Newsletter: Partnership Lessons From Rome's Colosseum 🏟 ; Booking.com Creates ‘Travel Proud’ Program for LGBTQ+ Community ✈️ ; Black Rifle Coffee: Socially Conscious, Politicly Incorrect ☕️

I'm back! 🇮🇹 And what a trip!

The sites! The food! The coffee! The corporate partnerships!

While I unplugged from my newsletter for TWO WHOLE WEEKS (a new record for me), I never really stopped thinking about corporate partnerships. I even learned a couple things about partnerships when my wife and I toured the Colosseum in Rome.

Our tour guide was discussing preservation efforts at the Colosseum and how the Italian government had turned to the business community for support.

It turned out to be a tough sell. While it's common here in the U.S. for companies to support public treasures, it's less common in Italy.

However, ONE COMPANY did step up: Tod's - which our guide described as a "footwear company."

Tod's Group is a bit more than a footwear company.

It's a family-led, publicly traded company that makes luxury shoes, leather goods, and generated nearly a billion dollars in revenue last year.

Tod's donated a hefty sum, $33 million. That's more than half of the $55 million cultural officials said was needed to keep the former arena for gladiators in fighting shape.

"At first we all said, 'Oh, no, the Colosseum will have a big shoe on the side of it,' but that hasn't happened... yet," our tour guide said.

I was curious what has happened so far and did a bit of research.

📜 Old meets new. While supporting public treasures is new for modern Rome, it isn't a new idea and has ancient roots. The House of Medici, the Italian banking family, funded the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica 500 years ago.

Rumor has it they did a charity pinup program at area banks. Even then companies liked OPM = Other People's Money.🙃

🤝 Partnerships beget partnerships. Tod's support for the Colosseum spurred other companies to support other public projects in Rome.

The Spanish Steps were restored with money from the jewelry and luxury goods store Bulgari.💎

Fashion house Fendi donated $3 million to restore the (wicked crowded) Trevi Fountain and other ⛲️ in the city.

👠 Tod's ain't getting a shoe on the Colosseum. But they will get their logo on the hundreds of thousands of Colosseum tickets sold each year. They also won the right to associate its brand with the Colosseum’s restoration in promotional material for up to 15 years.

🎙The real benefit is earned media. The PR team at Tod's has been working nonstop to promote the partnership. You don't need a gaudy billboard when you have millions of clicks, impressions, and views.

Check out this article and scroll to the bottom to see the Tod's for Colosseum promo reel. Slick, right?

These luxury brands are the Maximus Decimus Meridius of promotion, and have the smarts and muscle needed to promote their partnerships without ever bloodying themselves in a public fight over silly signage.

The chief executive of Fendi told a reporter that his company only has a modest plaque “about the size of a shoe box” near the Trevi Fountain to mark its role in the project.

Just a little trickle of publicity, he assured Romans.🤏

Please.

Like Rome’s famous fountains, the PR machine is always busy and never runs dry.

✍️ Partnership Notes

1. Imagine showing up somewhere for a vacation and not feeling like you are welcome. It happens! That's why Bookings.com created a Travel Proud program to help make travel a safer, more enjoyable experience for the LGBTQ+ community. I was surprised there was no mention of a nonprofit partner.

2. I bet one of your partners or prospects is on this list. 18 retailers at risk of bankruptcy as consumers tighten wallets in 2022.

3. A good article to share with your partners or prospects. Customers are researching brand stances and voting with their dollar ahead of the midterms

4. This is a clever idea. Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream lets people buy Coin Cards so they can handout ice cream for Halloween. An even better idea: Include a donation! 🪙 = 🍦= 🍽.

🤑 Marketing Your Cause

1. This Boston nonprofit is recruiting new donors by pitching them like a start-up might pitch an investor. I get the appeal of this approach, but a 🧠 AND ❤️ are still the best appeals.

2. LinkedIn Newsletter vs. Traditional Newsletter: Which one is better? For me, it's the latter hands down. But check out what writing coach Ann Handley has to say.

3. This is important subject for nonprofits to understand. Why you should be collecting and using first-party data.

4. Soooooo...it looks like Elon Musk IS going to buy Twitter. Good time reread what I wrote back in April.

😎 Cool Jobs in Cause

1. Senior Corporate Development Officer, New Partnerships, Habitat for Humanity International, Atlanta

2. Director of Strategic Partnerships, GLAAD, NYC, $100k - $130k

3. Business Development Manager, Move For Hunger, $50k

🧠🍌 Brain Food

1. Black Rifle Coffee and the challenge of being a socially conscious but politically incorrect company.

2. Video: Fake luxury shoe store prank proves luxury is just perception. Heck, isn't everything just a perception?

3. How did the Selfish Giving angel/devil costume not make the list? The top 10 Halloween costumes for 2022, according to Pinterest.