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

Rating:
Summary: Regeneration of OLD Information
Review: "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

Rating:
Summary: Flap Copy is Better Than the Book
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Good Practial Advice for Those Seeking Corporate Funds
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: Good Practial Advice for Those Seeking Corporate Funds
Review: 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!