Successful Corporate Fund Raising: Effective Strategies for Today's Nonprofits [Hardcover]

K. Scott Sheldon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wiley Nonprofit Law, Finance and Management Series | Publication Date: February 18, 2000

Corporate giving currently accounts for nearly 10 percent of all charitable donations nationwide, and most experts agree that the flow of corporate resources earmarked for nonprofit programs is on the rise. Yet, many fund raisers are held back from tapping this gold mine by the fear they don t know how to "play the system" correctly. When it comes to soliciting corporate funds, even old hands at private fund raising find themselves stymied by the lack of clear-cut answers to such critical questions as: "How do I find out which companies give and how do I obtain information about them?" "Who are the funding decision makers, and how do I appeal to them and cultivate relationships with them?" "What hidden strings and pitfalls should I be aware of when soliciting corporate funds?"

Successful Corporate Fund Raising provides in-depth answers to these and all your questions about finding and winning corporate funds. The distillation of Scott Sheldon s more than two decades of experience as a corporate fund raiser, it provides a complete blueprint for developing and maintaining successful corporate fund-raising programs at nonprofits of all sizes.

The book begins with an in-depth exploration of the world of contemporary corporate giving. It explains the key differences between private funding and the "strategic philanthropy" practiced by many corporations. It describes the various forms corporate giving most commonly takes, including cash, in-kind, and volunteerism. And it clearly spells out the motivations, perceptions, expectations, and conditions driving most corporate funding.The lion s share of the book is devoted to schooling readers in effective low-cost strategies for locating, obtaining, and managing corporate resources. Organized around the five key components of a successful corporate funding initiative, it provides step-by-step guidance on how to research corporate funders, cultivate relationships with key personnel, solicit corporate resources, evaluate the efficacy of fund-raising initiatives, and manage funded programs. It also supplies a wealth of forms, questionnaires, sample letters and proposals, checklists, and other valuable tools that can easily be adapted for use in your organization. Successful Corporate Fund Raising is an indispensable working resource for all nonprofit fund raisers, development managers, agency executives, and board members.

An expert s guide to finding and winning corporate support for your nonprofit organization.

This book shows fund raisers and executives at nonprofits of all sizes how to take advantage of the current corporate funding opportunities. K. Scott Sheldon provides a fresh, insider s look at contemporary corporate giving, and he develops a complete blueprint for developing a corporate fund-raising program. Step-by-step, he walks you through the entire corporate fund-raising process and:
* Describes proven fund-raising strategies and techniques that can be integrated into virtually any nonprofit organization
* Alerts you to the common pitfalls to corporate solicitation and shows you how to avoid them
* Explores the impact of new technologies on corporate fund raising
* Details solid strategies for taking advantage of resources other than cash, including in-kind donations and volunteers
* Illustrates key points with fascinating and instructive real-world case studies
* Arms you with an array of forms, checklists, sample documents, questionnaires, and other valuable tools

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Corporate giving currently accounts for nearly 10 percent of all charitable donations nationwide, and most experts agree that the flow of corporate resources earmarked for nonprofit programs is on the rise. Yet, many fund raisers are held back from tapping this gold mine by the fear they don’t know how to "play the system" correctly. When it comes to soliciting corporate funds, even old hands at private fund raising find themselves stymied by the lack of clear-cut answers to such critical questions as: "How do I find out which companies give and how do I obtain information about them?" "Who are the funding decision makers, and how do I appeal to them and cultivate relationships with them?" "What hidden strings and pitfalls should I be aware of when soliciting corporate funds?" Successful Corporate Fund Raising provides in-depth answers to these and all your questions about finding and winning corporate funds. The distillation of Scott Sheldon’s more than two decades of experience as a corporate fund raiser, it provides a complete blueprint for developing and maintaining successful corporate fund-raising programs at nonprofits of all sizes. The book begins with an in-depth exploration of the world of contemporary corporate giving. It explains the key differences between private funding and the "strategic philanthropy" practiced by many corporations. It describes the various forms corporate giving most commonly takes, including cash, in-kind, and volunteerism. And it clearly spells out the motivations, perceptions, expectations, and conditions driving most corporate funding. The lion’s share of the book is devoted to schooling readers in effective low-cost strategies for locating, obtaining, and managing corporate resources. Organized around the five key components of a successful corporate funding initiative, it provides step-by-step guidance on how to research corporate funders, cultivate relationships with key personnel, solicit corporate resources, evaluate the efficacy of fund-raising initiatives, and manage funded programs. It also supplies a wealth of forms, questionnaires, sample letters and proposals, checklists, and other valuable tools that can easily be adapted for use in your organization. Successful Corporate Fund Raising is an indispensable working resource for all nonprofit fund raisers, development managers, agency executives, and board members.

