I’ve sent dozens of pitches and heard nothing. What am I doing wrong?

*sighs exasperatedly*

Have you been in this boat before?

You pulled the pitch together. You sent it to dozens of prospects. And then… nothing. Not a no. Not even an out-of-office. Just the kind of silence that would make a ghost jealous.

If that’s you, take a breath. It’s frustrating, but it’s usually fixable. Here are the three things I think are most likely going awry.

1. Wrong time

When are you approaching these prospects?

One thing we’ve learnt, and teach at BePartnerReady.com®, is that there IS an optimum time to pitch. It’s not when you feel ready, and it’s not when the Board tells you to. It’s when corporates are discussing and setting their budgets.

• Companies on a July to June financial year: the sweet spot is February to March.
• Companies on a calendar financial year: it’s August to September.

The trick is to work out when their financial year starts, then work back about four months.

2. Wrong pitch

What exactly are you sending these prospects?

Is it a slide deck that’s all about you, you, you, with a slightly needy ask to round it out? Does it include (god forbid) partnership levels they MUST fit into? Gold, silver, bronze… 🤮 Are you presenting it, or just attaching it to an email and hoping for the best? Is it a bulk send with no tailoring?

If you said yes to any of those, don’t worry. It’s a common starting point and fairly easy to change.

Our methodology has you build what we call a credentials presentation. It’s a compelling slide deck that you present in your first meeting with a corporate (no latte catch-ups here!). It covers:

• the problem you solve
• the solution (what you do)
• your connection/alignment to that corporate, so they know why you’re in the room
• what you have to offer a partner
• your corporate partnerships model that also includes the minimum investment for a partner

It’s a balance of substance and emotion, and it helps them picture what a partnership COULD look like. That’s what earns you the second meeting, where the real partnership conversation happens.

Inside the BePartnerReady.com® program, there’s an entire module dedicated to building this deck, with a slide-by-slide template, best practice and real-world examples. Numerous changemakers have used it to secure high-value partnerships. Hear from them here.

3. Wrong prospect

Who exactly are you sending those pitches to?

How did you identify your prospects? Was it mostly the people your Board already knows? The big brand leaders in each industry? It’s an understandable place to begin, but perhaps the companies you’re reaching out to just aren’t the right ones.

The most important factor in identifying ANY corporate prospect is synergy. How do they genuinely align with your organisation? And does that alignment run deeper than “my Chair plays golf with their CEO”?

We teach a unique 4-stage prospecting process we call the Bullseye Method. It identifies corporates and brands that fit your brand essence, target audience and geographic reach. You start with a think tank list of 150+ “suspects” drawn from 7 distinct categories, refine that to a list of 60 prospects, then narrow it again to a manageable 20 Hot Prospects. You finish with a strong rationale for why you’re approaching each one. That resonates, and it makes you far more likely to get that first meeting and forge a partnership.

We’re teaching this exact process in an upcoming workshop in March 2027. Check it out here. 

Breaking the ghosting cycle

Fundamentally, what will break the cycle of ‘pitching into the abyss’ is a process, embedded in your organisation, that enables you to proactively seek out and secure high-value corporate partners. The right time, the right pitch and the right prospects, on repeat.

That’s exactly what the BePartnerReady.com® program provides, and it has helped over 350 changemakers do just that. See what they have to say in our testimonials here.

These are the three factors I see holding back many non-profits from corporate partnership success. But I’d love to know what you’ve come across. What’s got in your way, or how have you broken the ghosting cycle?

Want a sense-check on your own pitching process? Book a call with me. We’ll talk through how you’re approaching corporates right now, and I’ll give you tailored advice to suit your situation. 

Georgia McIntosh

Chief Communicator