Getting Support From Big Companies: 8 Tips for Fundraisers

Hire staff members who can speak corporate donors’ language.

Nonprofits “need a partnership mentality,” says Mark Shamley, chief executive of the Association for Corporate Contributions Professionals. “They need people who have the skills set to manage the relationship beyond the grant, and someone who can talk about marketing, market penetration, and even public relations, and really understand what drives that business partner’s bottom line.”

Research the grant maker’s work.

Look at both its giving focus and its business mission. “It’s important for nonprofit organizations to do their homework before they come in and ask for a meeting, says Tori Kaplan, assistant vice president of corporate social responsibility at CSX Corporation. Pay particular attention, she says, to “how the organizations can align on multiple fronts.”

Highlight volunteer opportunities.

Involving employees as volunteers can give a corporation the chance to “try out” a nonprofit before committing cash. Nicole Robinson, vice president of Kraft Foods Foundation, says that when a charity the company has not worked with previously seeks multiple kinds of support from the foundation, Kraft often starts by offering its employees as volunteers to help the foundation get a sense of the charity’s work.

“You get there over time, in increments,” says Ms. Robinson. “If an organization comes to us with three things, but maybe not everything is thought out, they may not be ready for cause when we meet them. But if we see an advocacy opportunity and an opportunity to engage our employees, we can build from there.”

Focus on results.

Measure things that can show how the charity’s programs are meeting the group’s mission. “There’s a greater expectation for grant recipients or requesters on a return on that investment,” says Torrence Robinson, senior director of the Fluor Foundation.

And, cautions Bob Corcoran, president of the GE Foundation, “do what you say you’re going to do.” He’s seen a number of organizations that regularly seek grants and raise money, but don’t provide the services they set out to do.

Tell a compelling story about the nonprofit’s work.

And back it up with data. “We look for high-performing nonprofits that collect data and metrics, and can tell us on a grant application how many people they’ve served,” showing what each dollar can accomplish, says Kerry Sullivan, president of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation.

Describe how the charity is shaping the community and how that success could benefit the corporate grant maker. “We want to see the social impact, and if possible, the business impact,” says Ms. Robinson, of Kraft. Nonprofits should be able to show how they plan to help their communities, she says, and why a corporation’s support for a program will benefit both the company and the people the charity helps.

Collaborate with other nonprofits.

Some charities with similar missions don’t talk to each other, and grant makers see that as waste of time and resources. “We need to leave our collective organizational egos out the door and solve the problem at hand, and if another organization has the solution to that, let’s go with that,” says Mr. Robinson, of the Fluor Foundation. “We need those entities out there to work together. No one has a single solution.”

Connect with company employees.

Employees who make recommendations on behalf of the nonprofits they volunteer for or get services from can influence their company’s grant process. “Absolutely, recommendations carry more weight,” says Jacquelline Fuller, director of charitable giving at Google.org.

At the supermarket chain Safeway, workers have the power to drive company donations to a specific cause they support, since they can shepherd the grant-application process from beginning to end. “We consider those applications very carefully,” says Christy Duncan Anderson, executive director of the Safeway Foundation.

If a grant application is rejected, ask why.

Use the answer to improve chances the next time. Carleen Beste, manager of the Northrop Grumman Foundation, often picks up the phone and talks to grant applicants that didn’t make the cut to let them know why they weren’t picked.