From the Back Cover

Corporate giving currently accounts for nearly 10 percent of all charitable donations nationwide, and most experts agree that the flow of corporate resources earmarked for nonprofit programs is on the rise. Yet, many fund raisers are held back from tapping this gold mine by the fear they don?t know how to "play the system" correctly. When it comes to soliciting corporate funds, even old hands at private fund raising find themselves stymied by the lack of clear-cut answers to such critical questions as: "How do I find out which companies give and how do I obtain information about them?" "Who are the funding decision makers, and how do I appeal to them and cultivate relationships with them?" "What hidden strings and pitfalls should I be aware of when soliciting corporate funds?"

Successful Corporate Fund Raising provides in-depth answers to these and all your questions about finding and winning corporate funds. The distillation of Scott Sheldon?s more than two decades of experience as a corporate fund raiser, it provides a complete blueprint for developing and maintaining successful corporate fund-raising programs at nonprofits of all sizes.

The book begins with an in-depth exploration of the world of contemporary corporate giving. It explains the key differences between private funding and the "strategic philanthropy" practiced by many corporations. It describes the various forms corporate giving most commonly takes, including cash, in-kind, and volunteerism. And it clearly spells out the motivations, perceptions, expectations, and conditions driving most corporate funding.The lion?s share of the book is devoted to schooling readers in effective low-cost strategies for locating, obtaining, and managing corporate resources. Organized around the five key components of a successful corporate funding initiative, it provides step-by-step guidance on how to research corporate funders, cultivate relationships with key personnel, solicit corporate resources, evaluate the efficacy of fund-raising initiatives, and manage funded programs. It also supplies a wealth of forms, questionnaires, sample letters and proposals, checklists, and other valuable tools that can easily be adapted for use in your organization. Successful Corporate Fund Raising is an indispensable working resource for all nonprofit fund raisers, development managers, agency executives, and board members.

An expert?s guide to finding and winning corporate support for your nonprofit organization.

This book shows fund raisers and executives at nonprofits of all sizes how to take advantage of the current corporate funding opportunities. K. Scott Sheldon provides a fresh, insider?s look at contemporary corporate giving, and he develops a complete blueprint for developing a corporate fund-raising program. Step-by-step, he walks you through the entire corporate fund-raising process and:

• Describes proven fund-raising strategies and techniques that can be integrated into virtually any nonprofit organization
• Alerts you to the common pitfalls to corporate solicitation and shows you how to avoid them
• Explores the impact of new technologies on corporate fund raising
• Details solid strategies for taking advantage of resources other than cash, including in-kind donations and volunteers
• Illustrates key points with fascinating and instructive real-world case studies
• Arms you with an array of forms, checklists, sample documents, questionnaires, and other valuable tools

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471350168
• ISBN-13: 978-0471350163
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,057,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Regeneration of OLD Information, March 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Successful Corporate Fund Raising: Effective Strategies for Today's Nonprofits (Hardcover)

"I was very disappointed with this book. It is promoted as an "indispensable working resource" when in reality it is a rehash of old information much of which is way behind the times (examples -- just passing mention of cause-related marketing, sponsorships, product giving which are all the growth aspects of corporate support for nonprofits). Better to design a strategy for getting money from businesses by reading a book(s) written by someone on the inside of a company giving program -- not a fund-raiser who is on the outside looking in. Books I have found much more helpful are Corporate Social Investing by Curt Weeden (very cutting edge) and The Corporate Contributions Handbook by James Shannon." Carrie Tyrrell

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Practial Advice for Those Seeking Corporate Funds, March 28, 2000

By 

Richard Barr - See all my reviews

This review is from: Successful Corporate Fund Raising: Effective Strategies for Today's Nonprofits (Hardcover)

