Your Corporate Partners are Seeking ROI. Are you Providing It?• Bruce Rosenthal, Bruce Rosenthal
Associates, LLC – Moderator
• Laura McFarland, NACUBO – National Association of College and University Business Officers
• Renee Shew, Mutual of America
• Chris Flood, Nareit
Who We Are and Why We Are Here
• Bruce Rosenthal: Experience with associations and other non-profit organizations.
• Laura McFarland: Business background. Education membership association.
• Renee Shew: Corporate partner.
• Chris Flood: Business trade association.
What We’re Talking About Today
• Corporate partnerships are business decisions
• Moving from transactional to transformational
• Creating ROI value for each corporate partner• Why this is about sales and marketing
• How to position your association (and foundation) for success
• Next steps
Current Trends
It’s all about Business Decisions
• Associations are making business decisions
• Members are making business decisions
• Corporate partners are making business decisions
The Great Big ROI Disconnect
Most Associations are Selling
Companiesare Buying
VisibilityAwareness
AttitudeBehavior/
Engagement
Associations are Changing: Business Article
Article in the Harvard Business Review:
“The most successful nonprofits think about fundraising like sales: They’re as thoughtful about the benefits to the funder as about those to the beneficiaries they serve, often creating mission-aligned products or experiences tailored to a specific type of funder.”“What the Best Nonprofits Know About Strategy,” by Kevin Barenblat, Harvard Business Review, August 9, 2018
Associations are Changing: Nonprofit Article
Article in NonProfitPRO:
“Today, the best corporate philanthropy tends to align itself with the corporation’s business strategy in ways that pay dividends for the company...”
“The Future of Philanthropy, Part 1,” by Tarsha Whitaker Calloway, NonProfitPRO, August 8, 2018
Create Relationships with ROI Value for Each Prospective Corporate Partner
Align Your Association and Each Company
Your Association• Mission• Member needs• Visibility needs
Each Company• Goals for biz dev, branding,
knowledge leadership
Align!
Create the “Corporate Partnership Program of Choice”
• Position your association like a think tank
• Accentuate your association’s intellectual assets
• Know your member demographics
• Hype your audience
Align with each partner
Determining CorporatePartners’ Objectives and ROI
The Objective is ROI
• It’s not philanthropy
• There’s plenty of competition for your association’s partnership program.
• Companies have choices.
How to Determine Each Company’s Business Goals
• The beauty of asking
• Probe each company’s:
o marketing goals
o marketing tactics
o ROI measurement
o criteria for success
Engagement Strategy
Why this is All about Sales and Marketing
• Your association is selling value to your partners
• Your partners are selling to your members
• You should ....
o serve partners like a marketing agency account exec
o offer sales and marketing solutions
o deliver services to provide ROI
Package Benefits/Components
Don’t Offer Low-Value Benefits
• Gold/silver/bronze
• Static visibility
• A la carte commodity
• Long list of low-level benefits
Package Benefits as ROI Solutions
• Key areas of interest to corporate partners:o Business developmento Brand differentiationo Thought leadership
• Customize for eachcorporate partner
Closing the Deal
Negotiating the Win-Win
• Finding the win-win
• Getting to “yes”
In Summary:• Provide ROI ....• for each corporate partner
Next Steps
• Network; gather info
• Create a culture of mission-focused business
• Buy-in from board, CEO/ED, staff
• Develop a business plan
• Ingrain in goals, workplans
• Involve corporate partners
Contact Information
Bruce RosenthalPrincipalBruce Rosenthal Associates, LLC301-922-6179bruce@brucerosenthal.associateswww.brucerosenthal.associates
Laura McFarlandSenior Director, Business DevelopmentNACUBO – National Association of College
and University Business [email protected]
Renee ShewVice President CEBS CRPSMutual of [email protected]
Chris Flood, CAEVice President, Business [email protected]
Questions?