An Advisory Approach to Partnerships
The corporate partnership development lifecycle can be a grind. As the graphic below indicates, one often ends the day thankful that they survived the barrage of not interested at this time or remove me from the mailing list messages received in response to an introductory email.
However, it doesn’t always have to be this way. At Blue Arrow, we work to make the process of finding corporate partners more about thriving than surviving for our clients. Relying on relevant and timely research, embracing the art of adaptability and telling the right story can take the “no” to “yes” and move you from the left to right image.
What can corporate partners do for my project?
Partnerships are an important ingredient for growing your business and sustaining your project. This critical piece of the ‘funding pie’ can be used to offset any debt taken on to facilitate the project, provide necessary resources to expand, cover operational expenses and so much more.
Of course, this is not a one sided relationship. Partners will require well-defined benefits in exchange for providing and monetary resources. Options could include naming rights (if building a new facility, for example) to sponsored emails directed at a specific demographic within your existing customer base. And everything in between.
Luckily, Blue Arrow has the expertise and experience to identify and evaluate what corporate partners find enticing.
Can somebody help me find corporate partners if I lack the time or resources to do so on my own?
We sure can! No matter if you are a for-profit or nonprofit organization, Blue Arrow can supplement efforts to identify corporate partners, thus providing your team with actionable research and professionally designed materials with our Partnership Advisory Service.
Working with Blue Arrow can take the time consuming asset valuation, research on good-fit corporate partners, and messaging development components of a project off of your to-do list.
The Partnership Advisory Service at Blue Arrow exists to equip your team with the proper tools for your toolkit. In this advisory role, Blue Arrow provides three categories of assistance to all clients.
Prospect Research
Collateral Creation
Ongoing Support
What is included in each category of the Partnership Advisory Service?
Prospect Research
The first step in signing a corporate partner is identifying qualified prospect organizations. We look at ‘best-fit’ criteria that includes capacity to spend, regional or local presence and sponsorship history - to name a few.
For each of our clients, we set an initial target of 150 qualified corporate prospects, with three
verified points-of-contact at each organization, typically in a marketing, business development or foundation role. We also take into account any specific targets from our client, making sure this is a collaborative endeavor.
An intuitive Dashboard that serves as a repository for all information regarding partnership conversations. Dashboard training is available to clients once the Prospect List is finalized.
Collateral Creation
Telling the right story is critically important to securing partnership dollars. Turning a prospect into a partner often requires tremendous effort and time. To make the most efficient use of said time, having a clear, compelling and visually appealing message can make a tremendous difference.
We build the partnership collateral to help you tell that story:
Vision Deck: A professional and concise slide presentation overview of your team, project, and related partnership opportunities, all in a way that makes a compelling case to start a conversation. This can be adapted to a Pitch Deck as conversations progress.
Asset List with Valuations: A menu of physical naming opportunities and programmatic assets related to your project, including pricing recommendations and descriptions, based on research and industry standards, to guide your conversations and share with prospects.
Outreach Templates: Initial and follow-up email outreach templates that are written to generate interest from identified corporate prospects in an efficient manner.
Blue Arrow realizes that every project is different. While a Vision Deck, Asset List with Valuations and Outreach Templates make up our core collateral offering, we can add or subtract based on your needs. For example, we also offer a professional Branding and Logo creation.
Ongoing Support
Blue Arrow believes that the most effective partnership development strategy is one that is executed by a team embedded in the local market considering local relationships are key to success. This means that your team will be primarily responsible for outreach and cultivation. But we set your team up for success, identifying prospects, crafting the message, and ensuring you have the materials that will reflect your professionalism and vision. Blue Arrow will also be there to assist with finalizing and onboarding partners throughout our engagement.
Our ongoing support encompasses strategic advising, meeting preparation, pitch formulation, deck customizations and contract negotiation. Members of our team can join prospect calls to gather information firsthand and provide input, as needed.
The key thing to remember is that you are not in this alone.
How do I add to my partnership toolkit?
If you are interested in moving from surviving to thriving on the partnership development journey, set up a free consultation today.