KNOW Your Organization's Mission and Identity -- Be clear about who you are, what you do, and why.

• What is the mission of your organization, and what are your goals and objectives?
• What is the nature of your activities?
• What are your rationale and strategies?
• What are the causes of the circumstances you are addressing?

RESEARCH the company or companies with which you wish to partner, or which might be good prospects for partnerships given their strategic interests.

• What companies operate in our geographic region?
• What companies address related issues in their business?
• What companies have operations that would be contradictory to our mission and approaches?

DETERMINE WHY you want a corporate partnership.

DETERMINE WHY the company wants or might want a relationship with your organization.

DISCUSS the nature of the relationship, the target activities, the desired outcomes, and processes for decisions, updates, and resolving differences.

• How and by whom will decisions about the partnership or joint project be made?
• What outcomes are we seeking that are the same, and what outcomes are we seeking that are different?
• Is there anything about the proposed relationship, activities, or environment for the partnership that is illegal? Anything that strikes you as unethical?

ANTICIPATE best-and worst-case scenarios for your involvement with this company.

• If there were a scandal involving the company, how might this affect the partnership and/or your organization?
• Do company operations threaten or contradict your work or could they Jeopardize outcomes?
• How will the company communicate about the partnership?

ACT if there are signs of trouble in the relationship that might jeopardize your organization in some way.