Charitable Grantseeking

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Charitable Grantseeking
October 23, 2008
Corporate and Foundation Relations
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CFR Introductions Contact Info

• Janet Lyons
• Director
• jlyons_at_stetson.edu
• [phone]
• Elizabeth Bhimjee
• Corporate Relations Officer
• ebhimjee_at_stetson.edu
• [phone]

• Lauren Martin
• Foundation Relations Officer
• lmorriso_at_stetson.edu
• [phone]
• Sayda Franklin
• Administrative Secretary
• smfrank_at_stetson.edu
• [phone]

We are located on the 2nd floor of DeLand Hall.
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The Office of Corporate Foundation Relations

• Connects University, businesses, foundations,
  government funding agencies
• Primarily fundraises for scholarships, capital
  campaigns, campus-wide initiatives
• Staff also serves as
• Assistants to faculty, staff, students in
  achieving funding
• Grant writers
• Researchers
• Community liaisons 

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Why would anyone do this?

• To get some ___________
• To start a ____________
• To add ____________
• To fulfill a_____________

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Dreams Answered Here
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Elements of a proposal

• Summary
• Introduction
• Problem Statement
• Objectives

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Elements of a proposal

• Methods
• Evaluation
• Budget
• Attachments

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Summary

• The summary appears _____ in the proposal, but
  should be written ________.
• The summary includes the 5 Ws
• and the H.

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Introduction

• Focus on your credibility and ability
• Include
• Mission, goals, philosophy
• Agency milestones
• Relevant activities
• Size and characteristics of your clientele

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Problem Statement

• Who has the problem?
• What is the problem?
• Do you have statistics to support your claim?

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Objectives

• To statements
• To Increase to decrease
• Tell who is going to do what, when it will be
  done, how much they will do, and how it will be
  measured.

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Methods

• How will you get it done?
• Activities
• Strategies
• Procedures

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Evaluation

• Did we do what we promised?
• If not why?
• What data have you collected?
• Did you budget for evaluation?
• Is dissemination required?

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Evaluation

• Formative
• Summative
• Qualitative
• Quantitative

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Budget

• Is your budget reasonable?
• Is it within recommended range?
• Budget justification
• Describe in words how you will spend the money

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Budget
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Attachments

• May or may not be read
• Support letters
• Resumes
• Collateral material
• Floor plan
• Building photo

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Stetson Process

• External Grant Form available on line
• http//www.stetson.edu/grants/
• We will help you fill it out
• We will get most of the signatures

• External Grant Form available on line
• http//www.stetson.edu/grants/
• We will help you fill it out
• We will get most of the signatures

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• Section 2 Foundations

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What will you learn today?

• Sources of philanthropic support
• Elements of working with
• grantmakers
• Tips for success

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What are charitable grants?

• Private funding for
• public benefit.

• Can involve formal request process.

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Who supports research, teaching, outreach,
larger initiatives?

• Individuals, corporations, foundations,
  government.
• Philanthropic grants sectorgrantmaker, yes or
  no?
• Corporate foundations (e.g., Coca-Cola
  Foundation)
• Corporations (e.g., Raytheon)
• Operating foundations (e.g., American Lung
  Association)
• Private foundations (e.g. Kresge Foundation)
• Public charities (e.g., American Red Cross)
• Key
• 1. Yes, set up with own endowment or pass-through
  corporate funds.
• 2. Yes, a minority have formal grantmaking
  programs.
• 3. Some, but small compared to donations to own
  programs.
• 4. Yes, most give to institutional programs, a
  subset make individual awards to grantseekers.
• 5. Sometimes, but usually seeking rather than
  making grants.

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Charitable grantseeking

• Its essentially five activities
• Program budget planning
• Grantmaker research
• Proposal writing
• Responsible program
• management
• implementation
• Stewardship

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5 components of grantseeking

• Program budget planning

• Critical steps for
• communicating a
• project or program
• to a funder

• Plan carefully
• Include developed
• goals
• objectives
• reasonable budget

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5 components of grantseeking

• Grantmaker research

• There are more than 80,000 foundations in the
  nation!

• Internet
• Form 990
• Fdn websites
• Community

• CFR Office
• Foundation Directory Online at City Island Library

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5 components of grantseeking

• Proposal writing

• The application process can be complex.

