IN THIS CHAPTER

Soliciting for the right types of contributions

Establishing funder communications

Writing a winning corporate request letter

Following up with the letter’s recipient

Many Fortune 500 corporations and smaller corporations reduce the taxes they pay on their bottom-line profits by creating community reinvestment programs that give away money, goods, and services to nonprofits and units of government located in or near corporate headquarters and operating locations. When a company’s end-of-financial-year profit is $5 million, it can give away 5 percent of the profits in the form of deductible contributions (according to Uncle Sam). In many regions across the country, this annual transition of taxable to non-taxable dollars drives big bucks into small and large communities. Grassroots nonprofits, mid- to large-size nonprofits, and units of municipal government can request matching funds and a myriad of program-related items.

How can your organization get a piece of a corporation’s philanthropy pot? In this chapter, I walk you through building long-lasting relationships with potential corporate funders and show you quick and easy steps of using the corporate request letter format to request funding support and other types of donations from a corporate grantmaker.

Recognizing What Corporations and Local Businesses Are Willing to Fund

Before you can ask for goodies from the nearest corporate giver or a local business in your community, you first need to understand what corporations and businesses will fund. You can ask for any of the following in a corporate request letter or a funder’s specific online e-grant request format, if the contributor has created a formal grant application process. If they have an online template, it is most likely referred to as a sponsorship request form. (I provide you with the format for the corporate letter request later in this chapter.)

• Equipment: Copy machines, computers, fax machines, printers, all-in-one machines, assistive devices for hearing- and visually-impaired persons, new or used vehicles, appliances, audiovisual items, phased-out specialized equipment (for example, body cameras or night-vision glasses), or other new and used items.
• Matching funds: Cash grant awards to provide matching funds to one or more current or pending grant requests that require a cash match. See Chapter 18 for more information on cash match funds.
• Materials: Training videos, curriculum packages, and project-related materials (such as canvas, easels, and so on).
• Supplies: Copy paper, printer or copy cartridges, standard office supplies, or special project supplies. These supplies may include ink pens, paper clips, computer software, or other age-specific or target-group-specific supplies.
• Professional development: Registration fees and travel-related expenses. Most training programs and conferences require registration fees for each attendee. In addition, the training may be offered in a nearby city or state, which means you’ll either drive (fuel expense) or travel by airplane or train (ticket expense).
• Professional services: A capacity building trainer for your board of directors, an accountant to prepare your organization’s annual audit statement, someone to evaluate your funded project, and more.

Making Initial Contact and Building a Relationship with Corporate Funders

In Chapter 1, I tell you about the importance of building relationships with potential funders. Here, I go into specific to-do’s for contacting potential funders.

Building Relationships with Major Corporations and Business Funders

I can’t write this enough: Prepare, prepare, prepare! If you don’t prepare and cultivate the relationship before asking for money, you and your organization have a double loss when it comes to winning grants from newly identified potential corporate and local business funders.

In order to build a relationship with a potential business sector funder, you need to start by researching corporate funding sources thoroughly. Chapter 6 is all about how to find corporate funders.

When you’ve thoroughly researched funding sources, you’re ready to review all the language in the funder’s profile to find its initial contact information. Typically, funders will state one of two possible initial contact preferences: a phone call or a letter of inquiry. Calling to introduce yourself and your organization or ask for a face-to-face meeting is preferable, but the funder may prefer that you write an email instead — and if that’s the funder’s preference, you should honor that request. Video chats are a great option for a quick call and a face-to-face meeting via your computer screen.

If you contact your funder by email, follow these steps:

1. Introduce yourself and your organization to the funder.

2. Explain why you are contacting that funder.

   For example, maybe you have a shared mission, you’ve gotten funding from it in the past, maybe you know someone on its board of directors, you’ve attended one of its technical assistance meetings or webinars, or you have some other attention-grabbing connection.

3. State your problem.
4. Give the solution.
5. State the amount of funding you need.
6. Ask for permission to submit a full funding request based on the funder’s guidelines.
7. Thank the person you are speaking with for their time.
8. Proofread and send your official request.
9. Make sure your email includes a “please confirm receipt” request.
10. Follow up in five days.

