Building celebrity relationships that last

Working with high profile people – whether celebrities, influencers or those celebrated in their field of expertise – can bring a huge amount of benefit to your charity. Brand awareness; reputational credibility; income generation; participant sign-ups; compelling content; campaigning clout… the list of benefits is a long one! For this piece I’m going to use the term celebrity, but it applies to all of the above – essentially people who are well-known to the public. 

The process of securing celebrity support, and cultivating those relationships for the long term, is not always straightforward. Particularly if your cause isn’t naturally ‘cool’ or ‘popular’, getting the right kind of engagement from the right kind of celebrity can be hugely time-consuming, and not always end in the hoped-for result.  

There are significant parallels here to high value fundraising, and whether your celebrity team, staff member, or person who is responsible for this area in your organisation sits in the Communications team, the Fundraising team, or somewhere else, it’s helpful to consider how the principles of philanthropic fundraising can elevate your approach to working with celebrities. 

1. Authentic engagement

Creating a prospect list, or a group of celebrities that you might like to work with, should take the same approach as you would any list of potential high value donors or partners. One of your key criteria, though, should be that connection with what you do – beyond a major donor having an affinity with your cause, there needs to be a level of authenticity.  

If a celebrity is going to use their public platform to speak out about your charity, they need to get it, understand it, and feel confident speaking about it. That might mean having personal experience of your cause or a deep-held passion for it, but if that doesn’t apply, there are other ways to build on their engagement. You might need to think laterally about how you take them on that journey of authentic engagement, and how you can bring the story of your cause to life for them, and it’s worth framing your prospect list with that in mind. 

It sounds simple – but not going for the most ‘obvious’ of famous people might be to your advantage. Look at your social media accounts and find out who follows you. Could you message them directly? Is there a particular element of fundraising you’re hoping to promote by engaging with the celebrity, and if so, is it worth focusing on a particular type of personality? Or is there an audience group you’re trying to reach that you can curate your prospect list to appeal to? 

Whatever happens – working closely with a celebrity to ensure they can speak with gravitas and authenticity about your work is critical to a genuine partnership. It’s obvious when a celebrity hasn’t been briefed, or isn’t engaged with the cause they’re speaking about, and that could be more of a hindrance to your brand (and theirs!) than a help. 

2. Getting the foundations right

Communication and robust relationship management are the cornerstones of an effective celebrity (and high value!) programme. These are critical members of your supporter base, so it’s worth resourcing these relationships effectively. Ideally, allocating two relationship managers, a primary and secondary touchpoint, can allow for continuity, maximum availability, and multiple touchpoints for engaging with your charity. This could work particularly well as a collaboration between a celebrity team member and a high value fundraising team member – both roles bring different skillsets to the mix, and it also means that financial and non-financial opportunities are being explored (objectively) from all angles.  

As with a high value gift agreement, having a clear, written terms of reference in place with your celebrity can give much-needed clarity – of expectations on both sides, agreed activities and, most crucially, risk mitigation should things change. We are all too familiar with the challenges charities can face when celebrity ambassadors are met with negative press that calls the brands they’re associated with into question – by safeguarding against this and ensuring there is a clear clause about how either party can retire from the relationship, there is a formal reference point for both of you should you need to have a difficult conversation down the line. 

Don’t forget – transparency breeds trust. Ensuring your celebrity ambassador is the first person you speak to should there be a significant event for the charity, whether positive or negative, is critical to making them feel included and trusted, not least if there might be a knock-on effect for their own personal brand. 

3. Internal mechanics

All too often, celebrity relationships can represent a source of internal misalignment for charities. It’s critical to have the starting point of a big picture, collaborative mindset when it comes to nurturing celebrity relationships. The benefits and opportunities these relationships can bring should be shared, and not just adapted to one team’s targets.  

As with more traditional philanthropic relationships, it is critical that those managing these relationships are empowered to build rapport and understanding with that individual, to understand what their motivations are, what they are most interested in, and balance that with what opportunities that might present for the charity. When we make assumptions, e.g. they’re giving their time so we can’t ask for money, or they only want to give so we can’t ask them to introduce us to their celebrity friends, we’re potentially hampering that celebrity’s experience of just how much impact they can have. 

There are ways to build internal consensus and collaboration around celebrity relationships. You could consider a dedicated working group with representatives from different disciplines, e.g. brand, PR, community fundraising, philanthropy; you could give your account managers accountability for ensuring information is channelled effectively; or you can formally share written stewardship plans for input from staff to get differing views and ideas. However you choose to do it, your relationship with a celebrity supporter is sure to be more well-rounded, and offer more opportunities for development and growth if you are presenting them with a well-considered and diverse range of activity to get involved in, and that is both income, and non-income, generating. That is not to say you shouldn’t prioritise based on what you need most, but rather that you involve different expertise and teams in forming those priorities.  

4. New directions?

The lines around what constitutes celebrity are increasingly blurred – particularly when it comes to influencer marketing. Debates go on in the sector around whether influencers should be paid as a new, formalised marketing channel for example, but given these are individuals accustomed to endorsing brands or issues on their carefully cultivated public platforms, there is no reason that a more traditional, relationship fundraising-based approach can’t reach the same outcomes. But you still need to focus on the authenticity behind those relationships. Influencers are approached by many brands on a daily basis – why should your charity be different? They are unlikely to use their platform for free if your cause doesn’t resonate with them, or indeed their audiences. 

Looking at celebrity brand endorsements can be another way to approach working with celebrities – which brands work with which celebrities?  Is there a way to negotiate a mutually beneficial arrangement for all three parties – charity, brand and celebrity? The increased synergy and backing that a commercial brand can bring to the mix can elevate these type of fundraising partnerships – but they do rely upon collaboration with internal stakeholders to make them work most effectively. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, risk management is crucial to ensuring a robust approach to working with celebrities. As with all types of high value fundraising, the ethical implications and concerns are equally as important here. There are a few things charities can do to ensure they have mitigated these risks as well as they can – having a clear conversation at the outset about your expectations, and a form of “get out” clause for both parties is extremely helpful should either side need to rely on it in future. If you have any organisational or values-based red lines, this would also be a good opportunity to share these – again, it gives useful context should a difficult conversation be needed later down the line.  

It’s also best practice to carry out regular checks of social media and news reports to make sure there is nothing potentially damaging to your charity brand in the public domain. Situations can evolve quickly, and by coupling regular checks with having a widely understood and robust communications crisis plan in place, it can give teams the confidence to be ready and able to respond quickly should anything go wrong. 

The impact that celebrity relationships can bring to charities is hugely significant, and can be instrumental in boosting your brand, and income, to new heights; it is therefore important that it is respected internally as such, by being resourced and managed effectively to make the most of all that it can bring. 

Hannah Hyde, Consultant
February 2024

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