The Collaboration Pitch Builder

From The Community Alliance Playbook by Ana Flores

The Collaboration Pitch Builder helps founders and small business owners grow through collaborations with the people and organizations already aligned with them, without leaning on ad spend. In a few minutes, you'll check whether a relationship is ready for a collaboration and then write a short pitch that leads with what the other person gains, so saying yes feels easy.

The tool is built on The Community Alliance Playbook, the method Ana Flores developed while growing #WeAllGrow into a community of more than 40,000 women through strategic, reciprocal collaborations, with no investors or marketing budget behind it.

The Collaboration Fit Filter

Think of one person or organization you'd like to collaborate with, then answer these four questions honestly. Together they make up the Collaboration Fit Filter, a quick way to tell whether a relationship is ready to grow into a collaboration.

  1. Shared missionAre we working toward something for the same people, without competing for the same sale?
  2. Mutual gainCan I say specifically what they get out of this?
  3. TrustWould I be proud to have my name sitting next to theirs?
  4. CapacityCan both of us carry this right now?

The Art of the Ask

Most collaboration requests stall because they open with what the sender needs and leave the other person to work out the rest. An ask that lands leads with what the other person gains and makes the first step easy to say yes to.

Falls flat

"Hi! I love what you're doing. I'm a small candle business trying to grow, and I'd love to collaborate. Would you be open to grabbing coffee to brainstorm some ideas?"

Lands

"Hi Maya, your members keep finding me at the Saturday market, so I know we serve the same women. I love how your restorative classes have become a Sunday ritual in the neighborhood. I'd like to create a custom candle for your restorative series and gift one to every new member this fall, so your welcome feels special at no cost to you. Could we try it with your November cohort? I can bring samples by next week."

The second ask is built in four parts, and you'll write yours the same way in the next step.

Build your pitch

Write each line directly to the person you're pitching, exactly as you'd want it to read in your email. The page puts your lines together into one message as you go.

Who are you writing to?
How you sign off.
Why are you reaching out to this person in particular? Example: Your members keep finding me at the Saturday market, so I know we serve the same women.
What are they building that you admire? Example: I love how your restorative classes have become a Sunday ritual in the neighborhood.
What's one concrete collaboration, and what do they get out of it? Example: I'd like to create a custom candle for your restorative series and gift one to every new member this fall, so your welcome feels special at no cost to you.
What's a simple, time-bound first step? Example: Could we try it with your November cohort? I can bring samples by next week.

3  Your pitchUpdates as you type

Read it out loud once before you send it. If it sounds like you, it's ready.

Get a second opinion with AI (optional)

For a deeper read, copy this prompt into the AI of your choice. It reviews your pitch against the Art of the Ask and suggests a revision, and the final say on every word stays with you. If you've written your pitch above, it's added to the prompt for you.

Bring this workshop to your organization

This tool comes from The Community Alliance Playbook, a live, interactive workshop Ana Flores leads for founder programs, accelerators, and conferences. In one hour, participants map their community, find their allies, and leave with a collaboration pitch they've written and practiced out loud.

Bring the workshop to your organization