The healthcare industry offers corporations a wealth of opportunity for valuable nonprofit partnerships -- if a pharmaceutical company manufactures a treatment, odds are
there's an association or nonprofit focusing on the disease. But nonprofit organizations in the healthcare sector are particularly skittish about the potential pitfalls of
partnering with a corporate entity, especially given recent disasters like the 1997 American Medical Association/Sunbeam partnership. That failed relationship resulted in a $10
million settlement for breach of contract when the AMA reneged its endorsement of Sunbeam products, and the situation lives on in a variety of related lawsuits.
Other industry partnerships, like Johnson & Johnson's relationship with the National Safe Kids Campaign, however, are celebrated for their mutually beneficial
accomplishments. What do partners like Johnson & Johnson and NSKC do differently? Experts say it's all about the front end.
All too often, pharmaceutical companies enter relationships with nonprofit organizations with unrealistic expectations of what the partnership will entail. While an affiliation
with a nonprofit can lend credibility to a company's products in a variety of ways, most of the major healthcare organizations will refuse to "endorse" a brand. And if the
corporate players are smart, says Donna Ramer, managing director, health sciences at Makovsky & Co., they won't ask for an endorsement.
"One of the things a corporation should never want is for third parties to look like paid spokespeople," Ramer warns. "It reduces the organization's credibility, and it's
antithetical to the mission of the organization."
Sheryl Williams, director of product communication for Cephalon, which manufactures Provigil, one of the only drugs available for the treatment of narcolepsy, ran into this
problem during her tenure as a communications exec for the Alzheimer's Association. Williams says, "we had serious problems with our relationship with Warner-Lambert," the first
company to put a drug on the market for the treatment of Alzheimer's symptoms. The company was "aggressive and adamant" about seeking a product endorsement, Williams recalls.
"People get skittish when you ask them to tie their endorsement to a specific compound." The relationship ultimately did not work out.
Instead of asking for one-time endorsements or demanding spokespeople to appear at a press conference, Ramer believes pharmaceutical companies should enter relationships with
nonprofits with long-term goals. "Nonprofits look for commitment to the organization beyond 'here's a fee for you to do x, y and z.'"
Putting Your Cards on the Table
The best way to ensure that long-term commitments are in place and that the partnership won't falter early on is to establish clearly defined parameters for the relationship
from the outset. Many of the larger healthcare associations have developed strict standards for their dealings with corporate partners, designed to make expectations clear from
the beginning of the partnership.
"The most important thing an organization like ours can do is set a board policy and lay out in specific detail how the name and logo can be used and what our specific policy
on working with corporations is," says Sandra Raymond, CEO of the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF). Raymond and her communications team have used the FDA's statements on
calcium and bone loss as their guideposts in creating an extensive and explicit policy for corporate partnerships. It goes so far as to spell out the wording of allowable and non-
allowable statements about NOF's relationship to any corporate brand.
Don't Count Your Chickens
Misunderstandings about the nature of these relationships are far from one-sided. One of the most common disputes is the nonprofit organization's tendency to view the
pharmaceutical and/or biotech partner as an endless source of funding for their expenses.
"Sometimes nonprofits want money, but not advice," says Williams. "They want you to fund their programs, but they don't want input. A lot of people don't understand that the
industry doesn't have tons of money to throw out. We need to meet our business objectives."
Ramer agrees that corporate expectations must be clearly defined. "Very often a nonprofit organization sees a pharmaceutical company as having very deep pockets without a full
understanding that there are limited resources. A brand manager or head of corporate communications may have a very limited budget for the partnership." Even asking for an
additional $10,000 or $15,000 could break the bank.
Mark Bizzell, a Golin Harris communications exec, conducts PR for Pacificare's employee foundation, which funds a variety of local nonprofits. "We're not the largest
foundation," Bizzell says of the foundation's limited resources. "We lay out exactly what we will offer." Pacificare often sweetens the pot by providing Golin Harris's services
to the nonprofit - rather than offering additional cash infusions.
"First and foremost when initiating a relationship, both parties need to put their cards on the table, establish parameters and come to terms with what each party wants," Ramer
says. And if either party can't come to terms, the time to seek a new partner is now rather than later.
(Contacts: Sheryl Williams, Cephalon, 610/738-6493, [email protected]; Mark Bizzell, Golin Harris, 213/623-4000, [email protected]; Donna Ramer, Makovsky & Co., 212/508-9672; Sandra Raymond, National Osteoporosis Foundation, [email protected])
AHA's Heartfelt Approval Process
The American Heart Association is renowned not only for its clout as a partner, but also for its painstaking approach to corporate relations. Carrie Thacker, public relations
director, spells out three stages of the AHA process for establishing successful partnerships in the industry.
- When a partnership is proposed, the Executive Review Committee (comprised of the Heart Association's top management) and the Corporate Relations Review Committee (made up
of staff and volunteers) first review it. These committees review all corporate proposals, flagging potential problems. - Once a partnership has been approved by the ERC and the CRRC, the AHA lays out its policies for the corporation. "We have extremely strict corporate relations policies
developed by our legal team," Thacker says. "They outline what we can and can't do, and they prevent us from having any implied endorsements or things of that nature." - As the relationship progresses, the corporate relations team keeps careful tabs on all materials produced by the corporation. "Any corporate materials that have anything to do
with the Heart Association run through internal reviews with our science, legal, communications and branding departments."
- Carrie Thacker, 214/706-1665