Lesson 5 of 6
Partnerships, funders and organisations
Learning objectives
- Map the partner types that fit your mission
- Pitch to funders, councils and corporates without losing your voice
- Price funded work so it actually pays its own delivery cost
- Avoid mission drift when the money is offered
Know who you are pitching to
Grant funders want measurable outcomes and clean governance. Councils and NHS bodies want safe, insured delivery with reporting. Corporates want clear ROI and a brand they are proud to associate with. Same mission, three very different conversations.
Price funded work properly
Delivery cost (coach time, travel, materials), management cost (planning, reporting, governance), and a contribution to overhead — not just session rate. Funded work priced like a side hustle quietly bankrupts the mission.
Say no when the money does not fit
Mission drift usually arrives as a generous offer. If a piece of work pulls the team off-mission, exhausts capacity or compromises the people you serve, the right answer is no — even when the invoice would be welcome.
Founder insight — Derrick Twum
MEM's biggest growth moments have been partnerships — prisons, councils, corporate wellbeing. The ones that worked respected the mission. The ones that didn't were saved by saying no early.
Key takeaway
Match the pitch to the partner, price funded work to truly cover delivery, and protect the mission by being willing to say no.
Reflection questions
- 1Which partner type fits your current mission best?
- 2Are you pricing funded work to cover real delivery and overhead?
- 3What kind of work should you politely decline?
Action task
Write a one-page partnership pitch for your strongest partner type. Include the offer, the outcomes, the price, and what is explicitly out of scope.
Worksheet
Work through these prompts. Answers save to this device.
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