If you’re able to make telephone calls to potential funders, here are some tips:

• Write a script of what you want to say on the call. Your script should provide the same information you would provide if you were sending an email.
• Time yourself and make sure to keep your spiel under three minutes. Keep that timer in front of you during your phone call so you don’t start to ramble.
• Keep it simple. Tell them why you are asking them to support your cause. How does what they sell or provide in services align with your organization’s types of services and programs? How does your organization’s mission align with the potential funders?
• Speak with a smile. It’s true: When you’re smiling, people can hear it.
• Take copious notes. You may have reached out to the finance director for a major corporation; however, the final decision for any contributions is made by the Corporate Responsibility Officer. You need to write down the name, email address, and telephone number of the correct person to call for funding support.

If you get lucky and score a face-to-face meeting with a potential funder, take advantage of that opportunity! Write a script before the meeting and practice it over and over until you can say it naturally, without referring to your notes. Your script should communicate all the same things you would by email or over the phone.

Writing a Corporate Letter Request/Letter Proposal

When you’ve completed the relationship-building process with potential funders, including corporate giving prospects, you’ll likely be asked to write a corporate letter request or letter proposal (one and the same).

Keep your request letter to two-pages maximum, not including your attached supporting documentation (description of equipment, project budget, and so on). Corporations and local business owners don’t have the time to read cumbersome or lengthy requests. Also, make sure you use your organization’s letterhead and that the letterhead includes your organization’s name, address, telephone and fax numbers, email address, and website address. (If the letterhead doesn’t include this information, simply add it to the end of your letter.)

The following steps explain how to construct your letter and what it should contain; check out Figure 22-1 for a complete example of a corporate request letter:

1. Record the date.

   Use the current date if you’re mailing or emailing the letter immediately; otherwise, postdate your letter to match the actual mailing date. If you stagger the mailing for multiple letters, be sure to change the date on each letter before mailing it.

   Give the corporation or local business plenty of time to respond to your request. Send your letter three to six months before you need the item or money so the recipient has enough time to consider your request (and ideally say yes).

2. If you’re mailing a letter rather than emailing one, write the opening address for the letter’s recipient, including their name, job title, the company’s name, and the complete mailing address.

   Be sure to use the correct personal title (Ms., Mr., Messrs., and so on) or professional title (Dr., the Honorable, and so on). Call or email the company to double-check the gender of the contact person, the proper job title, and the company’s current mailing address.

3. Use a professional salutation before the recipient’s title and surname.

   I use the word Dear. If you know the recipient personally, you can use their first name after the salutation, rather than the more formal title and last name. Because this letter is business correspondence, follow the salutation with a colon, not a comma.

4. Start your letter with three bulleted introductory sentences.

   One approach to these initial bullets is opening with accurate, startling facts about your target population or the beneficiaries of the goods or services you’re requesting. (Check out the example in Figure 22-1 for this approach, and head to Chapter 15 for info on how to research target populations.) Another approach is to try stirring the memory of the reader and quickly connecting them to a past event that they or a loved one experienced personally. If you go this route, make sure the memory-jogger starts out sad but ends happily.

5. Introduce your nonprofit organization or unit of government in the next few sentences.

   You don’t have to include your organization’s geographic location because that info is elsewhere in your letter. However, you do need to share your organization’s structure (nonprofit, membership association, or private operating foundation) and target population. Provide enough detail on your organization to put the recipient at ease about giving to your agency for the first time. (Browse Chapter 14 for suggestions on how to profile your organization for a funder or donor.)

6. State your problem in the next few sentences.

   Tell the recipient what’s wrong at your organization that requires you to seek outside funding support, equipment, supplies, or consulting assistance. Give sufficient information on the problem to answer all the recipient’s questions about why assistance is needed. (See Chapter 15 for more tips on writing a winning statement of need.)

7. In one sentence, ask for the money (specify the amount), services (list the services), or equipment (give the piece of equipment’s name — the name most commonly used by the company) you need.

   Tell the recipient why you need the requested item(s). (Note that asking for money is very similar to drafting a purpose statement, so head to Chapter 16 for advice on how to write one.)

8. In one to three sentences, explain the measurable objectives the donation will help you achieve.

   This section is your chance to show the recipient that you plan to take steps to prove your organization lived up to its end of the donation. See Chapter 16 for help crafting futuristic goals and SMART objectives.

