Newsletter: Confronting the ‘Woodchuck’ in Your Partnership Program 🦫 ; The Brands Taking a Bold Stand on Pride Month 🏳️🌈; I’m Part of the MEGA Movement ✊
Thanks to everyone who emailed me last week about my "Shell-ebration" post. I should have known that my readers would be huuuuggge turtle fans! 🐢🤩 Yay! 👏👏👏
👉🏻👉🏻 This week, I have another animal story for you that offers a few lessons about corporate partnerships.
Most of you know that I'm an AVID gardener. I spend most of my spring and summer planting flowers and digging out my lawn to make new beds to - you guessed it - plant even more flowers! I'm even experimenting with a vegetable garden this year.🥕🍅🥒 My first one!
Dealing with wildlife is a common issue for gardeners.
I'm lucky I don't have any issues with deer. Deer can wipe out a garden in one night! I mainly get bunnies, which can be a hassle, but they're not so bad. I didn't realize how lucky I had it until this past weekend when a family of woodchucks (aka groundhogs) made a reservation for three in my garden.
Oh, boy.
When I went out the other morning and saw how many plants they had mowed down in just one night, I wanted to scream (Cry? Both?) 😱
But I'm not one to cry over spilled milk (or cut flowers). I approached the challenge of these interlopers with the same process I teach my partnership coaching clients.
🔬 Analyze the problem. I knew nothing about woodchucks that dreadful morning. But that changed a lot in just a few hours! I started by researching woodchucks and learning everything I could about them.
Did you know that woodchucks aren't nighttime eaters? Like me, they like to eat first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon. We have something in common!
Identifying and analyzing the problem is also how you should approach a corporate partnership problem.
What do you need help with? Could your prospecting be better? Do your cold emails to prospects never get replies? Are you scared to pitch a partnership to a group of corporate executives?
Take a good look at my Partnership Solicitation Process Map and identify your WOODCHUCK 🦫 (aka your nuisance!). Like me, you may have more than one!
To find a solution, you first have to be clear about what your problem is...and then deal with it.
🎓 Get expert advice. After investigating woodchucks, I next reached out to woodchuck experts.
I talked to the animal control officer in my city. I called MassWildlife - my state's division of fisheries and wildlife - and spoke to an actual woodchuck researcher. And, yes, I eventually spoke to exterminators. Sadly, they would have to euthanize the woodchucks if they trapped them (Massachusetts state law). But they didn't want to kill my woodchucks any more than I did. They presented several better options.
You also need to get expert advice on your challenge - and don't stop with Google search. Here's an idea: Hit reply to this email and ask ME about your partnership challenge and how to address it. If I can't answer your question, I know someone who can.
🐢 Be patient. As I'm writing this newsletter tonight, I can't lie: I'm worried about what tomorrow will bring. I haven't solved my problem yet, and I know that a few more plants will probably be gone tomorrow. But that's okay because I'm working toward a long-term solution.
(😮💨 Thankfully, I'm also growing several dozen plants in a fenced-in enclosure in my backyard, so, yeah, I have a few extra plants to replace the ones eaten! I gleaned an important gardening lesson from this experience: ABG = Always. Be. Growing.😀🌿)
Whatever your problem is with corporate partnerships, you won't solve it overnight. It takes time. You have to be patient.
If you are clear on your problem. If you've done your research. If you've consulted the experts and chosen a path of action, what else can you do but be...hopeful?
Tomorrow will be a better day, if for no other reason than you're heading in the right direction!
"I’m not afraid of storms woodchucks, for I’m learning how to sail my ship deal with them."
— Louisa May Alcott
✍️ Partnership Notes
1. Some brands are following through on their Pride Month campaigns. Then there are those hyprocrites that wave the rainbow flag with one hand and, with the other hand, give money to anti-LGBTQ politicians.
2. Seven things you should never say in a negotiation. #5: 'Let's work out the details later.' SMFH. 🤦🏼♂️ Here's an eighth thing for you male readers: "When are you due?"
3. I often say there are three types of decision-makers: Thinkers, Feelers, and Deferers. Feelers respond to emotional appeals, and one way to connect with them is by telling stories. Check out example #4 on this list.
🤑 Marketing Your Cause
1. Nonprofits are getting harder to find online. You could focus more on SEO, but with limited staff and resources, nonprofits should focus instead on building an audience via email marketing. You'll own the audience and won't be so dependent on Google.
2. Why your nonprofit should go completely old-school and use postcards.
3. Why your nonprofit should go completely old-old-school and use Facebook, according to Auntie Anne’s Pretzels.
😎 Cool Jobs in Cause
1. Partnership Manager, KaBOOM!, Bethesda, MD ($65k - $70k)
2. Associate Director, Corporate Sponsorships, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Remote
3. Corporate Giving Relationship Manager, Friends of the Children-Boston, Boston
4. Manager, Corporate Partnerships, Susan G. Komen, Remote
5. Director of Corporate Partnerships, One Warm Coat, Remote
🧠🍌 Brain Food
1. Is "stunt philanthropy" here to stay? Or is it just a fad dressed up like a stunt?
2. Dave Pell, the author of NextDraft, is one of my favorite newsletter writers. I support his MEGA movement.
