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Hidden opportunities

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October 16, 2025

Written by Peter Chiswick, Director of Corporate, Remarkable Partnerships.

Paintbrush story

When I was working for a global technology company in a sales strategy role, I was asked to attend a volunteering day at a local charity with other heads of department, including colleagues from IT, HR and Marketing. We all arrived with a real sense of anticipation, and real excitement that we could use our collective talent to make a huge impact for the charity. So you can imagine our surprise when we were shown into a yard with pots of paint and paint brushes, and told to paint a wall. We tried to explain that we wanted to use our skills to help support the charity’s needs. Despite our best efforts, they simply couldn’t understand the opportunity we were offering. So we went back to the yard and the paint pots, picked up the brushes and began to paint.

I knew from that moment that I wanted to change the way charities and companies worked together to create real value, but I had no idea where to start.

Series of missed opportunities

As I continued to work within the corporate sector, I did manage to make minor changes along the way, by setting up small scale employee pro-bono activities which focused on developing employee skills as part of their annual performance review. Although there were positive results, my company was still not convinced as to the value that charities could bring. Things quickly went back to normal, only wanting to invest in one off, ad-hoc transactional relationships.

The power of purpose

Then, the pandemic changed everything. I noticed there was sudden increase in expectation from society for organisations to demonstrate they were purpose-driven. Companies started to respond, by publicly stating they understood the importance of leading with purpose by seeing this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to transform and redefine their organisations for the future. With purpose at the centre, it was used as a compass to guide decision-making and deliver wider stakeholder impact.

Key corporate research organisations such as Forbes and Harvard provided evidence that purpose led companies were outperforming their competition, building loyalty and reputation with their customers, unleashing the power of employees and attracting and keeping the best talent. McKinsey endorsed this opinion by confirming that “Winning companies are driven by purpose, reach higher for it, and achieve more because of it.”

Taking advantage of the new economic climate, I left the corporate sector to become a consultant for Remarkable Partnerships. Even though I could see the momentum building towards purpose led business, it was clear that only a small amount of companies actually understood the way to be truly purpose led was through strategic charity partnerships. The majority were still using transactional relationships supported by ESG reports to demonstrate their purpose.

Research reveals missed opportunities

Our new research, “Hidden Opportunities”, reveals that both companies and charities are missing out on significant value by not partnering together in a strategic way.

This is due to a mismatch in expectations, different cultures and the need for proof of value. In summary:

Companies are less convinced than charities that corporate-charity partnerships deliver against core objectives.
Almost half of companies are seeking proof of the value of charity partnerships.
Mismatched expectations are holding back partnerships.
Cultural barriers points to the need to focus on shared purpose.
Proof of value and expert advice could unlock partnership opportunities.

We recommend that you build your partnerships on shared purpose, so both parties are clear about “why” the partnership is so important. Also, make sure you agree strategic partnership priorities, which will make it easier to provide compelling proof of value.

Let's act together

We hope this blog inspires you to work with us to the to seize the significant opportunity of purpose-driven corporate-charity partnerships. Together we can share examples of successful corporate-charity partnerships, which will embolden other organisations to follow their lead..

We hope you found this blog useful. If you would like to access the Hidden Opportunities research report please click this link. 

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1. Your Relationship: People Buy From People

The first key is trust and rapport. People buy from people they know, like and trust, which is why relationship-building is such an important part of corporate partnerships.

The strongest partnerships are rarely built in a single meeting. They are built over time through conversations, consistency and genuine interest in the other person.

Sometimes the simplest moments have the biggest impact.

Taking a few minutes to ask about someone’s weekend, holiday plans or family life helps people feel comfortable and valued. It also helps you learn more about your prospect as a person, not just as a company representative.

Remembering those details matters, questions like: “How was your holiday to Greece?” or “How’s your child settling into school?” show genuine care and help build trust over time.

Authenticity is everything. People quickly sense when relationship-building is forced or transactional and the best partnerships are built on genuine human connection.

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**2. Emotional Engagement: Make Them Feel Something**

The second key is empathy and passion about the need. People make decisions emotionally before they justify them logically. If you want a company to truly engage with your charity, they need to feel connected to the cause.