9. In one or two sentences, tell the recipient why you chose their company and point to your knowledge of the organization.

   Use the Internet to do your homework on the recipient’s organization. First, read all the press releases on its website. Then search the web for the corporation’s or local business’s name to see what outside information surfaces. Look for the positives and share, in writing, your knowledge of any awards or accolades. If you know the name of the CEO or business owner, also look for their profile on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/). Send a message to connect with them. This way, when you make a call or meet with them, they will be familiar with you. Heads up: if you don't have a personal profile on LinkedIn, now is the time to create one. These instructions will help you get started: www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/2964/signing-up-to-join-linkedin?lang=en.

10. Tell the recipient that if their company helps your organization, the contribution will mean much more than the money, goods, services, or equipment donated.

    Stroke the recipient’s ego by explaining how a donation from their organization makes you partners in promoting community change.

11. Close your letter with a sentence that tells the recipient whom to contact with further questions and when you need to have the funds, goods, or services in place.

    Don’t forget to provide this deadline for the giver’s decision making. Otherwise, you may receive a response to your request long after you actually need the donation.

12. Say goodbye.

    I usually use one of these phrases: “Sincerely,” “Hopefully,” “Awaiting Your Response,” “Praying for Support” … you get the idea.

13. When mailing a hard-copy letter, space down three lines and type the name and title of the administrator authorized by your board of directors to sign legal documents. When emailing the letter, simply add your email signature box with all your contact information.

    Although the letter that you’re mailing isn’t a legal document, it is a formal request and should be signed by the individual authorized to sign other types of accountability documents for your organization. Make sure to give your letter, in draft form, to the official signatory for review and approval before showing up at their door with a finished letter.

14. If you’re attaching any supporting documents, type the word Attachment and the number of documents after the administrator’s typed name and signature.

    I recommend including the following basic attachments to give your letter’s recipient an in-depth look at your organization’s internal components and nonprofit status:

    • A total project budget
    • Your organization’s most recent financial statement
    • A brochure listing your programs and activities
    • Your IRS nonprofit letter
    • A catalog page that features the item you’re requesting (if applicable)

15. At the end of your hard-copy letter, add a handwritten postscript (P.S.) of no more than three sentences that appeals to the reader’s emotions.

    The handwritten postscript is your last chance to get the recipient to identify with your organization’s values. Recipients who can relate to your need because of personal experience will be the first ones to respond favorably to your request. The postscript is important because it takes the recipient from the typed wording in your letter directly to your handwriting. This level of personalization gives your letter the edge over any others the recipient may receive. (If you want to add some winning words to your postscript to impart the importance of your request, you can find several options in Chapter 13.)

If you’re planning to send letters to multiple recipients, you’re welcome to use the corporate request letter template I provide at www.dummies.com/go/grantwritingfd7e.

When a board member personally knows the recipient of a letter, give the finished letter to that board member and ask them to cross out the typed salutation and write in the recipient’s first name. For example, in Figure 22-1, you can cross out “Dr. Browning” and replace it with “Bev.” Doing so shows Bev, the recipient, that someone at the requesting organization knows her personally. Just make sure the board member is the official signatory so Bev knows who’s calling her Bev!

Following Up with Potential Corporate Funders

After you send your letter requesting funds, goods, or services, wait 90 to 120 calendar days and then call the individual to whom you addressed the letter. Ask the person whether they received your request and offer to answer any questions. This important courtesy can speed up the recipient’s decision to help your organization. In some instances, the funder may, in fact, follow up with you in as little as 30 days. If not, please wait and be patient.

If a member of your board of directors handwrote the salutation and signed the letter (as suggested in the preceding section), they need to make the follow-up call because they have a personal relationship with the recipient. This action can increase your chances of receiving what you ask for in your corporate request letter because a more personal connection is being made between the executives.

Always express gratitude for contributions at any level. Write a thank-you letter and have your board president sign it. Also, ask someone at your organization to invite the donor or representatives of their corporation to public events, grand openings, ribbon cuttings, and more. Essentially, invite the donor to witness firsthand the impact of their organization’s contribution on your group and on your target population. Such actions show the donor that your organization really does want a long-term partnership, not just a donation.