Learnings for charities wanting to make the most of social/corporate partners

Do you agree with Helen? There are always doors that are just open but, sometimes they need a little bit of a push. With partnerships it is the same. During our last Shortcuts Seminar on the 13th of December, we gave our charity clients a masterclass on how to find partners, what strategies should be adopted to retain and build long-term relationship with them.

Understanding your own organisation before looking for a new partnership
A good start is knowing who you are and what you can offer by:

• Understanding your value, your audience, your focus sectors
• Being aware of the challenges (the market for your potential partners)
• Knowing the partnership benefits for both
• Having a robust business plan

Seeking new partners for the British Council Climate for Classroom website was about telling a compelling story, which was very positive. Built in six languages and for 35 countries, to allow teachers and pupils to find information, interactive tools around the topic of climate change, we had many great stories to draw on including the Prime Minister, David Cameron visiting one of the schools and using the portal and having a media reach of 313.6 million.

Finding the right partner
We know that potential partners ask themselves three essential questions about the charity:

• Does the charity fit with their CSR, which might be at the heart of the organisation?
• Is the charity a credible, respected and trusted brand?
• Does it have programmes which could support a genuine partnership

Our partner checklist for C4C included:

• The right product with climate change
• Communication potential
• About youth - ‘tomorrow’s leaders’
• Meeting C4C due diligence
• Good geographic fit – including emerging markets

Your target partners: engage and retain
Ideally three potential partner sectors would be selected. Developing the proposition, over most likely several meetings, presentations about the project, bringing alive and showing the real benefits, are necessary to convert them.  And even this can take many months and end in nothing.

For C4C, we recognised 3 sectors in; telecoms and the creative media, financial and retail.

Research conducted helped us better understand what would motivate them most. We knew that the community and educational benefits of C4C were both key for potential partners. A straightforward enough process, but it still takes months to convince the partner and find the right engagement.

Case study of Bats and Riverford partnership
Our client Bat Conservation Trust asked us to find new partners for Halloween. Bat Conservation Trust protect Bats around the UK, often through events and organising Bat walks, they are very active among their members and on social channels. They have more than 10,000 social followers. Riverford were the right partner as Bats are part of the ecology and help pollinate one in three spoonfuls of the food we eat: Riverford promotes nature and the benefits of natural food.

What were the partnership results?

• Everytime a new customer buys an organic VegBox Riverford donates £5 to Bats
• Bats tweeted about Riverford and offered ads through their communication channel

These few partnership examples lead us to agree with Helen; push the doors and you will get what you want. But, we should add, do not forget that it takes time and patience.  

Read more from Giles Robertson in our Clubhouse.