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The complexity of raising funds from large companies can be very formidable. Don't become overwhelmed by the process of asking. All the guidelines and procedures are but a prelude. The potential corporate donor knows why you've written or sought a meeting; it's not to pass the time of day. Your target of opportunity expects a solicitation, so don't disappoint. Push through the open door.
If the prospect of asking is still daunting, keep who will benefit from an affirmative response to the request for funds uppermost in your mind. It is not for yourself that a grant is sought but because of what can be accomplished for others. By keeping your eyes on the prize — how the lives of beneficiaries will be improved — rather than on yourself as a tremulous solicitor, anxieties should ease.
Moreover, when it comes to institutions like foundations and corporations, think of fundraising as creative matchmaking. Both private and corporate foundations exist to distribute funds to causes and institutions they deem worthy. But determining who receives support isn't easy. First-rate grantees are indispensable if such charitable instrumentalities like foundations are to advance the noble mission for which they were created and for the support of which they are afforded many legal privileges and immunities.
Viewed from this perspective, intelligent efforts to secure contributed income should be welcomed by corporate donors. They have their own interests to advance. They certainly wish to burnish reputations as caring citizens who help to identify and resolve important social problems. Present them with ideas to help realize that objective. Demonstrate that you can deliver the goods. Then you are, in effect, doing philanthropists a favor. There is no reason to be self-effacing or nervous. There is every reason to be energetic and confident.
Finally, don't set the bar so high for what constitutes fundraising success that you are doomed to disappointment and discouragement. Those who ask for money on behalf of charitable causes often seek a better batting average than the most successful baseball players. In baseball, to consistently average .333 by securing a hit one of every three times at bat is considered world class, most valuable player, all-star eligible, Hall of Fame stuff.
Yet most fundraisers — even professionals — would feel the onset of chills at the prospect of being rejected in two of every three corporate solicitations. They think of fundraising as being more like a multiple-choice exam in college. If you answer one out of every three (or even one out of every two) questions correctly, you've flunked.
To reduce the fear of failure, fundraisers should set goals more like those of the baseball player and less like those of the student. The more times a fundraiser steps up to the corporate plate with a solicitation, particularly face to face, the more likely will there be a record number of hits for a given nonprofit organization. The way to raise money is to multiply the number of recognized peers who solicit for causes they really care about and the potential donor is interested in. Don't err on the side of caution. Properly viewed, requests declined are opportunities to learn. By asking more often and doing so with a sense of humor and a toughness of character, you'll display a winning attitude.
Institutions now considered pillars of the establishment often became so only by dint of the indefatigable effort of their volunteer fundraisers. The Brookings Institution, a much-admired think tank in Washington, D.C., enjoys the largest endowment of any similarly situated organization. And how did this good fortune come to pass?
He would tackle anyone for money . . . and if you had any that wasn't nailed down, Brookings would likely get it . . . he never let up on a man, and just wore people out.
Such tenacity of belief in the cause and unflagging determination captures the spirit of fundraising at its best. Brookings would have welcomed you into his fraternity of energetic solicitors. It's never too late to join. New members are always welcome.