The document summarizes the top 7 trends in corporate partnerships for 2017 according to Catalist, a nonprofit organization that connects companies to social causes. The trends are: 1) Influencer Identification, engaging social media influencers to promote partnerships. 2) Data Translation, using organizational data to strengthen partnership pitches. 3) Digital Automation, leveraging new technologies to evolve partnerships. 4) Proactive Communication, companies promoting their social good activities. 5) Multi-Layer Causes, aligning with national and local nonprofits. Examples and suggestions for each trend are also provided.

2. 2017 CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP TRENDS
ABOUT CATALIST
http://www.GoCatalist.com
Catalist is a matchmaking platform that connects good companies with great causes. We
use smart technology, insightful data and industry expertise to help develop partnerships
that accelerate social change.
The foundation of our services is deeply rooted in research. Whether it’s proprietary
consumer research, monthly trend reports, or our annual corporate partnerships and CSR
trend reports like this, knowing more about the social good industry and those who shape it
is critical. Ultimately, we report thorough and frequent data to help nonprofit partnership
professionals drive smarter, data-driven strategies that makes connecting with companies
more value-based. Catalist’s research and trend reports have been seen in Huffington Post,
TIME, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and more.
At Catalist we have one simple mission: to connect companies and causes. In order to
achieve this mission, we must always keep our research smart, thoughtful and relevant to
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feedback to info@gocatalist.com.

3. TOP 7
TRENDS
Corporate
Partnerships
2017
2017 CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP TRENDS Methodology
General Marketplace Trends
Executive & Expert Interviews
Aggregate Data Analysis
An analysis of how causes and
companies are partnering together,
what they are planning for their
future partnerships and how
consumers, individual donors and
employees are dictating their
actions
A behind-the-scenes glimpse from
over 100 corporate executives and
industry experts about the future of
social good and corporate social
responsibility
Quantitative data and industry
statistics provide tangible trend
action and predictive opportunities

4. CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP
(cor*po*rate ) (part*ner*ship)
adj. n.
The sum total of all social good activities done between a company and a
cause to impact the well-being of society. Many corporate partnerships include
activities like point-of-sale fundraising, direct-to-consumer activation, employee
engagement, sponsorship, vendor commitments, in-kind donations, grants, co-
branded marketing and more.

5. S U P E R
T R E N D S
INFLUENCER ID
Identify and engage your
influencers to be your
partnership megaphone
ÜBER
CHOOSING
Restricted funds are
driving the shape of
corporate partnerships
DATA
TRANSLATION
Translate the data you
have to drive
partnership strategy
DIGITAL
AUTOMATION
Leverage new
technologies to evolve
partnership options and
end-user experience
PROACTIVE
COMMUNICATION
Corporations now want
to tout the good they
are doing to enhance
customer loyalty
MULTI-LAYER
CAUSES
Decide where you can fit
into CSR strategies that
are now national and
local in focus
CONTENT
Invest in curating and
developing your most
valuable asset
1 2 3
4 5
Some trends are so important
and fundamental to the
success of social good
partnerships that they
transcend time. Catalist calls
these trends SUPER TRENDS.
While these SUPER TRENDS
are starting to gain traction, in
2017 they require essential
adoption in order to keep your
nonprofit ahead of the curve
and competitive in the
partnership space.
5 NEW TRENDS FOR 2017 - the year of diversification, technology, and more data!

6. INFLUENCER ID
super trend
The average nonprofit has a
network reach of 40 million
when social influencers are
accounted for.1
We are saying it again in 2017 because it is such
an important trend for corporate partnerships:
Influencers are the new celebrity. Millennials have
grown up at the intersection of profit and
purpose, and now they are more than willing to
leverage their vast networks to effectuate social
change.
Corporate Social Responsibility teams are
following the lead of their marketing
counterparts and looking for cause partners to
engage their most powerful voices in the name of
social good.

7. INFLUENCER ID
super trend
TREND SPOTTED
The University of California, Berkeley
leveraged several social media platforms
and other social listening tools to identify
groups of constituents they could nurture
through content over time. Because of the
relationship they built with their influencer
base, the University hosted a 24-hour
fundraising campaign, Big Give, that through
social media yielded over $11 million in
donations. A large key to the success was
their Social Media Ambassador Program:
ambassador.berkeley.edu
ACTIVATION
• Analyze your social media followers and
define who your influencers are. Leverage
those influencers to tie into your corporate
partner’s marketing plans and positively
impact value by creating a conversation
around their social good activities.
• Unearth the social media influencers that
appeal to your donor demographics (or your
corporate partner consumer profile) and
engage them as your “celebrities”.

