Nonprofit internet strategies phần 8

238 INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT Plan for Stewardship before Solicitation The Internet plays an even greater added-value role concerning stewardship. A corpo-ration generous enough to make an investment in an institution deserves a steward-ship program equal to the aggressiveness and effectiveness the organization displayed while soliciting and realizing the gift. Fortunately, the capacity to provide comprehen-sive stewardship reports to donors is unparalleled in fundraising history. For exam-ple, an organization can efficiently provide corporate funders with monthly summaries of campaign progress, program successes, and other reinforcing documentation. Ongoing personalized and customized communication allows the corporate donor to be engaged in a dialogue that can lead to the next funding opportunity. While the Internet’s access and communication tools allow for effective, quick, and easy exchanges of ideas and an opportunity for an institution to set itself apart from the competition, stewardship is a strategy yet untilled by many funded charities. Finding Foundation Information Although the 1990s represents the strongest period of foundation support in history, more and more foundations are narrowing the focus of their funding and looking for ways to create greater impact with their dollars, therefore increasing challenges to charities. The Internet creates an illusion that readily available information about a foundation’s guidelines and application procedures are all that you need to secure a grant. It is important to note that the fastest growing sector of foundations is family foundations and charitable gift funds. In many ways these types of foundations require a strategy more aligned to personal, individual giving than large grant guidelines and applications. More information about foundations is available online today than ever before. RESEARCHING CORPORATIONS It represents just 5 percent of all charitable giving, but corporate giving is easier to research on the Internet than any other funding source. Why? The Internet is replete with sites for researching corporations. Most public companies now consider it es-sential to include vital financial and stock information on a public Web site. Since companies desire to receive the most bang for the buck concerning publicity for con-tributions, many funders post press releases and other details of corporate giving. The secret is to discover a method to quickly access relevant information to cre-ate successful corporate solicitation strategies. And, as with individual and foundation fundraising, successful corporate fundraising boils down to finding a personal connec-tion between an organization and a decision maker at a company. Create a Corporate Profile A good initial step toward establishing this connection is to prepare a complete com-pany profile. Such a profile can help volunteer leaders more readily see a connection between their organization and the company, build their confidence, and help with scheduling face-to-face meetings with decision makers. Exhibit 17.1 is a profile outline Researching Corporations 239 EXHIBIT 17.1 Profile Outline Name of Company Confidential Name of Company Street Address City, State ZIP code P: xxx-xxx-xxxx F: xxx-xxx-xxxx http://www. [Typically, the company address, phone number and fax number can be found on its corporate Web site. If you have difficulty locating this information, use a phone number search engine such as www.anywho.com or www.theultimates.com. If you are having trouble locating information about a company on the Internet, http://www.corporateinformation.com allows you to do a free search to find all the Web sites that cover a particular public company.] OVERVIEW AND RELATIONSHIP TO YOUR ORGANIZATION [Get a good description of the company, its products and services, and the communities where it has locations by visiting the company’s Web site. Be sure to put the connection to your organization up front for the volunteers to see. Include the company’s support to your organization by listing things such as past giving, gifts made by the company’s employees, any sponsorships, and any volunteers that are employed by the company.] Total employees: [When soliciting a company, it can be helpful to have information on the size of its employee base. This information is often listed on the company’s Web site in the section usually titled “Investors” or “Investor Relations.” It may also be found in the company’s annual report.] FINANCES Total annual revenue ending 12/31/03: Total annual net income ending 12/31/03: [You will want to know the most current financial status of the company. Remember, most companies are making gifts out of budgets or profits. If times are tight, budgets may be getting cut and profits may not exist. It is very hard for a company to justify giving money away if it is laying off employees or cutting shareholder dividends. Financial information is often posted on the company’s Web site or can be found on Web sites such as www.sec.gov, www.hoovers.com, and www.fool.com.] (continues) 240 INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT EXHIBIT 17.1 Continued OFFICERS/DIRECTORS [Getting a face-to-face meeting with a decision maker is key to getting a significant gift from a corporation. Officers and directors and brief bios on them are often listed in the company’s proxy statement or DEF14a. This form, DEF14a, will also contain current stock holdings of officers and board members, insider stock holdings, details of stock options, and key bits of information that do not appear in the annual report. To find the most recently filed proxy statement for a public company, go to http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/company search.html and search using the company name. Use this information to identify decision makers that have a connection to your organization. In preparing a research report, it is helpful to organize the officer and director information in a table such as the one that follows:] Name Title Dates of Service Other Affiliations GIVING OVERVIEW [There is a saying that the hardest gift to get is the first gift, and that is true for corporations and individuals alike. If the company has never made a donation, there is probably no system in place for who makes such decisions, how they are paid, and so on. If a company has no history, you might find yourself selling the virtues of giving, rather than your