How to secure a corporate charity partnership: Lessons from the CCP conference

Wondering how your charity can secure a corporate partnership? Last week, our team headed to London for the Corporate Charity Partnerships Conference. We spent the day listening to CSR leads, charities and partnership professionals talk about what makes a corporate charity partnership work, and what stops one before it starts. Here is what stayed with us, and what it means if you are hoping to build one.

Prove your cause fits their mission

The first lesson is to read a corporate’s mission properly. Then show, specifically, where your cause and their mission meet.

It is rarely as simple as “we’re a digital inclusion charity and you’re a tech company”. The strongest corporate partnerships for charities have a link that is more specific and harder to argue with.

Crisis and Specsavers are a great example. Specsavers’ mission is eye and ear care for all and Crisis were able to prove how homelessness increases risk of sensory deterioration. Together they have conducted research which found that 50% of people experiencing homelessness reported a reduction in their hearing and sight. Of those, 40% went on to develop a condition. That is an incredibly specific connection. Supporting Crisis directly supports Specsavers’ mission, and nobody has to take that on trust, because the evidence is there.

Research your corporate partner’s priority

Missions are one thing, but priorities are another. One of the corporates at the conference said their CSR priority is employee engagement, and that everything they do is built around it. If a charity partnership does not give their colleagues plenty of ways to get involved, it is a non-starter for them. Other companies will care most about funding, volunteering, or sponsorship. Many make this information public, so do your homework before you reach out. A brilliant pitch aimed at the wrong priority might still fall flat.

How to pitch your cause

One of the best moments of the day was a live demonstration pitch from Trussell, followed by feedback from the corporates in the room. Three lessons came out of it for any charity pitching to a corporate.

Be clear about your ask. Whether you are asking for exposure, money, volunteers or a blend of the three, a corporate shouldn’t have to guess, because the more they have to work out for themselves, the harder you make their decision.

Tell a human story. Many of the charities followed one person’s journey through their work, and it was effective because it humanises what you do and explains why it matters in a way that feels real and grounded.

Don’t cram in the statistics. Statistics are valuable, but telling a clear and gripping story matters more, and if you pack in every number you have, the important ones tend to get lost along the way. The aim is to find a balance where the story does the heavy lifting and a few well-chosen figures back it up.

Top tip

This was one of our favourite takeaways, and it came from Donkey Business Consulting. Once you secure a corporate charity partnership, you will naturally share your impact with the corporation, but you should also ask them for a statistic in return about what the partnership has done for their business. That might be revenue growth, an increase in employee engagement or a greater sense of pride in working for the company. Those corporate stats are invaluable, because it strengthens your case when it is time to renew and it helps you win other corporate partners as well. So when you are negotiating, try to secure at least one statistic for yourself.

How corporate charity partnerships thrive on Crowdfunder

Our co-founder Dawn Bébe spoke at the conference about exactly this. When a charity fundraises on Crowdfunder while its corporate partners provide match funding, employee giving vouchers and/or volunteers, those partnerships really thrive. Colleagues get involved, the community gets behind the project, and the impact is easy to see.

She also introduced Bring Your Own Match, which is worth knowing about even if you don’t have a corporate partner yet. It gives you a way to secure match funding and support from anyone who is willing to offer it. That might be your local solicitor, or a larger organisation that isn’t able to commit to a full partnership right now but can give you something in the meantime.

There is a bonus. Every project you run is a case study. If you secure support from other organisations, you have real proof of community backing to take into your next corporate ask.