Strengthening corporate relationships with Openlands: Our third project
Following initial success with our first two projects with Build Change and the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, we jumped at the chance to work with Openlands, a conservation nonprofit and land trust that works in the greater Chicago area.
As Director of Development Monica Jirak noted on our October volunteer call, “We had a unique opportunity to forge strong partnerships in the corporate realm but we had never really pursued that. We were concentrating heavily on individual giving, foundations, and institutional giving.”
Jonathan Copulsky, a longtime marketing leader at Deloitte and an Openlands Board Member, had worked with ITSMA for many years, thought that ABM for Good could be helpful, and made the introduction. Working with Monica and Laura Mueller, Assistant Director of Development, we scoped a six week consulting sprint and started in late August. The timing was tight but also great: Openlands was putting their finishing touches on a new five-year strategy and had already identified growing corporate partnerships as a top development priority.
The project followed a similar approach to our first two:
Assess Openlands existing initiatives, capabilities, and corporate relationships
Build and research a prioritized list of high-potential corporate partners
Draft highly-focused, client-centric value propositions and messaging themes
Create a targeted engagement plan for top priority prospects and decision makers.
Openlands is just beginning to implement the plan but, according to Monica, initial takeaways include:
The importance of developing a more strategic, data-informed framework for identifying and cultivating partners who align with our mission
New tools and insights to help us really understand our partners’ goals around environmental impact, employee engagement, and community impact
Focusing on long term, quality relationships more than quantity, and moving beyond the transaction toward meaningful partnerships
Tailoring engagement to each company and individual
“Long story short, the collaboration with ABM for Good has inspired us to think bigger, not just about corporate giving but how to build authentic, long-lasting relationships rooted in a shared vision, measurable outcomes, and genuine human connection.”