 When we talk to nonprofit staff, one commonly recurring question is “How can we do better at grant funding?” We’ve decided to leverage our history and experience in the sector to gather materials for a series of articles on this topic. Our in-depth conversations with foundation and corporate program officers and a wider survey of their peers form the basis of the series. In this article, Powering Nonprofits focuses on the perspective of a corporate foundation program officer. The Corporate Foundation Cracking the corporate foundation is the dream of many nonprofits. It may feel like a quest for the Holy Grail—or one that has chances similar to that of a snowball-in-a-warm-place. But if what your organization’s programs are addressing aligns with what a corporation has prioritized for charitable giving, securing corporate funding partners is possible. Powering Nonprofits had a chance to speak to Michael Devlin, Director of Grants and Initiatives at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation about his thoughts on how nonprofits and corporate foundation program officers can make it work. When Everyone Gets What They Need "First and foremost, the corporate funder wants their dollars to have a measurable impact. They want their brand to be equated with good citizenship."—Michael Devlin, Director of Grants, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation Consider how your organization’s values match up with a corporation’s. In a world where an organization has embraced best practices for nonprofits, the board and leadership should have adopted a policy to clarify what kind of funding they will and won’t seek or accept.
The importance of a corporation prioritizing excellent brand ambassadorship and high exposure shouldn’t be a surprise. This may be a new approach for a nonprofit, and it might feel more like a business transaction than does a gift from a private donor advised fund or a public foundation—but in some ways, it’s exactly the same. Stephanie Eglington, Senior Program Officer at the Maine Community Foundation, encourages grantees to, “think about a grant as a match between the particular interests of a funder/donor and the nonprofit.”
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When we talk to nonprofit staff, one commonly recurring question is “How can we do better at grant funding?” We’ve decided to leverage our history and experience in the sector to gather materials for a series of articles on this topic. Our in-depth conversations with foundation and corporate program officers and a wider survey of their peers form the basis of the series. In this short take, we share some program officers’ top tips.
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Kara has a lifetime of success in patron engagement and fundraising in North America, and spent two years recently at Birmingham Royal Ballet building systems for engagement. Archives
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