Who's had success recruiting new corporate partners at events like trade shows?

Anyone? Anyone?

It's not something I'm an expert on.

That's why I'm glad ​I came across this interview​ with Brian D'Erario, a partnership expert who's worked with several well-known publications, including Morning Brew.

He offered some solid advice we can use at the next trade show we attend…

Whenever I finish a case study for a client, I remind them this is only the first draft, meaning the case study should evolve and adapt to different prospects.

This makes clients nervous because while they are happy to hire me to write the case study, they don't want to rely on me to make every change.

So, I've been exploring how the free version of ChatGPT can help my clients update the case studies independently….

I'm at Georgetown University this week teaching in the New Strategies Program in the business school.

Teaching at Georgetown is a regular gig, but this session is slightly different.

It's called the New Strategies "Rising" Program, focused on small nonprofits with budgets under one million, and many operate on much less.

My goal is to show them how to recruit event sponsors and cause marketing partners. It's not an easy task as they are small and have limited staff, time, and likely little experience working with companies beyond grants.

Here's what I'll recommend….

The second most popular article in my newsletter last week was on ​how nonprofits could use Instagram more effectively​.

You loved it so much that I thought I'd give you more social media advice.

Don't include links in your social media posts.

Here's why….

In a recent issue of The Drum, UK Marketer Harry Lang used a ​simple 3-point star​ to define the potential benefits of cause marketing for each party: consumer, company, and cause.

According to Harry:

"It's about identifying a great fit and maintaining a shared commitment and balanced equity for both parties. The cause and the brand must share a common mission and objectives, and the audience (media and customers) must feel that the union is appropriate and not disingenuous."

This month's thought-provoking article in the Harvard Business Review is titled ​3 Ways to Determine What Your Customer Really Values​.

Let's change the title to 3 Ways to Determine What Your PARTNER Really Values and see what we can learn about corporate partnerships.

Consider where they sit on these three scales when approaching a prospective partner. ⚖️ The author suggests you do this in the order presented….

Have you noticed that pumpkin spice is like...EVERYWHERE.

Candles, coffees, teas, chips, vodka, donuts, Twinkies, and PEEPS (my favorite!).

👉🏻👉🏻 So, if everything has pumpkin spice in it this fall, shouldn't your partnership strategy also have a little pumpkin spice mixed in??

Now, before you stop reading and conclude that the pumpkin has finally slid off Joe's pumpkin-flavored cracker, hear me out...

This week I want to share a case study project I just finished with the wonderful Abby Horrigan, Senior Director of Corporate Initiatives at Keep America Beautiful (KAB).

As a seasoned corporate partnership professional, Abby knows how important social proof is in securing partnerships. That's why she partnered with me to write several case studies and to improve KAB's corporate partnership landing page.

Together, we...

While I didn't find any great examples of cause marketing in Italy, ​as I did last year​, I did find a potential cause marketing opportunity in my inbox when I got home.

This is for those readers who always ask me for ideas for LOCAL CAUSE MARKETING.

"Joe, we don't have a lot of chains in our area, just lots of independent and mom-and-pop businesses. How can we do cause marketing and raise some moolah?" 🤑

Scrolling through the thousands of emails I got while I was away, I came across this ​bakery crawl​ in my hometown of Newton, Massachusetts…

For the next two Wednesdays, I'll be in Italy and then Washington, D.C., and I will NOT be publishing a newsletter again until Wednesday, September 27th.

Last September, we visited Rome, Sorrento, and Pompeii. Incredible trip! This year, we are visiting Florence and the Tuscany region.

Any great recommendations on good restaurants or unique places to visit are much appreciated!

I like this cartoon UK fundraiser ​Mark Philips​ shared on Twitter X yesterday.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

👉🏻👉🏻 For our purposes, let's replace fundraising with corporate partnerships….

I love sharing articles with you every week, but I also know reading them takes a lot of time! I recently came across something new from Google that should make things easier, thanks to AI!

Some of you may have this new feature on your phones right now! If not, you should have it soon. It will also be coming to desktops…

Back in April, after using my newsletter to plug my presentation on case studies at the Engage for Good Conference in Atlanta, so many people pre-registered for my session that we ran out of room!

EFG head honcho and New Yorker David Hessekiel asked me (on his hands and knees with a Red Sox hat on, no less) if I would consider doing an encore presentation via Zoom in August.

Since I can't say NO to groveling David, I'm doing it again! 🤷‍♂️😂…

I recently downloaded the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP) ​2023 Annual CSR Insights Survey​. The survey has been conducted for the past four years to understand better the trends impacting CSR and ESG professionals.

One hundred forty-nine companies filled out the survey.

Here are four things that caught my eye and how nonprofits should respond…

Barbie is everywhere - and not just in the movie theaters. People are writing about Barbie ("Ten Life Lessons from the First Ten Minutes of the Barbie Movie"). People are selling things with Barbie (Barbie Dreamhouse in Malibu listed on Airbnb). If you don't believe me, just Google "Barbie Movie" and see what happens!

BARBIE. IS. EVERYWHERE.

People and brands are newsjacking the Barbie movie.

Newsjacking is all about…

My friends at Remarkable Partnerships (RP) in the U.K. recently published a great post on the mismatched expectations hurting partnerships. You should read the article and check out the report they released.

Here's the mismatch in a nutshell. 🥜

Nonprofits want to raise money, but companies want to meet their ESG objectives, grow their brand profile, and engage employees.

Nonprofits and companies aren't exactly on the same page…

Corporate partnership teams could learn a lot from convenience stores (C-stores).

Here's a good takeaway: Have good lighting.

You see, c-store customers like when ​C-stores are well-lit​.

Better lighting, among other things, decreases store theft, as everyone knows shoplifters like to operate in the shadows!

Well, here's the connection between C-store lighting and your corporate partnership program...

Here's something to try this week.

Head over to ​ChatGPT​ and either signup or, if you already have an account, log in. BTW, signing up is easy and free, so don't sweat it!

Here's the prompt I want you to use…