Behind the scenes of a successful partnership
Some corporate-community partnerships take a while to develop whilst others start with a bang of excitement and activity. But can they sustain and grow over time? What really happens behind the scenes after the champagne corks have popped?
Target Australia had offered support to a variety of non-profit partners over a number of years. In 2021 the team decided on a more strategic approach to partnerships, with a signature partner to align with their brand refresh and repositioning. Target offered a minimum guarantee of $250,000 for two years to the successful community partner. Working with Stellar Partnerships to find the right fit, Target looked for strategic community partners that would align with their core audience of mums and families. Australian Childhood Foundation was the eventual winner. Under the banner of Bringing up Great Kids the partnership focused on building positive and nurturing relationships between parents and their children.
Three years on from the launch of the partnership, we talked to Janise Mitchell, CEO of Australian Childhood Foundation and Craig Macmillan, Executive Manager of Partnerships, Marketing & Fundraising to get their insights.
Q: What are some of the highlights from the partnership?
ACF: After three years the partnership is still going strong. We’re in conversation about how to expand the partnership and create a cause related product that will be on the shelves 365 days of the year. The gingerbread pyjamas have sold every Christmas to raise funds for ACF continue to sell out!
The Target team has also been refurbishing ACF’s therapeutic centres. They’re decorating them with Target furniture to make them more tactile. welcoming and exciting for children and young people. It has given Target staff the opportunity to volunteer their time and skills in local areas.
We did some video interviews with Rosie Batty in store on Mother’s Day and created some really wonderful content to amplify our messaging.
Q: What challenges have you encountered during the partnership?
ACF: There’s been a lot of structural change in the background over the last 12-18 months. Kmart took over the back end of Target, which had some massive impacts on staff and teams internally at Target, including staff changes.
So it’s a completely different team in Target now and new managing director. The last year and a half saw massive changes, with a different structure, new CSR/ community manager and marketing director. They’ve remained committed and on board and focused on making the best ground they could under the circumstances.
ACF has also had personnel changes, with the sudden death of our CEO, a new CEO and changes in our own partnership team, so there’s been a fair amount of turmoil for everyone.
Q: What are the plans for the future with new teams in place?
ACF: The new managing director of Kmart and Target has suggested that he wants to take the giving for the foundation from the scale that it is now and multiply that by four. He has a massive growth target for the sorts of fundraising they give us. We’ve had a couple of meetings recently to lay the groundwork for discussion of that 365 day product venture.
They’re supporting a project that is parenting and community based and so there’s a lot more we can do in resourcing, activity and things with staff that we haven’t been able to yet with all that structural change. There’s more scope for storytelling and customer engagement.
Q: What are the benefits that Target are seeing from the partnership?
ACF: Everything they’ve done with us has seen positive sales uplift. The Christmas Pj’s being one great example.
It improves customer engagement, including discussions at the point of sale, and they’ve been able to talk to that internally. So, I think that’s why they’ve also remained such a strong partner because the brand alignment for them has been right.
There are so many other things, particularly around our positively charged parenting program and the series of resources and activities off the back of that, that we could utilise in future to drive more engagement across their stores.
Q: What about the benefits for ACF from partnering with Target?
ACF: Target is such a well-recognised friend, that there’s a level of endorsement for future partners and the community. If you like and trust Target, they (ACF) must be alright. I think that extends into the community, both an awareness of who we are, which is important for us to be able to extend our messaging, and the engagement for us with community.
More broadly, governments are always looking to where else you’re getting your money from and how effective are you at doing it. They don’t like to see organisations that are largely solely reliant on government funding as there will be sustainability risk. Government won’t give you more money if your organisation isn’t sustainable.
The more you can demonstrate your organisation’s capacity to diversify your revenue streams, particularly with big philanthropy and corporate Australia, it gives other funders confidence that these guys must be okay. To have a big end of town retailer work with you is a really strong message to others and I think that’s been really valuable.
Q: What are the opportunities for local, not just national engagement?
ACF: The national relationship becomes the organising framework but the refurbishments of our counselling centres have been opportunities for local Target teams to get involved. You can engage the community where your stores are or get your brand recognition out so that they’ll go online and purchase from you.
There are other opportunities to have a place-based strategy, not just national.
When we did the Darwin refurbishment, the Target team loved it. They loved the idea that we were not just making a difference for children, but they worked with Aboriginal staff. They understood we were working with a diverse range of community up there and they really stepped into the vision of it. There is a rich opportunity for place-based engagement that could benefit both sides, including local press coverage.
Q: Any observations for other community organisations seeking corporate partners?
ACF: Often there are pretty skinny teams on the corporate side. They’re trying to do ambitious things with limited resources too.
We have remained committed to having a dedicated partnership manager so we can focus on our main corporate partners. We’ve remained pretty consistent in our capacity to turn around requests quickly, and going out to see them regularly. Our marketing team is there to produce materials and do approvals on anything that they need as quickly as possible.
I think we got a couple of things right. We listened to the fact they wanted something positively charged and so presented the right fit really early. We put forward a really great program, Bringing up Great Kids. Having the right alignment around the content and the storytelling is so important.
Think creatively; we didn’t have a lot of volunteering, but we created other opportunities. For us there was a real synchronicity in the brands and the visual representation of the partnership.
Q: Any tips for corporate seeking future community partners?
ACF: There are so many not for profits in addressing so many issues- it’s really a crowded opportunity market. Who are we going to, focus on, invest in or associate ourselves with? At some point you’ve got to carve out what’s most important for the next period of time that aligns with your values. Reach deep to find the explicit and implicit and find the strongest value alignment.
Finding that sweet spot that feels important and matches the heart of us will help make your decision making easier when you look for the right partner.
What’s next for the partnership? Target has already given $800,000 directly to ACF. With the support of staff teams and customers, they hope to hit the $1mln mark in 2025. Stellar Partnerships was thrilled to bring this partnership to life and we’ll be cheering them on for the next stage of growth.