Multi-year partnerships across the portfolio
A national congress, a regional series, a CPD program, a journal. Most associations sell these separately. The most valuable partnerships use all of them, structured as a multi-year arrangement that rewards both sides for staying in. I help associations think about partnerships as a portfolio asset, not a per-event line item.
Brand-to-brand, beyond the rightsholder model
The traditional sponsorship model has an association selling access to a brand. There's another model where two organisations back each other, share capabilities, run co-marketing, and trade contra. Associations have more leverage here than they tend to use. The unlock is treating the membership and the platform as assets that other organisations want to be near.
Programs that survive committee turnover
Most association programs are designed by whoever happens to chair the committee that year, then rebuilt by whoever chairs it next year. A partnership strategy that survives turnover is a different thing. It's documented, principled, and not dependent on relationships that change every two years.
The longer commercial conversation
Associations talk about sustainability in mission terms and rarely in commercial ones. The two are the same conversation. A revenue base that holds up across cycles is what funds the mission. I help association leadership have the commercial conversation directly, in language that matches the work.