February 11, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
How should a fund raiser pitch companies for money?
Tom Durso, a public-relations consultant writes on his 501cFiles, has about tips he gathered from a discussion with Wade Colclough, corporate-contributions manager at PECO Energy.
Among the advice:
- Pay attention to trends affecting the businesses you’re approaching. With concerns about global warming on the rise, PECO is giving more to environmental causes and less to arts and culture groups.
- Don’t assume that companies have endless amounts of money to donate. Their main business is making money, not giving it away.
- Outline in your pitch how the project you’re raising money for would benefit the company’s interests.
- Find ways to involve the company’s employees.
- Pitch to a specific person, and don’t bother the company with questions that a little Web research could answer.
- Companies rethink their strategies on an annual basis, so feel free to approach a company that’s rejected your proposal in the past.
What do you think of this advice? Do you have other tips for raising money from companies? What has worked for you in the past?
