Strategies for Nonprofits Seeking Corporate Support
Lori Zoss Kraska, MBA, CFRE is the founder of Growth Owl, LLC, a company that works with nonprofits, associations, and other purpose-driven organizations to help them secure resources and funding from Fortune 1000 companies and other large corporations. Lori has years of experience working with public media stations to find corporate support for programming. She has worked with over 100 nonprofit clients all over the country both in person and virtually.
To listen/watch to the full podcast interview hosted by Greater Than Zero Percent (GTZP), visit our or Spotify or Apple.
Lori is an expert in helping nonprofits understand how to engage with corporations for fundraising.
Her book, The Boardroom Playbook: The Not So Ordinary Guide to Corporate Funding for Your Purpose Driven Organization, outlines her process "MeMeMo" (aligning mental, message and motion) for engaging with corporations. She believes that when reaching out to corporations people often say too much in their first email or conversation and suggests keeping the message brief and including who you are, how your nonprofit's mission connects with the corporation's support, and what you want next.
Additionally she recommends researching decision makers using LinkedIn as well as looking into companies' annual reports and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports for information on what types of projects they are funding. Lori discussed how CSR has become a viable funding topic for nonprofits due to corporations hiring Chief CSR officers who have budgets dedicated towards philanthropic organizations.
Lori addressed the challenge of small and medium-sized organizations knowing how much to ask for from a corporation suggesting researching what similar organizations have received as a starting point when asking for funds. Lori discussed the importance of small nonprofits engaging with large corporations. She explained that due to the hiring of CSR chiefs and vice presidents, large companies are now more interested in working with smaller organizations.
Lori suggested being as specific as possible when looking for support and taking baby steps when creating a strategy. Additionally, she recommended communicating all facets of the program being funded in order to relate it to what the corporation is already supporting. She also discussed the importance of doing due diligence upfront when asking for donations from corporations and how they may require a summary report at the end of a project.
Lastly, Lori shared her success story of working with an environmental-based nonprofit who had never looked into corporate support before and was able to get responses from top 20 Fortune 500s within two days. For those interested in learning more about GrowthOwl and its services, Lori can be found on her website or on LinkedIn under her name.
To listen/watch to the full podcast interview hosted by Greater Than Zero Percent (GTZP), visit our or Spotify or Apple.
-Joseph
