What Our Client Needed
This client, like many non-profit organizations, had a typical event-driven sponsor/donor relationship with its corporate sponsors. Prior to each annual meeting, they approached companies to provide funds to offset the costs of the annual meeting. Then, in the following planning cycle our client would once again reach out to sponsors for the annual meeting. The association’s short-term planning cycle did not allow them to capitalize on revenue growth through long-term relationships with corporate sponsors.
What We Created
Malachite determined that the association needed to differentiate itself from the many organizations seeking corporate funding, and it needed to build strong, long-term, strategic relationships with is corporate partners. Malachite developed a strategy to:
Re-Position And Re-Brand
In 2008, Malachite developed and deployed a comprehensive communication strategy to re-position the organization to corporate supporters (and other stakeholders) by highlighting the important contributions this association makes to the health of Canadians.
Develop Key Industry Relationships
Malachite organized face-to-face meetings between association leaders and each of its key corporate sponsors with the aim to identify and develop mutually beneficial programs and projects that would move its industry field of interest forward.
How It Worked
The re-positioning and re-branding initiative resulted in a consistent marketing message across all new marketing collateral: new website, new brochure, and new sponsorship prospectus. The marketing initiative also was the cornerstone of a targeted public relations campaign. The re-branded sponsorship prospectus delivered immediate results. By developing strategic relationships with corporate partners, in conjunction with a re-branded prospectus, our client increased corporate sponsorship by 91% over eight years. During that same time period, total conference revenue increased by 104%.
