Pre-Conference Nonprofit Leadership Summit: Winning Formulas from Top Tier Cause Campaigns

This advanced, high-impact session is designed for senior nonprofit leaders responsible for building and sustaining strategic corporate partnerships and who want to learn what best-in-class actually looks like in practice.

Consistently rated as one of EFG’s most valuable sessions, this summit brings together experienced partnership leaders to examine what separates best-in-class cause campaigns from the rest. Attendees will get an exclusive first look at findings from For Momentum’s 2026 Best-in-Class Partnership Campaign Report, paired with candid insights from leaders who have built and executed award-winning partnerships. Together, they’ll unpack the decisions, tradeoffs, and strategies behind campaigns that drove significant impact.

This is a space for thoughtful reflection, practical learning, and honest exchange. You’ll sharpen your approach, pressure-test your ideas, and leave with frameworks you can put into practice, along with new peers who understand the weight of the work and can be a trusted network for you and your organization.

In this session, participants will experience:

• New Benchmark Data: Understand the factors that go into building best-in-class cause marketing campaigns. Attendees will get an exclusive first look at For Momentum’s 2026 Best in Class Partnership Campaign report and learn how to incorporate these findings to develop better partnerships.
• Expert-led deep dives: Refine your partnership strategy and activations based on the best cause campaigns in recent years. Expert panelists will share first-hand knowledge from their deep experience developing and delivering award-winning campaigns.
• Actionable takeaways: Peer breakout groups will leave you with practical frameworks and actionable strategies to tackle the nitty-gritty details of what tools you need when creating highly functioning partnerships.
• Invaluable connections: Share best practices and build a network of peer support for processing challenges throughout the year.
• Candid Conversations: Meeting other practitioners who are in your shoes can be one of the best parts of in-person conferences. This Summit allows you to connect and dive deep into issues with peers who understand your pressures and priorities. Summit participants will have the opportunity to have peer-to-peer conversations about their current challenges and collective brainstorming time to offer tangible solutions. Plus, you’ll meet people to enjoy the rest of EFG2026 with.