‍That’s why storytelling is so powerful.

Sharing a real story about someone your charity has supported creates emotional connection in a way statistics and presentations rarely can. Videos, service visits and first-hand experiences can be equally impactful.

When people emotionally connect with your mission, the conversation changes. It moves from: “This sounds interesting…” to: “We need to help.”

Emotion creates urgency, deepens commitment, and it often unlocks far greater value in partnerships.

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3. The Business Case: Solve Their Problem

The third key is commercial value, clearly showing what the company will gain from partnering with you.

The reality is that even if a prospect loves your cause and enjoys working with you, they still need to justify the partnership internally. Decision-makers need to see how the partnership supports their business goals, priorities or challenges.

That’s why understanding your prospect’s needs is so important. Every company is trying to achieve something. They may want to:

Increase brand awareness
Improve employee engagement
Build customer loyalty
Generate PR opportunities
Reach new audiences

Your role is to understand what matters most to them and position your partnership as part of the solution. The best way to uncover this is by asking great questions:

“What are your biggest priorities this year?”
“What challenges is your team currently facing?”
“What would success look like for you?”

The more clearly you understand their objectives, the stronger your partnership proposition becomes. That’s what great partnerships do, they create mutual value.

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Unlocking The Door

One of the simplest ways to understand how close you are to securing a new partnership is to score your prospect out of 10 across all three areas:

Relationship
Emotional engagement
Commercial value

For example:

Relationship = 9/10
Emotional engagement = 8/10
Commercial value = 2/10

Even though two areas are strong, the partnership is still unlikely to unlock because one key is missing, and this is where many partnership opportunities stall.

Scoring prospects helps you quickly identify what needs more attention:

Do you need to build more trust?
Create stronger emotional connections?
Strengthen the commercial case?

The goal is to get all three keys as close to 10 as possible. When all three keys turn together, that’s when remarkable partnerships happen.

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If you’d like to learn more about unlocking higher-value partnerships, contact Jonathan: jonathan@remarkablepartnerships.com

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What unlocks truly high-value corporate partnerships? It’s not just a great pitch. Discover the 3 essential keys every fundraiser needs to build stronger relationships, create emotional connection, and demonstrate real commercial value that companies can’t ignore.

Learn More

The Four Ways Charities Create Value For Businesses

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Charities help companies achieve the following goals:

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Employee Engagement and Retention

Corporate partnerships provide employees with opportunities to support causes that matter, strengthening morale and workplace culture.

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Competitive Differentiation

Working with charities helps businesses stand out and demonstrate purpose in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

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Sales Opportunities

Purpose-driven partnerships can strengthen customer relationships and attract new customers.

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Brand Trust and Credibility

Authentic partnerships help companies build stronger, more trusted brands.

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Right now, all four of these areas are top priorities for companies.

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Why Understanding Partnership Value Matters

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When charities understand how to measure and communicate their partnership value, something powerful happens.

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They gain the confidence to pitch bigger opportunities, create stronger proposals and negotiate partnerships based on the real value rather than guesswork.

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This shift allows charities to move beyond undervalued collaborations and instead build high-impact corporate partnerships that benefit both sides.

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Learn How To Calculate Your Partnership Value

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To help charities develop this confidence, Remarkable Partnerships have created a new service: Unlock Corporate Partnerships Value Workshop.

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This practical session is designed to help charities understand the value they can offer companies and apply a simple framework to calculate it.

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During the workshop, you will learn:

About the four types of partnership value.
Explore why understanding value helps secure higher-value corporate partnerships.
See examples from successful corporate charity partnerships.
Work through an interactive exercise calculating the value of a current partner or prospect.

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The session lasts 2 hours and 30 minutes and provides a practical method charities can continue using when developing future partnerships.

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If you’d like to learn more about the workshop, contact: jonathan@remarkablepartnerships.com

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Many charities undervalue their corporate partnerships, limiting both impact and opportunity. This article explores why, the real value charities bring to businesses, and how understanding it can unlock stronger partnerships, with a workshop for those looking to take it further.