Newsletter: How to Generate More Partnership Leads 🤝 ; Why Your Brand is Critical to Your Success 🏷️ ; Are Retailers That Collect Tips Your Next Partners? 🪙

It wasn't even close.

Last week’s poll made it clear: nothing else comes close to your top priority than generating more leads, both in quality and quantity.

So, let's explore actionable strategies for making this happen!

📍 Identify market size. If you're working for a local, state, or regional nonprofit near a major city, consider subscribing to your local Business Journal and accessing its Book of Lists. This resource compiles your area's top public and private companies, offering a ready-made prospect list for partnerships.

🔥 Start with warm relationships. Initiating partnerships with businesses you already have connections with is often more effective than starting cold. Make a list of companies that know, like, trust you and - this is critical - have given you money before in some way.

👨‍💼 Add B2B to the mix. From my case study writing, it's clear that B2C is the main focus for most partnership programs - and for good reason. There's a significant amount of money and exposure there. However, by only concentrating on B2C, we're missing out on a huge opportunity with B2B companies. Don’t believe me? Take a second look at this study by Carol Cone and friends, highlighting the enormous potential of B2B partnerships. This study may have slipped through the cracks in early 2020, as you and I were scurrying to find masks and toilet paper, but its relevance is critical, and B2B remains largely untapped.

✅ Gather crucial donor data. Ask every donor for their name, address, phone number, email address, and WHERE DO YOU WORK. Just as you work to grow a donor's support for your nonprofit, give their company or employer the same attention and effort.

🤝 Launch a partner “sponsorship chain” campaign: Partner with an existing corporate sponsor and challenge them to introduce you to another company that might support your cause. Once the new partner is on board, challenge them to pass it forward. This creates a chain of introductions and partnership-building.

🧩 Reverse Referral Process. This strategy involves thoroughly researching a key stakeholder, such as a board member, and identifying potential connections they may have with ideal prospects. Instead of waiting for a referral, you proactively provide the board member with a well-researched proposal, showing how their contact could align with your nonprofit’s goals and asking for an introduction.

📧 Add an email signup form to your website or partnership page. An email signup form will capture leads from individuals and companies interested in learning more about partnerships. Even if you don’t send regular updates, this form alerts you to 🔥 prospects. Remember, this isn’t the same as a “Contact Us” form. An email signup is more passive, and your outreach should reflect that—focusing on being helpful, not pushy. While they’ve expressed interest, they haven’t requested a direct pitch, so act accordingly.

❌ Use Twitter/X for prospecting. Twitter offers a direct line to people, similar to having someone's phone number for texts. First, confirm your prospect is active on Twitter by checking tweets and replies. Even “lurkers” who tweet infrequently can be valuable if they engage with others' posts. By replying to their tweets, you can start a conversation in a non-invasive way, which could lead to meaningful engagement.

🔄 Outsource the recruiting. Case studies and testimonials are valuable tools for prospecting because they allow others to highlight your nonprofit’s success. Instead of promoting your work directly, case studies show how you've delivered value to partners, offering a credible, real-world example of your impact. Testimonials further enhance this by providing direct endorsements from satisfied partners. These firsthand accounts of success resonate more strongly with prospects, helping them envision the benefits of a partnership. Letting past partners do the talking builds trust and can accelerate the decision-making process. Best of all, case studies can be used at all sales funnel stages.🔻For example, include snippets from a case study in your email signature to pique curiosity (aka the awareness stage of the funnel) and provide social proof in every communication.

What else would you add to this list to generate more leads, both in quality and quantity???

✍️ Partnership Notes

1. The outrage over this cause marketing promotion out of Australia is a good reminder that consumers expect companies to be as generous as they are. If you aren't going to do it right, don't do it!

2. C-stores Sheetz and QuikTrip engaged in a sports wager, and two charities were the winners. What a good idea to pitch your local sports teams and quickly make a few bucks.

3. Retail stores that collect tips rose 70% over the last five years. Retailers are comfortable asking customers to give at the register. The challenge now is twofold: (1) How do we convince these retailers to shift from collecting tips to fundraising for charitable causes? And (2) how can we frame this opportunity in a way that won’t upset employees who rely on tips for income?

I’d love to hear your tips on tackling tip culture. Please share your insights on whether your organization has found creative ways to shift retailers from tipping to fundraising for good causes without upsetting employees. Do this: Reply to this newsletter. I’ll feature the best responses in an upcoming issue.

I look forward to your ideas!

🤑 Marketing Your Cause

1. When it comes to corporate partnerships, brands command. Here's proof that your brand is critical to your success. Frankly, there may be nothing more important than brand building. It does 90% of the work.🔒 (🔒 = This article is behind a paywall, but I can email it to you.)

The research also suggests the need for brands to be seen as thought leaders is rapidly rising. Last year, it ranked as the 20th most important decision driver for buyers, but it has rocketed to third this year.

2. The content consumption habits of different generations to help guide your content strategy.

3. The Godfather of Content Marketing, Joe Pulizzi, writes a damn good newsletter! I loved this piece called I’m [not] Going to Graceland. It made me think about how people perceive your nonprofit. Are they genuinely getting them excited about your mission, or are you making them feel indifferent - or worse?

😎 Cool Jobs in Cause

1. Director, Corporate Partnerships, Feeding America, Chicago ($109k - $114k)

2. Director of Corporate Relations, New York Cares, NYC ($100k - $118k)

3. Director, Emerging Partnerships & Sponsorship, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brookline, MA

4. Director, Corporate Initiatives, Alzheimer's Association, Topeka, KS ($125k - $150k)

🧠🍌 Brain Food

1. Only 38% of people think businesses should speak publicly on current events, but maybe they should do it anyway.

2. I love the concept of the Living Roof Bus Shelter Initiative. Boston has the largest installation of green roofs on bus shelters in North America. Boston is #1 again!

3. The garden’s final showstopper: goldenrod and asters! These two plants fuel native pollinators as they prepare for winter. If you only add two plants to your garden, make them goldenrod (Solidago) and asters (Symphyotrichum). There are a ton of varieties that thrive in any condition—from the sun to shade, wet to dry. Ditch the mums and go for these two native powerhouses!

A bonus is that both are easy to grow from seed, which I did last winter. I get most of mine from Prairie Moon Nursery, which partners​ with the nonprofit Xerces Society.

BTW, goldenrod won't trigger your allergies. Ragweed is the culprit!