and grow partners?
Gentle reframe
If deals stall, prospects go quiet or partnerships don’t renew, it’s rarely about effort.
It’s about having the right execution frameworks in place.
Learn more about Million Dollar Partnerships
If you’re exploring how to secure million dollar partnerships, our blog shares practical insights on corporate partnership strategy, pricing, alignment and partnership growth.
Our Million Dollar Partnerships Framework
Most organisations don’t lose partnerships because of passion. They lose them because they lack commerical clarity, alignment and positioning.
Our four-stage methodology transforms partnership programs from transactional supporters into high-value, long-term strategic corporate partnerships.
Stage 1 - Why
Setting you up
to win
• SONAR stakeholder workshop
• Partnership ambition
• 5 key questions that signal readiness
• Partnership asset audit
• Commercial value proposition
• Partnership pricing & valuation
Every successful partnership begins with clarity. In this stage we define your partnership ambition, identify your strongest assets and articulate your commercial value to corporates. Through SONAR workshops, asset audits and pricing frameworks, we establish the foundations required to attract high-value partners and position your organisation competitively in the partnership market.
Stage 2 - Who
Finding your
perfect partners
• Risk & opportunity framework
• Synergy mapping
• Vested interest analysis
• Prospect long & shortlist
• Partnership strategy
• Partnership plan on a page
Alignment is the foundation of successful, sustainable partnerships. Building on the strategic clarity established in Stage 1, we identify the industries and corporates best positioned to invest in your organisation. Using our bespoke risk and opportunity framework, alongside structured research and profiling tools, we create a targeted partner pipeline grounded in both alignment and commercial potential.
Stage 3 - What
Developing the
right tools
• Corporate credentials document
• Partnership narrative & story
• Commercial partnership offers
• Partnership proposal development
• Partnership framework & architecture
Strategy and alignment alone don’t win partnerships. The right tools do. In this stage we develop the commercial materials required to engage, pitch and convert corporate partners. From your corporate credentials document to partnership offers and proposals, we position your organisation through a corporate lens, ensuring your story resonates with business decision-makers.
Stage 4 - How
Winning partners in
the real world
• Conducting research
• Outreach strategy
• Discovery conversations
• Partnership structuring
• Pitch & negotiation training
• Objection handling
Winning aligned partners with the capacity to grow into ‘stellar’ partnerships can transform your organisation for years to come. In this stage we equip your team with the skills, tools and frameworks required to prospect, secure and grow sustainable corporate partnerships, embedding the capability to generate partnership revenue long after our engagement ends.
Read how we helped Legacy secure $5m+ within 12 months
Million Dollar Partnership Case study:
Legacy Australia
Legacy Australia provides essential support to the families of veterans, ensuring that no-one suffers as a result of their loved ones’ service to the country. In 2023 Legacy celebrates its 100th anniversary, a significant milestone. But during recent years the Legacy name has become less well known. Other causes have been more prominent and there are new organisations working in innovative ways to support veterans. Legacy created the Centenary Torch Relay to be the catalyst for reinvigorating the brand, inspiring the community and positioning itself for the next 100 years. The biggest problem was starting from scratch, with no corporate partners for the Torch Relay.
Legacy followed the Million Dollar Partnership process, building a clear idea of their needs, value proposition and offer. This allowed them to target the best fit corporate prospects and use their limited time wisely. The Legacy team were ambitious in the level of support they requested from corporate partners, confident with their offering and avoiding the trap of the gold, silver and bronze sponsorship approach that they’d used in previous years. Within the first twelve months they had secured three key partners, Defence Health, BAE and Lockheed Martin, yielding over $5mln in support. In addition, they received in-kind commitments of over $6.5mln from other key partners. The prospecting isn’t finished yet and the They will have gone from zero to $7.6 M in less than 18 months. Most importantly, the process of bringing together the 44 Legacy clubs across Australia through the Torch Relay and its corporate partners has inspired members to collaborate more effectively and renew their pride in the organisation. The next 100 years is looking very bright for Legacy.
Trusted by Australia's leading non-profits
What our clients say
Partnering with Stellar Partnerships has been one of the most valuable strategic decisions Soldier On has made in recent years. From the very first engagement, Linda and Sharon brought clarity, confidence and a thoughtful rigour to our income generation framework. Their deep expertise, genuine collaboration and ability to translate insight into action have helped us to diversify and strengthen our funding approach in ways that are both sustainable and mission aligned.
Stellar has supported us not only to broaden our revenue base – but to better articulate our impact, refine our value proposition, and elevate how we engage with supporters and partners. Their guidance has been practical, empowering and consistently delivered with integrity. They understood the challenges we have faced and have provided clear, tangible solutions.
We are genuinely grateful for their partnership and the tangible difference it is making in advancing Soldier On’s ability to support veterans and their families.
Paul Singer, Ceo
You’ve exceeded my expectations. We needed to be very strategic in our planning and Stellar Partnerships have helped us do that. You’ve helped develop our thinking, build the collateral and tools and refine the approach to make this successful. We now have a solid foundation to build on our strengths.
Linda and Sharon have been fantastic- very approachable and always available. You deeply understand our mission, the complexities and conflicts. You’ve enabled us to articulate the unique space of the PHN, raise funds to scale our work and define the language and narrative that makes sense for us.
You’re not on the sidelines; you’re in the team, on the field with us. I highly recommend Stellar Partnerships to anyone building new partnerships.
Gabby Clezy, Executive Manager, Partnerships and Engagement
We expected to simply create a list of potential matches and go out cultivating. I’ve been surprised how this process has highlighted the internal knots we need to undo. We need to stop looking at it as silos and show how a partnership benefits the whole of the organization, not just one campaign. It’s highlighted some of those key gaps that we really need to be addressing.
It was a great way for us to get buy in and active participation from the rest of the team when we haven’t really had a big corporate partnerships presence at the organization for quite a few years. Bringing other people in from the division on those sessions was fantastic. We are in a much better position to advocate across the organization and across the division. I feel quite empowered in doing that now, armed with the right information.
Emma Fitzsimons, Corporate Partnership Lead