Achates Live! September 2024: The Business of Growing Your Corporate Membership

The Business of Growing Your Corporate Membership.

Although there has been a marked shift in recent years towards corporates collaborating on bespoke partnerships with cultural sector organisations, the Corporate Membership approach remains an effective way to establish relationships, leverage investment and build a community of advocates and stakeholders. What’s more, we’re seeing more organisations in the sector paying increasing attention to this area of their fundraising, to diversify and build their contributed income.

Corporate Membership is often the entry point for regular, formalised corporate support where a relationship is framed around a package of benefits and access, in return for a scalable annual fee. However, despite corporate support being founded on a contracted, commercial exchange, corporate fundraising is becoming increasingly relational and purpose-driven.

So, what does that mean for Corporate Membership programmes and what role can they play in cultivating deeper relationships? Can they serve as a jumping off point for a future bespoke partnership? And in the meantime, how can you maximise the return on your Membership programme whilst ensuring your organisation furthers its purpose?

Our experienced panel shares their thoughts and advice for establishing and evolving Corporate Membership programmes, as well as the role they can play in your wider fundraising strategy.