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Tomorrow is the big day! Jen Maffeo-Morrissey of S3 Catalysts is joining me for a FREE webinar on Thursday, June 5, 2025, at 1 p.m. EDT . Jen will share her Fit, Fuel, Footing Framework - a practical, no-nonsense approach to qualifying prospects based on alignment, available resources, and actual readiness to engage. Why this matters NOW New data from Benevity and ACCP shows that corporate giving isnt slowing down, but companies are shifting: theyre integrating their social and environment
In January, we discussed where partnerships are headed in 2025 with Brittany Hill from Accelerist. The takeaway? Companies are still in, but theyre being more selective and strategicand a whole lot slower. Its not about casting a wide net anymore. Its about aligning with the right partners and knowing how to move them forward. In April, we tackled the art of outreach with Melanie Newell from Rocket Social Impact.
Guess what? In the age of AI and short attention spans, generic partnership decks are getting ignored. The new standard? Short, punchy pitches so tailored they feel hand-delivered. I call them 'just-in-time partnership pitches." But you dont need hoursor a research teamto make a prospect feel like the only one in your inbox. Try this 3-question framework in your next email: 1.
Today, I'm answering readers' questions on my upcoming presentation at this year's Corporate Partnerships Conference (CPC25) , How to Create a Lead-Generating Partnership Newsletter. Joe, Can you elaborate on why a partnership newsletter is so important to corporate partnership programs? - M.Y., Chicago Great question! Let me answer this in two ways: Keeping current partners engaged.
Three things this week. First, I'm joining Heather Nelson of BridgeRaise for a LinkedIn Live conversation on one of my favorite topics: PARTNERSHIP CASE STUDIES! Join us TODAY at noon as I share all my secrets for writing powerful case studies that convert prospects into partners. Really, friends, I'll be giving away everything - or as much as time allows!
Three things this week. First, I've talked with some of you about the government's hold on grants and funding. Fortunately, the hold was lifted. But what happened SCARED THE out of people - and rightfully so. People have asked: What can partnership teams do? Here's my three-point strategy. Ask companies to step up and support you NOW. Its the smart way to stay ahead of future challenges.
Tomorrow is the big day. Accelerist's Brittany Hill and I are hosting a webinar tomorrow, January 30, at 2 p.m. EST on social impact and partnership trends. Together, well explore the real drivers shaping partnerships in 2025. I'm excited about tomorrow and already brimming with great insights to share, so I decided to publish this special edition of my newsletter to give you a sneak peek!
January is the month for predictions. Everyones got one: X will revolutionize Y, or Z is the next big thing. But heres the dealpredictions are a gamble. Theyre flashy, speculative, and often flat-out wrong. I know this for sure because I've made lots of awful predictions. I've learned there's something better: Trends. Trends arent wild guesses about the future.
Lets address an important housekeeping matter in this first issue of 2025: How we can work together in the coming year. Below is a pie chart highlighting how I collaborated with clients last year and provided value through my work. The percentages are derived from revenue. Let's go through each one. Speaking: This was my largest area of work last year, including in-person and online presentations.
As we've been doing every issue, let's recap our series on partnership lead generation for this year's final quarter. First, I outlined nine actionable ways to attract more and better leads. Then, I shared three compelling reasons your partnership team should publish a lead-generating newsletter. Next, I dove into the essential sections every partnership newsletter needs for maximum impact.
I'm again excited to join the Corporate Partnerships Conference (CPC24) ! ???? Here are four reasons why you should join me at CPC24 on Thursday, March 21st. ? Corporate partnerships are everywhere now. They are no longer just local, regional, or national. THEY ARE INTERNATIONAL. And this is the only truly international conference on corporate partnerships.
Every partnership professional I talk to wants to partner with well-known businesses that are already supporting great causes. It's a solid strategy, but you should also spend at least some of your time targeting new businesses or startups. Imagine getting on the ground floor of a startup! Instead of waiting in line behind your competitors, you'll be first to develop a deep and long-term relationship.
One of the things I really like about AI tools such as ChatGPT is its emphasis on answers over results. When I type a question into Google, I get a bunch of articles I then have to read through. ?? But when I type a question into ChatGPT, I get the answer to my question! A benefit of ChatGPT is I can ask it to limit its search for answers to the content published on Selfish Giving.
Happy New Year! ??? Three things this week.? 1️⃣ A big thank you to everyone who took my survey before the holidays. My goal was to get 5% of my subscribers to complete it. I hit 7%! ? 2️⃣ Everyone who completed the survey was entered into a random drawing to win a Selfish Giving tee. The first batch of t-shirts will go out this week! Some of you will be getting vintage and collectible CauseTalk Radio tees!
Don't forget tomorrow's webinar on how sales coaching can turbocharge your partnership team's success. We have two fabulous presenters.?? Dan Cohen, Founder, Cause Partners Courtney Davidson , Corporate Partnerships, Wounded Warrior Project PUT ME IN COACH ✍️ Partnership Notes 1. This cannabis retailer encourages customers to recycle the plastic that encases certain cannabis products by offering a $4 pre-rolled joint for every piece of packaging they return.
I've got an early holiday gift for you.? A Zoom webinar with me, Dan Cohen , Founder of Cause Partners , and Courtney Davidson , Associate Director of Corporate Partnerships at Wounded Warrior Project. Dan and Courtney will dive into how sales coaching can turbocharge your partnership team's success by moving prospects through the pipeline swiftly and effectively.
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.
I'm talking about nostalgia with some nostalgia of my own today. This post was a big hit last fall. I've updated it with some new pumpkin spice! ? ? ☕️ 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??