8. CONTENT
super trend
76% of nonprofit organizations
use content marketing to engage
target audiences.2
Probably the most important trend in creating
active and valuable corporate partnerships is the
ability and willingness to create and leverage
smart content. Companies are attracted to cause
partners who offer rich, impactful content that
showcases their commitment to the cause, and in
some cases are willing to co-produce and market
such content. In the nonprofit sector, where the
spend on other forms of communication can be
limited, creating valuable content is one of the
best usable assets your nonprofit can bring to a
partnership.

9. CONTENT
super trend
TREND SPOTTED
The Department of Health co-created content
with ten talented YouTube video bloggers in a
campaign called The Awkward Conversations
Project that engaged millions of young teens
on important but awkward health issues. By
giving them the confidence to talk about these
issues, they:
- Produced 10 videos watched nearly 4M
times and were featured on YouTube Top
50 most liked
- Achieved 135,707 YouTube likes
- Received a 7.4% click-through rate
ACTIVATION
• Take audit of your existing content to develop
engaging stories that entice corporate partners
and key target audiences.
• Consider developing new content customized
to illustrate the impact of high-dollar
partnerships
• Use your nonprofit paid, earned, owned and
shared media assets to smartly discuss partner
actions that could directly impact your
partnership goals.

10. #1 ÜBER CHOOSING
Consumers who can customize a
product are 67% more engaged and
28% more likely to spend more.3
From cars to handbags, shoes to computers, as
consumers, we love to customize our life. We are
now seeing über customization spill over into where
and how we give to causes. We call this
“Überchoosing”. No longer will the donor be satisfied
with simply electing the cause or non-profit their
money funds. Instead they will want to define exactly
where within that nonprofit their donation will drive
impact. More and more the conversation will be
about restricted giving. (Ex: A donor may not just
want to give to a breast cancer cause in general, but
instead specifically fund their mobile mammogram
program.) Corporate partners will take notice, and
begin to listen to their employees’ and consumers’
preferences when requesting restricted donations.

11. #1 ÜBER CHOOSING
TREND SPOTTED
DonorsChoose.org makes it easy for
anyone to help a classroom in need.
Public school teachers from every corner
of America create classroom project
requests, and individuals can give any
amount to the project that inspires them.
Over the past 14 years, they’ve mobilized
over 2.4M individual donors and dozens
of corporate partners, and rallied 74% of
all public schools to open a project for
funding. The fact that they’ve seen
20-40% year-over-year funding growth
from the past three years proves the
überchoosing trend will continue for
quite some time.
ACTIVATION
• Analyze your donor and corporate partnership
lifecycle to determine if your partnership
would benefit from an überchoice opportunity.
• Know how much you can customize and
restrict before considering überchoosing.
• Create a simple and easy direct-to-donor
online giving opportunity (can include a Peer-
to-Peer giving opportunity with key corporate
sponsors) that incorporates überchoosing.

12. #2 DATA TRANSLATION
Less than 25% of nonprofits are using
data to drive their strategies.4
In 2016, Catalist told you companies are using
their big data solutions to measure their business
activities and deciding where to align their
Corporate Social Responsibility efforts for the
best impact and ROI. In response, we’ve seen
many more nonprofits mining their data – so
kudos to you! In 2017, the emphasis on data is
now about how you translate those data points
into a stronger connective and emotive pitch that
strengthens the value for your existing partners
and helps you secure new partners through
innovative strategies.

13. #2 DATA TRANSLATION
TREND SPOTTED
The YMCA of Austin serves more
than 65,000 members and an
additional 60,000 program
participants through eight branches.
They worked with an analyst to
collect and unify their member and
fan data from multiple sources, then
ran a data-driven ad campaign
targeting audiences based on affinity,
actions and lifestyles. The campaign
generated 4x ROI and a 15% increase
in membership in its first month
alone.
ACTIVATION
• Companies align with causes that have clear impact
and can create clear ROI. Analyze your
organizational impact data (or proof points) to make
sure your data “story” is emotive and appeals to the
psychographics of the corporate partner’s key
audiences. (Mission Impact + Storytelling)
• Pull your various donor lists (from online giving,
peer-to-peer events, direct mail, etc.) and run an
algorithm informing you about spending habits and
brand affinities. This information informs right-fit
partnership analysis and creates a smarter pitch
conversation.

