When Mollye Rhea founded For Momentum in 2003, she pioneered one of the first cause marketing agencies to foster partnerships between brands and nonprofits. She characterizes her work as “bringing causes and companies together to multiply good.” Her company is now one of the leading cause-related marketing firms in the United States.

For Momentum has also been monitoring corporate partnership trends for over a decade. Their latest study, The Partnership Shift: Evolving Trends in Corporate and Nonprofit Collaborations, has just been released. Mollye Rhea shares the findings at a time when rapid policy changes are compelling companies and nonprofits to adapt swiftly. She offers insights on navigating this dynamic landscape and highlights strategies that experienced corporate partnership professionals and nonprofits can employ to effectively address these challenges.

When asked what makes for a strong collaboration among brands or companies and nonprofits, Mollye Rhea cited top survey statistics:

Click Quick Clip from Video Interview

Opportunities & Challenges…

In terms of opportunities, Mollye Rhea noted that event sponsorship and involvement have increased substantially by 28% since 2022, indicating that companies are more interested in partnering on events.

She added that the best ways of measuring the success of partnerships, according to the survey, are:

• Impact toward the nonprofit’s mission (95%)
• Employee engagement (89%)
• Success stories that show impact (88%)

“Bringing new ideas to their corporate partners,” she stressed, is critical to both establishing new and maintaining ongoing nonprofit relationships.

Budget has jumped to the top challenge in 2025, likely due to the current economic and social challenges, as 18% selected it as a top challenge in 2022, compared to 39% in 2025.

Additionally, the survey reveals that the primary reasons for ending a partnership today are budget restrictions, followed by nonprofits failing to deliver on promises and changes in philanthropic objectives.

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Partnership Projections…

The majority of companies suggest that overall number of partners supported (72%) as well as the overall giving to nonprofit partners (73%) are likely to remain stable in 2025.

Data suggests that overall giving to nonprofit partners is likely to remain stable.

According to Ms. Rhea, “To help secure new partnerships and maintain existing partnerships, the survey shows that nonprofits should provide meaningful reporting, fresh ideas and strong stewardship.

Only 14% plan to decrease the amount they give to their nonprofit partners.

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To learn more from Mollye Rhea about The Partnership Shift: Evolving Trends in Corporate and Nonprofit Collaborations, watch the video interview on Internationalist Marketing TV (IMTV) on YouTube by CLICKING HERE.

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In our conversation, we discuss the following:

• For Momentum has monitored trends in corporate partnerships and collaborations with nonprofits for over a decade. Tell us what you look at in your research.

•  Is there a key headline from your latest study?

• Is this the first time you’ve seen such a significant concern due to rapid policy changes and overall uncertainty?

• What are you finding in terms of ongoing partnerships in this environment? Are you seeing potential changes?

• You’ve also surveyed companies about their attitudes toward purpose. Could you tell us what you’ve learned?

• Is there “purpose message fatigue”? Do you think a ‘purpose gap’ exists between the values most companies or brands claim to hold and their actions?

• Walk us through your findings on how companies choose nonprofit partners… For example, who decides, what are the criteria for working with a nonprofit, and is the goal long-term or opportunistic?

• What categories receive the most corporate giving? Hunger? Education?

• How significant is employee involvement in creating a successful partnership?

•  What are the biggest challenges facing these types of partnerships?

• What is your advice or recommendations to both the corporate and nonprofit sectors? 

•  What do you see ahead? Will the current environment change?

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Measuring Success…

The leading ways of measuring the success of partners include:

1. Gauging the impact on the nonprofit’s mission (95%)
2. Employee engagement (89%)
3. Success stories that show impact (88%)

Event sponsorship and involvement have increased by a whopping 28% in importance since 2022, indicating that companies are more interested in partnering on events.

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Survey Participants in The Partnership Shift

• The majority of survey respondents hold positions in CSR with marketing and senior leadership rounding out the top 3 departments represented.

• Participants were highly qualified decision makers with most (61%) having over 10 years of experience and working on 21+ partnerships.

• Survey respondents represented a broad range of industry sectors from retail to B2B.

METHODOLOGY

This online quantitative survey was conducted from February 5 to March 10, 2025, among US-based organizations. The sample size consisted of 81 corporate decision-makers, with 53 responses fully completed and 28 partially completed. Third-party research firm Lab42 tabulated the results.

About Mollye Rhea

When Mollye Rhea founded For Momentum in 2003, there were very few agencies specializing in activating cause partnerships. Since then, Atlanta, Georgia-based For Momentum has grown to become one of the leading cause marketing firms in the country. Her goal has been consistent: to strengthen communities at large by cultivating partnerships between nonprofit organizations and corporations. Momentum has served a broad range of nonprofit organizations, including the American Cancer Society, Share Our Strength, the March of Dimes, the Arthritis Foundation, the YMCA of the USA, Covenant House, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the National Audubon Society, among others. Its corporate clients have included notable companies such as Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Cox Automotive Group, and InterContinental Hotels Group, among others.

While Mollye began her career in advertising, working as a media planner at Young and Rubicam in New York and an account executive at McCann-Erickson in Atlanta, that path took a momentous detour when she spearheaded a philanthropic project for the Atlanta Ad Club. Recognizing her passion for cause when she was asked to help the Ad Club raise money for a foster youth program, Mollye decided to work outside of the traditional advertising agency environment, pursuing opportunities that would pair her marketing and sales acumen with her desire to positively impact society.

She spent eight years with the Arthritis Foundation national headquarters, leaving as Group Vice President of Strategic Marketing Alliances. In this role, she was responsible for overseeing relationships with over 40 corporate partners and raising millions of dollars in support of the organization. Mollye led the Arthritis Foundation toward greater integration and seamless delivery of key nationwide initiatives, securing funding through the development and delivery of creative, impactful cause marketing programs.

For seven years, Mollye assumed leadership roles for InterContinental Hotels Group. In her oversight of marketing strategy for the Holiday Inn brand, she implemented new product concepts for consumer and trade marketing programs. She managed all phases of key marketing initiatives for over 1,500 Holiday Inn hotels in North America.

Through her work in nonprofit development, brand marketing and cause marketing, Mollye has a unique 360-degree perspective of what fosters success in strategic cause partnerships. In her 25+ years in the field, she has developed sponsorship strategies for dozens of nonprofit organizations and hundreds of brands. Mollye has served a broad range of nonprofit organizations including the American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, Arthritis Foundation, Communities in Schools, Paralyzed Veterans of America, SeriousFun Children’s Network, US Fund for UNICEF, Covenant House, National Stroke Association and National Audubon Society to name a few. Corporate and media partners include large pharmaceutical companies, cable networks, hotel brands and their franchisees and retailers.