How to succeed

• Study the guidelines
• Carefully follow directions
• ALWAYS submit by the deadline

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5 components of grantseeking

• Grantseekers must use grant funding in the
  manner proposed.

• Management implementation

• Best practices include
• Maintaining program financial records
• Submitting reports as agreed
• Communicating new challenges
• triumphs with funders

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5 components of grantseeking

• Stewardship

• Receiving a grant is just the beginning.

• Successful grantseekers ensure that
• Grant is appropriately acknowledged
• Grantmaker knows investment made an impact

Depending on requirements, this can happen
through formal reporting or personal
communication.
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How are private grants different from government
grants?

• Harder to get in some ways,
• easier in others.

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Relationships are key.

• Private grants require less monitoring
  oversight.
• These grantmakers rely on personal
  relationships trust in making funding decisions.

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Relationships are key.

• Foundations vary in starting relationships.
• Some prefer a letter of inquiry or full proposal
• Others invite a phone call
• Still others prefer introduction via mutual friend

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Relationships are key.
Look for connectors

• Shared mission goals close fit between the
  grantmakers mission goals of proposed project.
• Geography close geographic proximity often
• Means shared interests goals
• Can be requirement for proposal consideration
• Trust
• Good reputation
• Positive past experience with the organization or
  people involved.

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Relationships are key.
More connectors to look for

• Performance legacy of positive results from
  previous grants.
• Enlightened self-interest
• Philanthropy is aligned with business goals for
  many corporate foundations
• Might contribute to specific university program
  to raise awareness improve employee recruiting
• People
• Sometimes best resources for making connections
  are
• Faculty, staff, alumni, advisory board members
• Other friends of the institution also connected
  to a potential funder

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Motivation is charitable
Private grantmakers operate under specific
missions
To encourage peace mutual understanding. To
cure cancer. To foster citizenship.
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Motivation is charitable
Private foundations

• Have flexibility to meet mission but must show
  they help society to maintain tax status
• Are more likely to fund program if described in
  terms of impacting people or solving problem

Tips for approaching them

• Take funders mission seriously
• Write in a way an educated layperson can
  understand
• Use emotion as well as fact

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Harder to get easier to get.

• Harder
• Rules are often implicit
• Success can depend on who you know
• Project is linked to an entire institutional
  relationship
• Easier
• Proposals often less complex
• Requirements for performance more informal
• A trusting relationship puts you miles ahead of
  the game

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Harder to get easier to get.

• Increase chances of receiving grant support
• Participate
• Give talks, serve on committees, attend events,
  make connections
• Give out your card everywhere
• Articulate
• Explain your work in laypersons terms
• Emphasize why its important to benefit of world
• Communicate
• Share expertise with peers more broadly
• Create impact section on website
• Build list of interested parties e-mail them
  updates
• Submit letters to editor, blog, speak at Rotary
  Club
• Connect
• Identify those with connections
• Ask for them to serve as advisors, advocates, or
  introducers
• Discuss plans with academic leadership, advisory
  board members, peers

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Letter of inquiry crash course

• A few tips
• Write to a real person
• Use laypersons language to make
• case for why program matters to
• specific group
• In condensed format, provide lots of specific
  information
• Make an understated emotional appeal

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• Section 3 Corporations

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Approaching Corporations and Corporate
Foundations for Funding

• Research methods
• Sources for funding
• Meeting preparation
• The visitstrategy and pitch
• Cultivating relationships

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What is corporate philanthropy?

• Corporate philanthropy or corporate giving is the
  act of corporations donating some of their
  profits or other resources to nonprofit
  organizations.
• Corporate giving is often handled by the
  corporation directly, or it may be done through a
  company foundation
• Cash is most common, but corporations also donate
  use of their facilities, property, services, or
  advertising support

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Corporations and Corporate Foundations

• Corporate gifts come from the corporation, or
  from a foundation established by the corporation
• Corporations- give in order to get exposure,
  publicity, community respect, market share.
• Corporate Foundations- are private foundations
  but their boards are often made up of corporate
  officers. Their endowment funds are separate
  from the corporation and they have their own
  professional staff

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Corporate philanthropy and the economy

• Corporate philanthropy is set in the context of
  the local political economy
• Corporations tend to donate a percentage of their
  profits. During economic downturns, the relative
  amount available to give can fall or potentially
  disappear altogether. (ex. Bear Sterns, Lehman
  Brothers)
• Corporate Foundations, however, will continue
  giving even when their assets are affected by
  changes in the economy.