14. #3 DIGITAL AUTOMATION
By 2020, the amount of Internet-connected
things will reach 50 billion, with $19
trillion in profits and cost savings coming from
the Internet of Things (IoT) over the next few
years.5
Whether it's automated customer service, chat bots or self-
serve kiosks, automation will impact EVERYTHING we do ---
the way we consume products, media and even give. As
corporations interact with their consumers and employees
through more automated means, nonprofits have to ask
themselves how will we leverage those automated tools to
engage the donor better, to create a better experience for
social-teers and employee engagement, to measure
influencer engagement with our corporate campaigns, and
ultimately better dictate our strategies.

15. #3 DIGITAL AUTOMATION
TREND SPOTTED
Taco Bell recently announced that orders
made via their digital app are 20% pricier
than those taken by human cashiers,
largely because people select additional
ingredients. Chili’s, after installing self-
service tablets, reported a similar increase
in dessert orders. Cinemark theater’s new
self-service kiosks witnessed concession
spending per person climb for 32 straight
quarters.
ACTIVATION
• Analyze the industries of your current
partnerships to identify trends in automation.
• Consider how new innovations can benefit
your mission and greater community impact.
• Explore opportunities to use automation
more effectively and efficiently to engage
your constituents.

16. #4 PROACTIVE
COMMUNICATION
88% of global consumers want
companies to tell them what they are
doing to operate responsibly and
support important issues.6
As Corporate Social Responsibility professionals
continue to use their social good activities to
achieve other marketing and business goals, they
will increasingly turn to their communications
team to actively increase internal and external
communication efforts aimed at driving a deeper
discussion around the company’s CSR activities.
This louder buzz will both enhance external
impact on the public, and impact employee
satisfaction and engagement.

17. #4 PROACTIVE
COMMUNICATION
TREND SPOTTED
The Power of Stories is the product of
Viacommunity, the umbrella arm of
Viacom’s CSR program, and is a report
that details the results from combining
the power of their brands and the unique
voices of their audience. The Power of
Stories features Nickelodeon’s national
summer tour of its “Worldwide Day of
Play” and Paramount’s Got Your 6
Storyteller Awards, among other key
Viacom initiatives.
ACTIVATION
• Storytelling is not a new concept to
corporations. When it comes to CSR,
however, it has long been considered by
many companies to be too self-serving or
contrived to tell their “cause” story.
• Look for ways you can help your corporate
partners tell their impact story.
• Identify partners that want to be
transparent, authentic and communicative
with your end user.

18. #5 MULTI-LAYER CAUSES
50% of marketing executives
say local marketing is essential to
business growth and profitability.7
To fully capitalize on the value of CSR and cause
partnerships, companies have to create
alignment strategies that allow for both national
cause partnerships and local market connectivity.
In 2017, companies will rewrite cause alignment
strategies to create key multi-faceted,
overarching national partner campaigns while still
allowing for local market decisions to be made in
support of local and regional nonprofit partners
and causes.

19. #5 MULTI-LAYER CAUSES
TREND SPOTTED
83% of companies surveyed by
Catalist say they have a need for both
national and local market cause
partners. For example, Capital One
partners with The Heart of America
Foundation on a national level to put
books in the hands of children in low-
income communities around the
nation. They also layer local causes in
New York and New Jersey into their
CSR strategy for a robust impact
model.
ACTIVATION
Companies choose both local and national partners
by looking at the following:
• The cause is a right fit with the company’s
service, product and brand.
• The nonprofit can clearly define the impact
the company’s employees, consumers and
key constituents will have on the cause when
they donate time, talent or funds.
• The nonprofit can offer ROI to the company
through its organizational assets that multi-
layers the value to the company in terms of
social impact and business ROI.

20. 2017 CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP TRENDS Sources
SOURCES: 1. Attentive.ly, “How to Identify and Engage Your Influencers”; 2015
2. 2016 Nonprofit Content Marketing, Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud
3. Bain Survey of Online Shoppers 2013
4. 2016 Nonprofit Content Marketing, Content Marketing Institute/Blackbaud
5. Cisco Systems 2015
6. 2015 Cone Global CSR Report
7. CMO Council 2015
For more information, visit: http://GoCatalist.com/insights
For questions, please contact:
Brittany Hill
Chief Innovation Officer
bhill@gocatalist.com