Compelling business case for partnerships
I am passionate about corporate-charity partnerships because of the positive impact they make on the world. They also deliver significant benefits for the company and the charity.
A great example is the partnership between Fever Tree and Malaria No More. They have partnered together since 2013 to save millions of lives from malaria. This partnership is hugely beneficial for Fever Tree because it helps them stand out from their competitors, and it makes their colleagues feel proud to work for a purpose-driven company. It also delivers significant benefits for Malaria No More because it has increased their profile and raised over £1.75 million to fight malaria.
There are many more examples of inspirational partnerships between companies and charities. However, according to the UK Civil Society Almanac 2003 donations from companies only account for 5% of total voluntary income for charities. It seems that we are scratching the surface when it comes to corporate-charity partnerships.
The need for evidence
We believe this is because many companies aren’t aware of the opportunity of charity partnerships. This could be because the benefits for companies are less obvious than the benefits for charities.
Indeed, last year we asked a small number of companies whether charity partnerships deliver significant value for their organisation. 45% said they neither agree nor disagree with that statement.
This suggests that companies are either undecided or unaware of the value of charity partnerships. But they could be convinced if they were shown evidence that they deliver commercial value.
Profitable Partnerships Research
So we decided to carry out research to gather this evidence. We worked with Rogare – The Fundraising Think Tank – to review academic publications from across the world. We also interviewed eight business and charity leaders.
We called this research Profitable Partnerships because it provides a compelling business case for companies to partner with charities.
Here are some highlights from the research:
- Statistical analysis of 2,000 of the world’s biggest companies showed that giving more to charity led to increased financial performance. (Liang and Renneboog, 2017)
- Corporate philanthropy generates “positive moral capital” among a company’s stakeholders that is well received by them. (Godfrey, 2005)
- This moral capital acts as “insurance-like protection” for the company’s intangible assets, particularly its relationships with stakeholders. (Godfrey, 2005)
- “The benefit for companies is you're engaging people, you're building loyalty within teams. You're making a more collegiate atmosphere. You're making a more attractive place to come and work. You're able to demonstrate social value for commercial purposes.” (Tom Roundell Greene, Head of Sustainability at Carter Jonas)
- “When I was working at School Home Support, there was a very long-standing partnership with a company called Liberum. There was lots of on the ground volunteering. We did a survey and we were able to demonstrate quantifiably the increased connection that volunteers had to Liberum as a business as a result our partnership.” (Laura Hughes-Onslow, Director of Development at The Mayor’s Fund for London)
We recommend you use this evidence when you meet your corporate partners or prospects to persuade them to build ambitious partnerships with you.
Use this link to download your copy of the Profitable Partnerships Research.
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You can also:
- Check out our training courses: https://www.remarkablepartnerships.com/training/
- Connect with us on LinkedIn: Jonathan Andrews, Georgina Oxlade and Peter Chiswick
- Join our mailing list for inspiration, insights and practical advice: https://www.remarkablepartnerships.com/newsletter-sign-up/
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