Ever had trouble getting a customer-service representative from a major company on the phone? Winning grant money from big businesses can feel similarly impossible. Corporations can be bureaucratic, and getting information from them can be challenging. As a nonprofit seeking grant dollars, you may feel no more powerful than a customer seeking assistance.
But there are steps your organization can take to streamline the grant-seeking process and make connections with key personnel. Leaders at the Newman’s Own, PNC, and Wells Fargo foundations shared tips with The Chronicle on how charities can build ties with corporate grant makers.
1. Figure out corporate priorities, but don’t adapt to them too much.
Before approaching corporate philanthropies, research their areas of interest.
Many corporate donors focus their attention on programs or regions that align with their parent company’s business interests. The PNC Foundation, for example, gives grants in the 19 states, plus Washington, D.C., where PNC has banks.
Others have specific causes that drive their giving. The Wells Fargo Foundation recently identified three priorities for its national grant making: economic empowerment, diversity and inclusion, and environmental sustainability.
“Study as much as possible the value proposition behind a corporate — or any funder’s — thinking,” advises Robert Forrester, president of the Newman’s Own Foundation. In other words, be ready to explain how working with your nonprofit brings value to the foundation or its corporate parent.
Still, tempting as it may be to try to fit your nonprofit’s work into one of these priorities, don’t force it, says Mike Rizer, director of community relations for Wells Fargo: “We like nonprofits that are true to their mission.”
2. Learn how the foundation operates and how best to approach it.
Corporate foundations operate in many different ways. To avoid wasting time with dead-end phone calls and emails, do research in advance on how each grant maker likes to conduct business.
For example, the Newman’s Own Foundation does not solicit proposals and only gives grants by invitation. Its leaders look for charities that rely on fundraising rather than government grants or earned income.
Grant making by the PNC Foundation is largely regional, with the national office divvying up its philanthropy budget among 35 U.S. areas and local leaders empowered to give grants of up to $50,000. That means the best gateway to foundation is to meet with the community-relations director who serves the region in which your nonprofit operates.
The Wells Fargo Foundation gives grants at both the regional and national levels. For the former, community-affairs leaders in each of the company’s geographic markets devise strategic plans to assess community needs, which can include supporting nonprofits that focus on hunger, affordable housing, or job training, among other causes. For national grants, the foundation accepts online applications year-round but only funds nonprofits with which it already has a relationship.
3. Network with employees, board members, and others with ties to the foundation.
To build the kind of relationship corporate grant makers want, it’s important to network. Many take seriously the recommendations they receive from employees and others outside the foundation office about which nonprofits to support.
The Newman’s Own Foundation seeks input from a wide network of people, including members of its board and representatives of former grantee organizations.
“Most of our grants start because somebody who we know has said, ‘Will you take a look at this?’ " Mr. Forrester says. “When someone really puts their name behind something, that means a great deal to us.”
The PNC Foundation relies on leaders in its local markets to find and fund “the nonprofits they know are doing the best work in the communities,” says Sally McCrady, the grant maker’s president. Getting to know those leaders and recruiting PNC employees to volunteer at your nonprofit — they get 40 hours of paid volunteer time annually — are good ways to introduce your work to people who affect and ultimately make grant decisions.
The Wells Fargo Foundation takes suggestions from employees about which nonprofits to support. Recommendations get passed to members of its internal board or to Mr. Rizer directly. That means it’s worth nonprofit executives’ time to get to know Wells Fargo workers in their communities.
Charity leaders are welcome to set up meetings with regional community-affairs officers to discuss their work and learn more about the ways Wells Fargo might be able to help, Mr. Rizer says. Along with funding, that can include technical assistance and introductions to other grant makers.
“We’re staffed with people on the ground who know our community well,” he says. “It really goes beyond the money; it’s thought leadership and community-building in a broad sense.”
4. Express your expertise, but leave time for discussion.
Like other grant makers, corporate foundations want to support organizations that are “effective in really moving the needle” on the issues they tackle, Mr. Rizer says.
When you meet with a corporate-foundation representative, be prepared to share solid data, talk about the results of your past programs, and “be able to show that you have strong links with the community you’re serving,” says Ms. McCrady.
But don’t be afraid to talk about how your nonprofit can improve its work, Mr. Forrester advises: “In order for us to be an effective grant makers, we have to know what’s not working well for them.”
And be sure to save time to discuss how your nonprofit and the foundation can work together to achieve the goals of both. Meetings are not only opportunities to “present your best foot forward” but also to “have a really good conversation about where you can have potential synergies,” Ms. McCrady says. “It’s more relationship-building than a presentation.”
5. Provide updates and sustain the relationship.
These days, few foundations want to simply write a check and disappear. Many corporate grant makers expect to stay involved with their beneficiaries’ work, and some, like the Wells Fargo Foundation, give multiyear grants. It’s important to follow up with them and provide opportunities to share in the success of the programs they support.
“We’re so happy to tell that story about what’s being accomplished in the communities through those nonprofits,” Ms. McCrady says.