Purpose Plays
Here Assist
Corporate partnership development for athletes and their foundations.
You continue running your programs. We build the partnership platform behind them, take it to market — then bring back the corporate partners to fund it.
How we assist
A structured engagement, in sequence, from first conversation through renewal.
The case for support
We define what a corporate partner receives by standing with you: the communities reached, the employee engagement created, the outcomes their team can report internally. This is the document every other conversation depends on, and most organizations have never built one.
Partnership architecture
Tiered partnership levels, defensible pricing, and clearly defined benefits at each level — packaged in materials a corporate marketing or community affairs lead can take upstairs and get approved.
Prospect research
A qualified target list: companies whose stated community priorities align with your cause and your market, with the right decision-maker identified at each one and a rationale for the ask.
Outreach and introductions
We open the doors and we are in the meetings. Our relationships run across corporate community affairs, employee resource groups, foundation staff and brand marketing — the functions that hold these budgets and decide where they go.
Stewardship and renewal
Reporting your partners can use internally, renewal conversations opened well before the budget cycle closes, and a structured path for partners to increase their commitment year over year. Retention is where partnership programs are won or lost.
Who we work with
Athlete foundations
Established programs with a full annual calendar and no development staff behind them.
Family foundations
Family-led organizations carrying an athlete's name, often operating under a fiscal sponsor.
Individual athletes
Active, former and collegiate athletes formalizing community work that's already underway.
Community organizations
Sports-based nonprofits ready to move from local giving into corporate partnership.
Scope of engagement
Defined at the outset so expectations are aligned on both sides.
In scope
Partnership strategy and positioning
Partnership levels, pricing and materials
Prospect research and target list development
Outreach, introductions and partner meetings
Proposal, negotiation and agreement support
Partner reporting, stewardship and renewal
Advisory on program strategy and portfolio
Out of scope
Event production and execution
Vendor and venue management
Day-of operations and staffing
Selecting your causes or beneficiaries
Your programs remain yours to run, and your mission remains yours to set. Our value sits on the revenue side, and we would rather be exceptional there than adequate across both.
Engagement model
We work event by event. Start with one, or bring us the year.
One event
Pick the event you most want funded — the tournament, the camp, the annual day. We build its sponsorship inventory, levels and pricing, the partnership materials and a researched target list, then run outreach and meetings straight through to event day. Afterward, every partner receives a fulfillment recap and a renewal conversation for the following year.
The fee is set against the sponsorship goal we agree on before we begin, and it is fixed regardless of what comes in. Engagements require a minimum of six months before the event date.
The full calendar
Two, three or four events across a year, at a reduced rate that falls as the number rises. Partners can then be sold across multiple events and multiple years rather than one date at a time, which is where the larger commitments come from.
Events we have already built are discounted again in following years — the inventory, materials and target list carry forward, and returning partners are already in the room. We do not work on commission; percentage-based compensation misaligns our incentives with your organization's long-term interests and runs contrary to accepted fundraising practice.
We also produce our own events
Purpose in Play is our own event slate, with partnerships we sell directly. We disclose this to every company we approach, and we ask which they would rather hear about before presenting either. One approach per company, per fiscal year — and our clients' asks take priority in their own markets.
See Purpose in PlayStart with what you already run
Share your current programs and the partners you work with today. We will come back with an assessment of what's fundable, who to approach, and what the program is worth.
Start a conversation