Have you noticed that pumpkin spice is like...EVERYWHERE.

Candles, coffees, teas, chips, vodka, donuts, Twinkies, and PEEPS (my favorite!).

👉🏻👉🏻 So, if everything has pumpkin spice in it this fall, shouldn't your partnership strategy also have a little pumpkin spice mixed in??

Now, before you stop reading and conclude that the pumpkin has finally slid off Joe's pumpkin-flavored cracker, hear me out...

This week I want to share a case study project I just finished with the wonderful Abby Horrigan, Senior Director of Corporate Initiatives at Keep America Beautiful (KAB).

As a seasoned corporate partnership professional, Abby knows how important social proof is in securing partnerships. That's why she partnered with me to write several case studies and to improve KAB's corporate partnership landing page.

Together, we...

While I didn't find any great examples of cause marketing in Italy, ​as I did last year​, I did find a potential cause marketing opportunity in my inbox when I got home.

This is for those readers who always ask me for ideas for LOCAL CAUSE MARKETING.

"Joe, we don't have a lot of chains in our area, just lots of independent and mom-and-pop businesses. How can we do cause marketing and raise some moolah?" 🤑

Scrolling through the thousands of emails I got while I was away, I came across this ​bakery crawl​ in my hometown of Newton, Massachusetts…

For the next two Wednesdays, I'll be in Italy and then Washington, D.C., and I will NOT be publishing a newsletter again until Wednesday, September 27th.

Last September, we visited Rome, Sorrento, and Pompeii. Incredible trip! This year, we are visiting Florence and the Tuscany region.

Any great recommendations on good restaurants or unique places to visit are much appreciated!

I like this cartoon UK fundraiser ​Mark Philips​ shared on Twitter X yesterday.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

👉🏻👉🏻 For our purposes, let's replace fundraising with corporate partnerships….

I love sharing articles with you every week, but I also know reading them takes a lot of time! I recently came across something new from Google that should make things easier, thanks to AI!

Some of you may have this new feature on your phones right now! If not, you should have it soon. It will also be coming to desktops…

Back in April, after using my newsletter to plug my presentation on case studies at the Engage for Good Conference in Atlanta, so many people pre-registered for my session that we ran out of room!

EFG head honcho and New Yorker David Hessekiel asked me (on his hands and knees with a Red Sox hat on, no less) if I would consider doing an encore presentation via Zoom in August.

Since I can't say NO to groveling David, I'm doing it again! 🤷‍♂️😂…

I recently downloaded the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP) ​2023 Annual CSR Insights Survey​. The survey has been conducted for the past four years to understand better the trends impacting CSR and ESG professionals.

One hundred forty-nine companies filled out the survey.

Here are four things that caught my eye and how nonprofits should respond…

Barbie is everywhere - and not just in the movie theaters. People are writing about Barbie ("Ten Life Lessons from the First Ten Minutes of the Barbie Movie"). People are selling things with Barbie (Barbie Dreamhouse in Malibu listed on Airbnb). If you don't believe me, just Google "Barbie Movie" and see what happens!

BARBIE. IS. EVERYWHERE.

People and brands are newsjacking the Barbie movie.

Newsjacking is all about…

My friends at Remarkable Partnerships (RP) in the U.K. recently published a great post on the mismatched expectations hurting partnerships. You should read the article and check out the report they released.

Here's the mismatch in a nutshell. 🥜

Nonprofits want to raise money, but companies want to meet their ESG objectives, grow their brand profile, and engage employees.

Nonprofits and companies aren't exactly on the same page…

Corporate partnership teams could learn a lot from convenience stores (C-stores).

Here's a good takeaway: Have good lighting.

You see, c-store customers like when ​C-stores are well-lit​.

Better lighting, among other things, decreases store theft, as everyone knows shoplifters like to operate in the shadows!

Well, here's the connection between C-store lighting and your corporate partnership program...

Here's something to try this week.

Head over to ​ChatGPT​ and either signup or, if you already have an account, log in. BTW, signing up is easy and free, so don't sweat it!

Here's the prompt I want you to use…

The American Revolution started over a broken contract. So, discussing partnership contracts the week before Independence Day seems only appropriate.

According to the Declaration of Independence, King George III broke the social contract between himself and his subjects, the American colonists….

An article in AdAge last week reports that one negative outcome of the Bud Light/Dylan Mulvaney drama is that ​personal attacks are a new risk for brand leaders.​**

There are three good lessons for causes.

First, it's a good reminder to companies AND causes that they need to be clear on brand purpose. It's too risky not to be. Now is not the time to be dabbling in gray areas...

The Chronicle of Philanthropy shared an interesting article last month titled ​Unrealistic Fundraising Expectations Are Causing Stress. Here's How to Set More Practical Goals​.

The writer was Rasheeda Childress, Senior Editor for Fundraising with the publication. She's one of my faves!

Boy, is this advice needed in fundraising - particularly in corporate partnerships, right? Let's apply some of Rasheeda's points to partnerships…

Thanks to everyone who emailed me last week about my ​"Shell-ebration" post​. I should have known that my readers would be huuuuggge turtle fans! 🐢🤩 Yay! 👏👏👏

👉🏻👉🏻 This week, I have another animal story for you that offers a few lessons about corporate partnerships.

Most of you know that I'm an ​AVID gardener​. I spend most of my spring and summer planting flowers and digging out my lawn to make new beds to - you guessed it - plant even more flowers! I'm even experimenting with a vegetable garden this year.🥕🍅🥒 My first one!

Dealing with wildlife is a common issue for gardeners….

Monday is the day I usually set aside for writing the "Note from Joe" section of my newsletter. That's the section you are reading right now.

This last Monday was different in two ways. First, Monday was a holiday, so it felt more like a Sunday than a Monday. Still, I was committed to getting my "Note from Joe"! Second, just as I started writing it, my wife came home and told me something that would upend my day….

had a great time at the Engage for Good Conference in Atlanta last week. It was fantastic to meet so many of my readers and catch up with many old friends! 🥰

I haven't seen the evaluations on my presentation - Creating Case Studies That Strengthen Your Programs: A Workshop For Businesses & Nonprofits - but it went well. I had a good crowd, people were engaged, and they asked lots of wicked smahht questions!

👉🏻👉🏻 Here are four key takeaways from my presentation…