Newsletter: Partnership Contracts: Lessons from the American Revolution ✊ ; How Cause Marketing Can Help Businesses Get People Back in the Office 🏢 ; 3 Things That Disconnect Donors from Your Cause

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!)

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Contracts matter and should be upheld. They should be honored when they are made between a king and his subjects - and when they are made between a nonprofit and a company.

But what should be in a contract?

Ironically, it was a post from my friends at Remarkable Partnerships in the U.K. (awkward, right?😬) that got me thinking about agreements and contracts.

They shared ​five recommendations for effective partnership agreements​. I liked their fourth point: Establish a dispute resolution mechanism. That's a great idea.

Their post reminded me that just three years ago, cause marketing attorney extraordinaire Karen Wu of Perlman & Perlman fame 🤩 and I shared a detailed post on contracts that included a 15-point agreement checklist.

The very first item on the checklist is to outline a clear description of the promotion, including:

• Name of the benefiting charitable organization and charitable purpose supported by the promotion

• Participating goods/services

• Dollar amount or percentage of the purchase price to be donated

• Promotion period

• Minimum guarantee or donation cap (if applicable)

• Any additional requirements to trigger a donation (e.g., coupon redemption, submission of special code, etc.)

​You can check out the other 14 points here​.

When you sign a contract, both partners agree to do certain things. Reneging can lead to hard feelings, bickering, litigation, and maybe even revolt.

King George should have thought twice. The fireworks he got for breaking his contract weren't the festive kind, and he lost the colonies. Let's make sure your contract is a cause for celebration.

✍️ Partnership Notes

1. How to do cause marketing with a business trying ​to get employees to return to the office​.

2. Have you downloaded Engage for Good's ​2023 America's Charity Checkout Champions Report​?

Get this: In 2022, more than $749 million was raised in the U.S. by 77 point-of-sale fundraising campaigns that each raised at least $1 million. 🤯🤯🤯

🤑 Marketing Your Cause

1. I ❤️ this rant from marketer Amanda Natividad. #1 speaks directly to nonprofits: ​Your marketing tests are a waste of time​.

2. ​How to talk to Gen X​ (aka people like me between the ages of 43-58).

3. Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? I do, and I bet you do too. But I wish the ALS Association would forget it. Their new fundraising idea: ​The CEO Soak​.

Really?

But it's not just ALSA. Tried and true ideas are why we have ​over a dozen other movies​ inspired by the 1976 blockbuster Rocky. But none of them have been as successful as the original.

The CEO Soak will be as popular as maybe Creed II. Still, I hope the ALSA raises a few bucks!

😎 Cool Jobs in Cause

1. Director of Strategic Partnerships, ​Society for Science​, Washington, DC

2. Director of Race Partnerships, ​Marathon Kids​, Austin, TX ($65k - $70k)

3. Associate Director, Corporate Sponsorships, ​Paralyzed Veterans of America​, Washington, DC

4. Director, Corporate Partnerships, ​Partnership for a Healthier America​, Washington, DC

5. Senior Director of Corporate Philanthropy, ​The Conservation Fund​, Washington DC-Baltimore Area

🧠🍌 Brain Food

1. ​3 things that disconnect donors from your cause​…and four that connect them. I hate when nonprofits do #3.

2. This is interesting. It's the latest edition of ​The Geography of Giving​, an analysis of contributions made through Fidelity Charitable, the giant donor-advised fund program established by Fidelity Investments.

Jump ahead to page 13 of the report and check out the top 20 nonprofits supported by Fidelity DAFs.

For my Boston homies, ​this article lists the top 10 Bay State nonprofits​ supported by Fidelity DAFs.

3. I have your next big fundraising event: ​A bouncy house for adults​. But remember, it's all fun and games...until someone gets hurt! 🤕😅