Building Strategic Partnerships That Last: A Modern Approach to Corporate and Foundation Relationships 

The Giving USA 2025 report confirmed what many fundraisers already feel: philanthropy is evolving, and the traditional playbook isn’t keeping pace. In our recent webinar, Future-Proofing Fundraising: 5 Strategic Moves from the Giving USA 2025 Report, we explored how organizations can translate these latest findings into actionable strategy. 

This article builds on that conversation, offering practical guidance for implementing the fourth strategic recommendation.  

Strategic Move #4: Double Down on Corporate and Foundation Partnerships 

Corporate giving jumped 9.4% in 2024, and foundation assets remain near record highs. But the philanthropic landscape has been changing over time, moving away from ‘checkbook philanthropy’ to strategic investments. Funders are looking for genuine partnerships that advance their own strategic goals while supporting yours—transformational relationships, not transactional ones. 

The most successful nonprofits are evolving beyond traditional grant seeking to build collaborative relationships that create mutual value. This shift isn’t just about funding. It’s about sustainable growth and amplified impact. 

Why Partnership Thinking Matters Now 

Today’s institutional funders operate in a changed world: 

Corporate funders face increasing stakeholder pressure to demonstrate real social impact through their ESG commitments. They need partners who can help them show authentic, measurable change—not just good intentions. 

Foundations are refining their strategies around equity, systems change, and long-term impact. They want to work with organizations that share their vision for transformational outcomes, not just programmatic activities. 

Both are looking for partners who can think strategically, deliver consistently, and contribute to solutions that neither could achieve alone. Most importantly, they’re seeking longer, multi-year commitments that recognize complex societal problems—whether health disparities, workforce development, or educational equity—cannot be solved in one to two years. 

Five Principles for Building Strategic Partnerships 

1. Start with Their Goals, Not Your Needs 

The most compelling partnerships begin with deep understanding of what funders are trying to accomplish. This means: 

• Research their strategic priorities through annual reports, recent grants, and public statements 
• Identify genuine alignment between your work and their objectives 
• Position your organization as a solution to their challenges, not just a worthy cause 
• Leverage existing relationships at the board level, among current donors, and even with vendors or contractors who might become philanthropic partners 

Example: A student support initiative aligned with a foundation’s focus on upward mobility and equity >> “Our college readiness initiative directly addresses the educational equity gaps you’ve prioritized, with proven results in the communities where you’re already investing.”  

2. Think Beyond the Grant 

Strong partnerships are not transactional, they are transformational. They require thinking beyond the grant and involve multiple types of value exchange that sustain relationships over time: 

• Shared expertise: What knowledge or connections can you offer? 
• Visibility opportunities: How can you help them showcase impact to their stakeholders? 
• Long-term collaboration: What could this partnership look like in years two, three, and beyond? 
• Brand alignment: How does supporting your work advance their philanthropic priorities and reputation? 

This is about creating an exchange of assets: not just financial resources, but reputation, knowledge, access, and shared commitment to outcomes that may not be fully realized until year five or seven of the partnership.  

3. Design for Multiple Funders 

The strongest initiatives often attract co-investment from multiple sources because they’re designed to leverage different strengths: 

Example: A workforce development initiative in healthcare partners with a health equity foundation (funding and research), a pharmaceutical company (expertise and resources), a hospital system (implementation capacity), and healthcare worker unions (advocacy and pipeline development). Each partner contributes what they do best toward a shared goal none could achieve alone. 

Healthcare organizations have a particular advantage here, as workforce development has become critical post-COVID. The nursing shortage and need for allied health professionals—jobs often filled by minority candidates in metropolitan areas—creates compelling partnership opportunities that address both social equity and operational needs. 

4. Build Relationships, Not Just Transactions 

Great partnerships are ultimately about people connecting across organizations at the right levels: 

• Involve the right staff at appropriate levels throughout the relationship—not just executives, but the department chairs and front-line staff who will execute the work 
• Create meaningful touchpoints beyond formal reports and meetings 
• Include funders in moments that matter—launches, milestones, celebrations 
• Foster advocacy by helping funder representatives become internal champions for your work within their organizations 
• Establish accountability—whether it’s the VP of donor experience and engagement, or a tiger team that has been assembled to make sure everything is in place, it is essential to ensure that you are delivering on the commitments you’ve made. 

By establishing deep relationships throughout each partner organization, you can create advocacy and shared ownership of the issues you are working to address. 

5. Demonstrate Trust, Reliability, and Results 

Institutional funders are investing in your capacity to deliver, not just your cause. Build confidence through: 

• Transparent communication about both successes and challenges 
• Impact-focused stewardship that goes far beyond naming opportunities to demonstrate measurable progress toward promised outcomes 
• Consistent follow-through on commitments and timelines 
• Continuous improvement mindset that shows how you’re adapting and enhancing your approach based on results 
• Proof of concept delivery when starting with initiative grants that demonstrate your capacity before larger investments 

Your organization is starting from a position of trust, as nonprofit trust continues to outpace other major institutions. This trust is what makes it possible to establish and maintain strong partnerships that can achieve systemic change.  

Tailoring Your Approach by Organizational Size 

Small Organizations: Focus on local corporate partners and community foundations where you can demonstrate direct community impact and shared geographic priorities.  

Mid-sized Organizations: Target regional partnerships with established foundations and companies where you can co-create focused initiatives with clear success metrics over multiple years. 

Large Organizations: Pursue national funders and major corporations interested in comprehensive, multi-year partnerships aimed at systems-level change, with the capacity to manage complex collaborative relationships. 

Measuring Partnership Success 

Look beyond dollar amounts to indicators of strategic value: 

• Relationship longevity: Are partnerships extending beyond initial commitments? 
• Program expansion: Is partnership funding enabling you to grow or innovate? 
• Collaborative initiatives: Are you co-creating programs or sharing platforms? 
• Strategic influence: Is the partnership changing how you or they approach the work? 

Taking Action: Your Next Steps  

Take an Internal Inventory 

• Map your organization’s unique strengths and differentiating characteristics 
• Identify departments or service lines with the greatest potential for partnership appeal 
• Catalog existing relationships (board, donor, vendor) that could open doors 

Select a Few Partnership Opportunities 

• Choose 2-3 potential partnership opportunities to pursue in parallel 
• Assign clear accountability to one person to coordinate these efforts 

Questions to Consider: 

• How well do you understand the strategic priorities driving a potential partner’s giving? 
• What unique value can your organization bring to a collaborative relationship? 
• Which of your current relationships could open doors to new partnership opportunities? 

Moving Forward 

The best institutional funders don’t want to simply support your mission, they want to advance their own goals alongside yours. This creates an opportunity for relationships that are more sustainable, more impactful, and more rewarding for everyone involved. 

The nonprofits thriving in today’s funding environment are those that can think strategically about mutual benefit while staying true to their mission. That’s the sweet spot where real partnerships—and transformational impact—happen. 

This analysis is based on insights from the latest Giving USA report and strategic recommendations shared by Marts&Lundy experts in our recent webinar – Sarah Clough, Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President, Insights & Analytics; Don Fellows, Senior Consultant & Principal and Practice Leader, Higher Education; Mark Kimbell, Senior Consultant & Principal and Practice Leader, Healthcare; and Jim Zimmerman, Senior Consultant & Principal and Schools Practice Leader.