Corporate engagement is more about creative individualization, and less about standardization.

As associations and non-profits strive to increase non-dues revenue and diversify income streams, in many instances, corporate sponsorships and industry engagement are underutilized and undervalued. Our team helps you take a different approach to conversations with industry stakeholders that can result in increased industry engagement and ROI. What might be important to one corporate partner may not be a priority for another. Through our proven industry engagement model, we revolutionize non-dues revenue streams. Our approach takes sponsorships from transactions to long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships.

Sponsorships have historically been transactional, with dollars exchanged for a standardized package or list of unrelated items designed to gain exposure to constituents. They usually go something like this: 

Year 1-2: Corporation A pays $50,000 as a gold sponsor. In return, Corporation A receives a booth at the conference; a logo slapped on a water bottle; a sign at a breakfast; and a mention onstage (that may or may not have gone unnoticed). The promise of potential and its race with competitors keeps Corporation A committed for the second year.

Year 3: After evaluating ROI on its $100k spend over the last two years, Corporation A decides that this year, they’re going in a ‘different direction’ because the sponsorship was no longer a good fit for them. Unfortunately, they cannot justify the commitment to their CEO.

Amid the disappointment and panic, you’re left wondering what went wrong. And now you need to make up the difference in your budget. 

The first step in recognizing the problem is acknowledging the basis of a solid engagement philosophy: corporate engagement is more about creative individualization, and less about standardization.

>> Read more about how some organizations are re-evaluating their non-dues revenue strategies.