Leveraging Corporate Partnerships

to Provide Revenue and Member Value for

Association Foundations

Bruce Rosenthal

Strategic Advisor, Consultant, and Educator – Bruce Rosenthal Associates, LLC

May 15, 2019

Copyright 2019 Bruce Rosenthal Associates, LLC

Who I Am?

Experience helping associations increase revenue and

member value with corporate partnership programs.

• Long-time association executive

• Advisor/consultant

• Educator/trainer

• Convener, Partnership Professionals Network

What We’re Talking About Today

• Beyond the logo!

• Trends

• Achieving alignment –

internally and externally

• 4 key components

• Next steps

• Q&A / discussion

Thanks to our Corporate Partners

Current Trends

Most Associations Face Three Challenges

1. Need for revenue – especially discretionary revenue

2. Need for enhanced member services – to ensure recruitment

and retention

3. Demands from corporate partners – ROI and thought

leadership

The best solution is an improved Corporate Partnership Program

that increases revenue and member value.

The Great Big ROI Disconnect

Most

Associations

are Selling

Companies

are Buying

VisibilityAwareness

Attitude

Behavior/

Engagement

It’s a New Day in Corporate Fundraising

Article in the Harvard Business Review

“What the Best Nonprofits Know About Strategy,”

by Kevin Barenblat, Harvard Business Review,

August 9, 2018

“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.”

Three Important Rules

Rule #1Association’s mission comes first

Rule #2Needs of members are a close second

Rule #3Don’t forget Rule #1 and Rule #2

Achieving Alignment

It’s all about Business Decisions

• Associations are making

business decisions

• Association foundations are

making business decisions

• Members are making business

decisions

• Corporate partners are making

business decisions

The Objective is ROI

• It’s not philanthropy.

• There’s plenty of

competition for your

association’s/

foundation’s

corporate program.

• Companies have

choices.

Make Your Foundation a Value-Add

Five ways = T.E.A.M.S

1. Think tank

2. Expertise

3. Audience

4. Member demographics

5. Status

Foundation vs. Association?

• Don’t compete with each other

• Don’t confuse corporate partners

• Identify unique foundation benefits

Package Benefits as ROI Solutions

• Key areas of interest to

corporate partners:

o Business development

o Brand differentiation

o Thought leadership

Finding the win-win-win-win

What members need

plus

what each company

can offer

equals

the win-win-win-win.

Four Components of a Strong

Corporate Partnership Program

Components of a Strong Program

Four ways = C.A.B.S

1. Culture change

2. Allocation of

resources

3. Business plan

4. Strategy

Culture Change

• Collaboration;

values; inspiration

• Roles for CEO/ED

• Roles for board

• Roles for staff

• Celebrate success

Allocation of Resources

• Staff – dedicated

• Staff – other

• Expense budget

Business Plan

• Tactics

• Methods

• Road map

• Measurement

Strategy

• Objectives

• Leadership

• SWOT

• Goals

Next Steps

To Create a Corporate Partner Program

• Assess your program

• Be entrepreneurial

• Incremental change

• Scale based on your

organization’s capacity

• Foundation “vs” association

• Have a plan – 4 components

• Proceed until apprehended

Contact Information

Bruce Rosenthal

Principal, Bruce Rosenthal Associates, LLC

301-922-6179

bruce@brucerosenthal.associates, www.brucerosenthal.associates

• Networking and education

• Idea Exchanges and Workshops

• Meeting announcements and notes

www.brucerosenthal.associates/ppn

Conversation? Questions?