This week, I want to share a case study project I'm working on with the fabulous Abby Horrigan , Senior Director of Corporate Initiatives at Keep America Beautiful (KAB). As a seasoned corporate partnership professional, Abby knows how critical social proof is for securing partnerships. That's why she partnered with me to write several case studies and to improve KAB's corporate partnership landing page.
I'M BACK! What a trip! The sites! The pesto! The gelato! ?? Northern Italy was a-mazing, gang. ???? Still, I'm happy to be back home and writing today. And today is extra special because IT'S ALSO MY BIRTHDAY! ??? Fortunately, I stopped counting years ago. 29-forever, friends! 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.
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. ? The word BRAND means different things to different people. "A brand is what people experience when they come into contact with you." "A brand is a promise. A good brand is a promise kept.
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. The new feature is Google’s AI-powered Search Generative Experience , or SGE for short.
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.
I recently downloaded the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals' 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 large companies filled out the survey. Here are four things that caught my eye and how nonprofits should respond. ✅ CSR and ESG teams are working harder than ever (Page 3).
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.
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.
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 it when stores and shelves are well-lit. "The entire store looks cleaner, brighter, and fresher, which leads to larger basket sizes, increased profitability per average shopper, and stronger store loyalty.
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: Write a [type (e.g., informal, professional, with a Boston accent)] sales email for a corporate partnership with [nonprofit], which is the perfect partner for a company that wants to give back and reach a valuable target audience.
The American Revolution started over a broken contract. So, discussing partnership contracts the week before Independence Day seems only appropriate. According to the Declaration of Independence, King George III broke the social contract between himself and his subjects, the American colonists. (Boy, punctuation and capitalization were off the rails in 1776!
The Chronicle of Philanthropy shared an interesting article last month titled Unrealistic Fundraising Expectations Are Causing Stress. Here's How to Set More Practical Goals. The writer was Rasheeda Childress , Senior Editor for Fundraising with the publication. She's one of my faves! Boy, is this advice needed in fundraising - particularly in corporate partnerships, right?
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!
Monday is the day I usually set aside for writing the "Note from Joe" section of my newsletter. That's the section you are reading right now. This last Monday was different in two ways. First, Monday was Memorial Day, so it felt more like a Sunday than a Monday. Still, I was committed to finishing my "Note from Joe." Second, just as I started writing it, my wife came home and told me something that would upend my day.
I had a great time at the Engage for Good Conference in Atlanta last week. It was fantastic to meet so many of my readers and catch up with many old friends! ? I have yet to see the evaluations on my presentation - Creating Case Studies That Strengthen Your Programs: A Workshop For Businesses & Nonprofits - but it went well. I had a good crowd, people were engaged, and they asked lots of wicked smahht questions!
I'm busy this week teaching in the New Strategies Program in the business school at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. I'm teaching 30+ nonprofit leaders how to raise money with corporate partnerships. Woo-hoo! ? For that reason, I'm keeping this week's newsletter short! ✍️ Partnership Notes 1. Did you miss the Q&A session I held last Thursday with the gang at Good Scout???
Remember to register for tomorrow's live Q&A on maximizing corporate partnerships! On Thursday, May 4th, at 1 pm EDT , I'll be hosting a Q&A session with Charisse and Blair from Good Scout. ❤️❤️ ?????? The theme of this Q&A session will be how you can MAXIMIZE corporate partnerships with your current resources, assets, and staffing. We've got some great questions!
On Thursday, May 4th, at 1 pm EDT , I'll be hosting a Q&A session with the fantastic team at Good Scout. We'll be answering all your questions about corporate partnerships. ?????? The theme of this Q&A session will be how you can MAXIMIZE corporate partnerships with your current resources, assets, and staffing. You probably hear enough from people about what you should be adding or planning for , but what should you do with the things you already have???
Last week, I talked about my upcoming triumphant return ??? to the Engage for Good Conference next month and a special get-together I'm planning for people that sign up for the conference with this code: ???? SGEFG ???? ( SG = Special Group!) The bottom line is that you should register right now! You'll also save $$$ as rates go up at the beginning of May.
Last week, I left you on a cliffhanger. I told you about Todd Arrington , historic site manager at the James A. Garfield National Historic Site (JAGNHS) in Mentor, Ohio, and his tremendous job building an audience on Twitter. He's amassed over 25,000 followers! You can read part one here. ? A bit of a review. Building an audience - as Todd has done - is a critical first step on the road to success with corporate partnerships.and everything else, BTW.
I'm busy teaching at the New Strategies Forum at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, but. Tas Cassim from the Black Dog Institute has an important message about our case study presentation at Corporate Partnerships Everywhere , TOMORROW, Thursday, March 16th. ✍️ Partnership Notes 1. How to do cause marketing with self-storage companies.
Last week, I talked about my upcoming presentation at Corporate Partnerships Everywhere on Thursday, March 16th. Case study superhero Tas Cassim from Black Dog Institute in Oz and I will discuss case studies. One of the reasons case studies are so darn effective is that they are helpful mid- and bottom-funnel. In short, when a prospect is beyond the awareness stage and is really considering partnering with your organization, case studies can move the conversation closer to a sealed deal. ????
Last week, my wife and I stopped by a local restaurant to pick up some takeout. Like most places we visit now, the cashier asked us to pay via a slick payment screen on the counter. After tapping the screen with her credit card, she was prompted to leave a tip, which she did. As we walked back to the car with our food, I asked why she had left a tip.
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