Growing Corporate
Philanthropy
Corporate Gift
Cover Letter
Bearing Fruit
Example
Developing a
Case Statement
- In 2007 I began working to articulate the case for support for the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at UNC Charlotte.
- In 2008 I began assembling a board of corporate volunteers to help articulate the need for the center and the value it would provide to their business and the community.
- In 2009 seven organizations provided a combined gift of $80,000 in seed funding for the center.
- In 2010 two companies pledged a combined gift of $8,800,000 in support of the center.
- Today, EPIC has secured over $17,000,000 in gifts and pledges from companies and their related foundations.
Inside Look at Successful Proposal
Benjamin Mohler, CFRE, ACFRE
Building Relationships
Corporate Foundation Side
Corporate Side
- Understand that in most cases, companies and their related corporate foundation have separate governance structures.
- Corporate foundations typically fund on a annual cycle with a process for application, awarding, progress reports, and invitations for renewal funding.
- Not all corporate foundations accept unsolicited grant proposals.
- Engaging corporate leadership on the business side sometimes helps prompt or accelerate invitations to submit a grant proposal.
- Corporate foundation grants tend to follow an ethical or stakeholder model.
- Engage corporate employees as volunteers and build them as leaders within your governance structure.
- Don't underestimate the power of matching gifts.
- Some companies make "sweat equity grants" to organizations where their employees volunteer.
- When a gift is not viable, consider marketing, sponsorship, or partnership support.
- Long-term volunteer engagement can lead to an invitation to submit a proposal to the corporate foundation RFP process.
- Corporate gifts tend to follow a political or productivity model.
Misconception
Tips From the Front Lines
Before You Begin
- Companies and corporate foundations support nonprofit organizations with missions that align with their own organizational mission.
- Find out what information companies need to approve a gift and who has influence to make these decisions.
- "Go-away money" may be helpful in short term, but is not sustainable in the long term and is an easy way to ruin chances for future and more meaningful gifts.
- Don't forget LAI!
- Remember that companies and corporate foundations are comprised of many individuals. Don't treat them like a faceless pocketbook.
- Like individual major gifts, it is important to build relationships (this takes time).
- Build relationships with several individuals at once (don't rely on just one contact).
Models of Corporate Giving
- Corporate productivity - increases profits or improves ROI for business interests
- Ethical or altruistic - addresses need in community or where company does business
- Political - protects power and builds influence
- Stakeholder - improves corporate identity for constituents, employees, community
Source: Tempel, E. R., Seiler, T. L., & Aldrich, E. E., eds. Achieving Excellence in Fundraising (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011), 138-161.
Establishing the Foundation