WHAT YOU’RE MADE OF MATTERS Part 1

The most innovative and wealthy sector – Business & Corporate – will come through this crisis leaner and stronger. However, if you want to partner with them, it’s important to understand their makeup. No two companies are the same, and yet their structure and legal obligations will certainly influence the way that they go about partnering with causes.

There’s a handful of different legal structures that ultimately impact a company’s motivation for partnering, as much as their culture does. Let’s take a look:

Corporation

A corporation is like a person - it has an identity that is separate from its investors and workers, and has its own legal rights and responsibilities. A Corporation has a legal obligation to return a profit to shareholders. If they practice ‘philanthropy’, its likely they’ll do it in a structured way, such as through a Foundation.

In recent times, shareholders have begun to realise that companies have additional obligations to the community and environmental sustainability.

Finding the right person within a corporation can be challenging and getting a partnership across the line takes time, but the rewards are worth it. Most corporations operate on a July-June financial year or a calendar year, depending on their HQ location. This is vitally important, as it determines when non-profits should be knocking on their door. 

GO’s & GBE’s

GO’s are government-owned organisations and GBE’s are Government Business Enterprises, such as Australia Post. Working with them some years ago was a joy, but things were slow (a little like government).

Public company

A public company can sell shares to the public and can become a listed company. For example, Wesfarmers, BHP and Woolworths.

An Australian public company may have many departments, products and brands and it can therefore be challenging to identify the right person to approach. They place a high value on accountability and are required by law to report on financial performance as well as their social responsibility. This makes finding information easy, although it can also be overwhelming.

These companies, being very visible, are inundated with approaches from non-profits, so it’s very competitive. There are numerous decision-makers and a partnership may take several months to finalise.

Again, most public companies operate on a July-June financial year or a calendar year, depending on their HQ location.

Franchise

A successful brand gives business owners the right to operate under their brand. Think Boost Juice, Battery World, Coffee Club, Baker’s Delight and McDonald’s. Although a powerful and visible brand, there are lots of ‘owners’. The last time I worked with a franchise, it took at least seven presentations to get a partnership over the line, but then when we did, it lasted six years (Snooze & Murdoch Children’s Research Institute).

So, although these large organisations may look similar on the surface, they will have different obligations, stakeholders and ways of operating. There are many moving parts, and thus, many opportunities to partner. Most of our work over the years has been with corporations like Disney Australia, Vodafone and Mondelez, although we’ve also worked with private companies like KPMG and Carman’s.

We’ll look at private companies, SME’s, social enterprise and B Corp in Part 2.

Hailey Cavill-Jaspers