cause. Look for the general types of projects and programs that a company funds. This information might be listed on the company’s Web site or its foundation’s Web site. Look for areas on the company’s Web site titled “Community Involvement,” “Foundation,” or “Corporate Giving.” If these areas are not readily found, look for the “About us” section or similar section. You especially want to list any funding priorities that match your organization’s programs, projects, and mission.] provided by FundraisingINFO.com, Inc. that shows the type of information that is necessary for creating a successful solicitation. The profile also addresses sources for finding needed information. A completed sample corporate profile appears at the end of this chapter. Philanthropic Information Try to find specific gifts the company has made. This will give you a good sense of the size of gifts it generally makes and the kinds of programs it likes to fund. If the com-pany has a foundation, get the foundation’s 990-form from www.guidestar.org to view a list of past gifts made by the foundation. If the company does not have a foun-dation, use your favorite search engine and do the following searches: Classifying Foundations 241 “name of company” + gift “name of company” + contribution “name of company” + sponsor “name of company” + donor Fortunately, many companies issue press releases when they make large gifts. Therefore, be sure to check on news sites such as www.bizjournals.com; www.news library.com; and www.forbes.com. Organize the gifts that you do find in a table with the following column heads: Amount Recipient Date Grant guidelines and application instructions—be sure to check if the company makes gifts through a matching gift program. Political contributions—a company’s political contributions can help you continue to find a connection to your organization. Political contributions can be found on sites such as www.opensecrets.org. Finally, keep in mind that if you are unable to produce a report like this yourself, there are a few companies that will produce them for you. Three include the following: 1. FundraisingINFO.com 2. InfoRich Group, Inc. 3. ResearchProspects.com CLASSIFYING FOUNDATIONS To formulate appropriate strategies for approaching specific types of foundations, a development officer must understand the classification of foundations. The following provides the specific functions of each type as a guide through the various foundation entities. Operating Foundations Operating foundations accept donations but fund only one organization. Foundations operated by state universities are the most common type of operating foundations. Virtually all state colleges and universities accept donations; however, the universities themselves are programs of the state government rather than 501(c)3 organizations that can receive donations. The universities establish operating foundations that be-come registered charities and, therefore, can receive tax-deductible donations. Such operating foundations are also common in hospital settings. To determine if a founda-tion is an operating foundation, look to Part III of its 990 form for its “Statement of Program Accomplishments.” An operating foundation will explain its purpose with a phrase such as, “The University of State Foundation was chartered in 1947 to estab-lish and maintain endowments for the support of academic programs at the Univer-sity of State.” 242 INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT Community Foundations Community foundations typically pool donors’ money for management and oversight and allow donors some input into how the donations are made. Typically, this is at-tractive to philanthropic individuals who do not possess sufficient resources or time to set up and administer their own private foundations. Most community foundations deal primarily in donor-advised funds. In these arrangements, donors direct the foun-dation to the areas or organizations they wish to fund. In some cases, the responsibil-ity falls on the foundation to find organizations and projects in the community that fit the donors’ criteria and suggest them to the donors. In other cases, donors suggest organizations to the foundation. In all of these cases, two separate groups are involved in the decision-making process: the donor and the community foundation staff. How-ever, the ultimate decision as to the funding amounts and the recipients remains the responsibility of the community foundation. Charitable Trusts Charitable trusts are organizations that make donations but are typically set up as part of an estate plan. These may be permanent or temporary trusts. Typically, the deci-sion makers for trust donations are the donors’ lawyers, bankers, and so on. Although some trusts are created with very specific directions as to how and to whom donations can be made, others leave such decisions to the discretion of the trustees. Charitable trusts operate much like charitable foundations but require less reporting. Thus, char-itable trusts are often more difficult to research online. Charitable Foundations Charitable foundations are public charities established for the explicit purpose of mak-ing donations to 501(c)3 organizations. While not legally distinct, the two types of charitable foundations differ functionally. Family Foundations Family foundations enable the donors (and/or family, friends, heirs) to serve as trustees and managers of the foundation. Since such foundations typically do not have staff, the duties of the foundation are distributed among the trustees. Trustees are, therefore, very involved in the decision-making process and the administration of grants. So-liciting a gift from a family foundation is often similar to soliciting a gift from an in-dividual trustee. Family foundations, which come in all shapes and sizes, generally do not have application forms or complex processes. Professional Foundations Professional foundations employ professional staff to administer grants and operate the foundation. Professional foundations are typically larger than family foundations, as the foundation must incur the expenses of employing staff members, office space, and so on. These foundations also tend to involve more complex application proce-dures, decision-making processes, and reporting requirements. Although technically they are the same type of corporation, family foundations and professionally managed foundations offer unique opportunities. Professionally ... - tailieumienphi.vn