In this blog, our Corporate Partnerships Manager, Jessie Bradley, reflects on what makes a successful partnership for both businesses and charities.

In November 2018, Power2 became one of five chosen charities as part of the Weil, Gotshal and Manges' Improving Lives and Raising Aspirations CSR Strategy.

Our programmes focus on improving children and young people’s mental wellbeing because we believe poor wellbeing is at the heart of many of the challenges a young person faces. Weil’s unrestricted funding and wealth of other support has been crucial in improving the wellbeing, self-esteem and resilience of children and young people so that they can realise their aspirations and achieve their potential.

The partnership – based on staff fundraising and volunteering – gave us many opportunities over the years to entwine and strengthen our brands.

Creating a culture of giving

Weil was hugely successful in motivating the firm from the top down. Initiatives like ‘donate your last hour’s pay’ and a range of activities including its annual Karaoke Quiz, auction and Walk with Weil ensured it reached its fundraising target. Weil also ran Tough Mudder, the London Marathon and won our inaugural Power2 Puzzle quiz night!

Spending their time differently

Weil led the charge on volunteering and proactively created and led a series of personal and professional development workshops for young people, from public speaking and presenting, to financial management and how to build your personal brand.

The firm hosted employability boot camps which engaged volunteers from across the firm and offered valuable work experience placements to our programme participants.
 

Always client-facing

One significant benefit of engaging employees away from their desks is the opportunity for partnership working and relationship development with clients. We were proud to facilitate partnership volunteering for Weil through several events:

• CVC Capital Partners volunteers joined Weil for a six-month Mentoring Academy for young people.
• Goldman Sach’s and Weil’s Black Attorney Resource Groups came together to host an employability session for young people from racialised communities as part of Black History Month.
• J.P. Morgan volunteers supported Weil to help prepare young people to sit on an interview panel for our Power2 Be Me at Work event.

How we aligned our brands

Weil proudly sponsored our graduation ceremonies with the ‘Weil Young Mentor of the Year Award’ and were invited as special guests to present the award at the ceremony.

Throughout the partnership, they sponsored engagement events, including a dinner at the House of Lords, hosted by Power2 Ambassador Lord Jim Knight of Weymouth, which gave both Power2 and Weil valuable face-to-face time with our donors and their clients.

The firm became the inaugural sponsor of Power2 Paddle and sailed under our brands in front of other Power2 supporters. The launch of this event was a huge success and is a legacy of the Weil partnership – we have been able to grow it year after year generating vital unrestricted funds to support more young people.

“Weil is proud to have supported Power2’s unique programmes. We passionately believe in giving young people the opportunity to unleash their potential. We chose to partner with Power2 as a positive way to reinforce our commitment to social mobility. We’ve been able to develop staff skills through mentoring opportunities with young people as well as engage employees with fundraising activities that are supporting work that fundamentally changes young lives. It’s been a great two-way partnership.”

- Rob Powell, Director of Pro Bono and Corporate Responsibility.

Are you looking for a new charity partnership? Power2 would love to speak to you about the exciting opportunities we have for organisations big and small.

Please email [email protected] for more information.