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Building rapport is essential

• Often, the key to developing a successful
  relationship with a corporate foundation begins
  with a strong relationship with the local level
  of the corporation
• An invitation may be required in order to apply
  for a grant and this invitation can be offered by
  those at the local level
• Build rapport with both entities

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Corporate research

• Contact decision maker(s)
• President/CEO
• Marketing/Public Relations
• Human Resources
• Foundation Executive Director or
• Program Manager

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Corporate research

• What to look for
• Types of support
• Giving range
• Types of like recipients (universities)
• Corporate interests that align with funding
  priority

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Tools for Researching Corporations

• Google- to find the corporate site. The corporate
  site may be a completely different address from
  the commercial site.
• Look for an area of the site that deals with
  corporate giving. It may be buried deep in the
  site, if they even have an area devoted to this
  at all! Common titles for this area are social
  responsibility, community relations, corporate
  philanthropy.
• Guidestar.org- if the company has a foundation,
  Guidestar is useful for finding contact
  information, guidelines, and 990 forms.
• Hoovers.com, manta.com, zoominfo.com- these are
  all great sites for finding company profiles,
  basic financial information, number of employees,
  and listing of top executive. Also useful for
  finding information on top executives.
• Sunbiz.org- State of Florida search for
  corporation ownership contact information.
• Google again- Once you have gathered some
  information about a company, search using some
  key words (executive names, corporate causes,
  etc.) to see what new information you may find.

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Website Examples
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Website Examples
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Does your research support these conditions?

• Is the cause relevant to the companys services
  and products?
• Is there a good fit with the companys brand?
• Does a partnership align well with the corporate
  mission?
• Is a specific business objective
• achievable through the partnership?

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Meeting PreparationYouve got the appointment
now what?

• Review your research, plan your strategy
• Pin-point relevant areas of interest and hooks
• List benefits partnership will bring to prospect
• Gather leave behind / gift materials

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Strategy and pitchSmall Friendly Mainstreet
Bank

• What you know going in
• Meeting with President/CEO
• Current friend of Stetson, small donor
• Extensive family/other Stetson alums
• Strong ties to community
• Business with a handshake philosophy
• __________________________________________________
  _____________
• Pitch
• Appeal to personalized, service with a smile
  philosophy
• Ways to increase visibility in community
• Marketing plan to play against current Wall
  Street distrust
• Family Legacys story placement in Stetson
  Magazine
• Shared billboard advertising

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Strategy and pitchBig Multi-National Wall
Street Bank

• What you know going in
• Meeting with VP Marketing, Public Funds Director
  and Regional Sales Manager
• New prospect
• Expressed strong interest in learning about on
  campus banking
• Stetsons Investment Management services
• Main mode of communication - email
• __________________________________________________
  _____________
• Pitch
• Invitation to campus
• Student recruitment opportunities
• Internship program
• Speaking engagements for bank leadership/industry
  experts
• Career Expo participation
• Annual report/Scholarship magazine-refer to other
  banking giants already partnered with Stetson

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Distinguish yourselfremember

• Yours may be the tenth ask of the day
• Bring something interesting to the table
• Remember why corporations give
• exposure/visibility
• publicity
• community respect
• market share
• Focus on these goals and illustrate how you can
  provide a good return on their investment

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Building corporate relations and the art of
cultivation

• Cultivation involves all communication and
  contact with prospective donors
• E-mail, letters, thank you cards
• Newsletters and annual reports
• Special events
• Meetings and presentations
• An ongoing process!

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More cultivation

• Cultivation is what makes solicitation possible
• Done well, cultivation sets the stage for easy
  and successful asks
• Cultivation is not haphazard but carefully
  planned and strategic

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Still more cultivation

• Once you have donors the best thing to do is keep
  them!
• Its easier and cheaper to retain donors and
  upgrade them gradually to larger donations than
  to find and cultivate new ones.

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Stewardship

• Follow up, follow up, follow up
• Deliver what you promise
• Communicate often, under all circumstances
• Build trust
• Be gracious, follow your mothers advise and
  always say

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Questions?Visit us online at www.stetson.edu/gra
ntsContact th CFR office atcfr_at_stetson.edu
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• Good luck!