Chapter 8: Corporate Outreach
IN THIS LESSON
Corporate Outreach—Forging Strategic Alliances
A corporate relationship with your organization is a strategic alliance that is mutually beneficial. While it can take the form of a straightforward donation, it is often more complex, with companies seeking to align their business goals with your mission. It's about finding a win-win scenario, where you secure vital funding and they gain valuable brand visibility, access to a new audience, or a reputation for corporate social responsibility.
Donation vs. Sponsorship
It is critical to understand the distinction between a corporate donation and a sponsorship. A sponsorship is a business transaction. The corporation provides money or in-kind services in exchange for a tangible benefit, such as brand visibility, marketing opportunities, or access to your organization's community. A donation, on the other hand, is a charitable gift to a tax-exempt organization. While there is no explicit expectation of a direct, tangible return, corporations often make these donations to enhance their public image and demonstrate their commitment to the local community. The key difference lies in the formality of the value exchange. A sponsorship is a clear transaction, while a donation is an investment in community goodwill.
When engaging in corporate outreach, you are not simply asking for a handout. You are offering a strategic investment opportunity where your organization's assets and community can provide a return on their investment. Even when a corporation makes a charitable donation, there's often an implicit expectation of value, such as enhancing their public image or demonstrating a commitment to the local community.
The Process of Corporate Outreach
Corporate outreach is a systematic process of identifying, preparing for, and negotiating with potential corporate partners. According to COGEO's methodology, the process involves these key steps:
Preparation
Before you approach a single business, you must do your homework. This involves understanding just how much activity your organization generates in order to create metrics that ultimately speak the language of for-profit business. You are a valuable aggregator of the exact type of community they are seeking to support or do business with, and it is vital that you understand this power. Almost every soccer-related organization COGEO has worked with, whether it's a club or a community-based organization, has vastly underestimated and undervalued its assets prior to formally assessing them with COGEO.
There is a particular process to determine these metrics through performing an Economic Impact Analysis, which ultimately seeks to determine some key metrics. You should begin by mapping out your organization's activities. From this data, you can determine valuable metrics, such as:
How many advertising hours do your programs present as an opportunity?
How many people (defined as impressions) will be exposed to either their static or engaging sponsorship activity during the year?
How many hours will people be exposed?
Who will be exposed to them? This involves understanding the demographics of your community, such as their average net worth and other attractive characteristics.
The ability to communicate your value to a business in metrics they understand and value is a major differentiator. Providing a company with the metrics generated by your community’s activities provides them the information they need to generate the proper formulas for calculating return on investment (ROI) and a level of engagement that works for them.
Communicating Value
This involves identifying potential partners who are the right fit for your organization. You should look for businesses that have a genuine connection to your community or a stated interest in youth development. You can identify these prospects through:
Corporate intelligence screening: Use tools to research businesses and their giving history.
Leveraging your network: Ask parents, board members, and volunteers where they work.
Engaging with local business groups: Join your local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, or other civic organizations.
Prospecting
Negotiation
The key to a successful negotiation is to remember that you are building a win-win partnership. You should never offer a pre-determined sponsorship package. Instead, have an initial conversation first to learn more about their goals, systems, and how they make decisions. Then use the data you collected in the preparation phase to craft a customized offer that meets the business's specific marketing or social responsibility goals while also meeting your monetary goals.
Conclusion
Corporate outreach is about creating mutually beneficial partnerships that go beyond a simple financial transaction. By understanding your organization's value and learning to speak the language of business, you can forge powerful alliances that secure vital resources for your mission while providing your partners with a meaningful return on their investment.