Since I am new to fund raising I have been looking for a book that provides practical, hands-on advice on how to raise funds from the corporate sector. This book takes that approach and in a very positive way. It assumes that corporate giving is here to stay and takes the position that there are already enough books available that explore the theoretical reasons why corporations give. I particularly liked the fact that the author sprinkles the text with examples of on-line fund raising and using the Internet. There are good examples of how to submit on-line grant applications and ways to increase your success rate using this new technology. The author also advocates using email when contacting, cultivating and soliciting corporate donors, something that I feel comforatble doing. All in all a job well done!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Flap Copy is Better Than the Book, July 30, 2002

By 

Paul Jones (Salt Lake City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Successful Corporate Fund Raising: Effective Strategies for Today's Nonprofits (Hardcover)

Like a movie trailer for a summer blockbuster, the inside flap of K. Scott Sheldon's little book "Successful Corporate Fund Raising: Effective Strategies for Today's Nonprofits" promises much. Corporate giving accounts for 10 percent of all charitable donations, it says. "Yet, many fund raisers are held back from tapping this gold mine by the fear that they don't know how to `play the system' correctly."

But just as many movie trailers are more entertaining than their corresponding movies, the flap copy of "Successful" is better than the book.

"Successful" starts with a 35-page exposition on the history, scope and nature of corporate philanthropy. But Sheldon's case for why a nonprofit would want to go after corporate funding seems halfhearted. He sums it up by saying, "If the past is any predictor of the future it should be safe to say that corporate philanthropy will continue to be a significant source of support for America's nonprofit community for many years to come." It's a circular argument and a limp sentence.

Beginning with chapters six through ten comes the strategy promised by the subtitle. Sheldon outlines his 5-part process for seeking corporate funding: 1). Researching Corporate Giving Programs. 2). Cultivation. 3). Solicitation. 4). Evaluation. 5). Recognition and Stewardship. It's a quibble, but this self-evident approach struck me as being more of a program than a strategy, per se.

Nonetheless it's in these chapters that Sheldon really gets his feet under him. It's evident from these chapters that Sheldon is a careful and punctilious fund raiser. He certainly has the bona fides. Sheldon's been raising money for colleges and universities since 1977, most recently at Arizona State University. And yet even here some of the tactics in these chapters seemed off-putting if not hazardous to corporate fund raising efforts.

During the cultivation process, for instance, he recommends taking a "shopping list of funding priorities" to corporate funders. If they don't respond to one option he suggests moving down the list. While it's certainly smart to come prepared to pitch more than one idea, my experience is that kind of fishing expedition suggests that you haven't done your homework, and seldom pays off. He also advocates hand delivery of corporate proposals, and underscoring the words "Hand Delivery" on both the envelope and cover letter. My experience is that when nonprofits take extravagant measures it shouts to potential funders that you really don't need the money.

Well into the book Sheldon outlines an example of how to apply his five-part process to an employee matching gifts campaign. The money sought in the example is [$$$]. As outlined, Sheldon suggests the following steps; develop a campaign including the five-step process; discover companies in your area that match employee gifts, probably using a proprietary database, software or reference book; identify your constituency, including, hopefully, retirees; cultivate the constituency by mailing a brochure that you devise or a commercially available version; double check gift club eligibility; send one or more matching gift donor response forms and or reminders, perhaps including hand written Post-It Notes; meet to evaluate the program; thank matching donors; review the strategy; call eligible matching donors, offer gift incentives, and/or recruit matching gift captains at companies as needed; ensure that you've exploited companies that match gifts based on employee volunteerism. Whew!

It is here in the thirteenth of 14 chapters, the one in which the author dives into the nitty gritty of corporate fund raising, where the reader asks the Peggy Lee question, "Is That All There Is?" Is all that effort worth [$$$]? Sheldon, in devising the example, implies that it is. The reader, however, is left to wonder.

"Successful" has some errors of fact. WorldCom didn't buy Sprint. Neither Intel nor AT&T are really new companies or new to corporate philanthropy, as the book implies.

He also gives cause marketing sort shrift, devoting just 2-pages to the ever-burgeoning practice. IEG, the big sponsorship outfit in Chicago, projects that cause marketing will total [$$$] million in 2002, almost 10 percent of all corporate giving. Best of all, cause marketing money is frequently unrestricted and generally comes from marketing budgets, not corporate foundation budgets. That fact allows savvy nonprofits to double-dip from a company drawing on marketing dollars and corporate philanthropy dollars both. In giving cause marketing the high fly-by, Sheldon does his readers a disservice.

"Successful" isn't worth adding to your personal library. But if you're looking for the very most basic primer on corporate fund raising, check it out at your local public library.