Fundrasing from US Companies

By Nancy Bikson and David Wickert
From Fundraising from America

This book is specifically directed to organizations outside the U.S. who want to do fundraising or collaborate with American companies

Employee Volunteering, Technical Assistance and Gifts-in-Kind
Many US companies encourage their employees to volunteer. Company volunteers may also offer professional or technical assistance to non-profits. Technical assistance may also include gifts-in-kind, depending on the products and services the company produces. The encouragement of employees by a company includes the company offering time for volunteering during working hours and matching dollars for volunteer hours as well as for dollar gifts.

How do Charities Outside the USA Start Fundraising from US Companies
If a US company or a subsidiary has an office, factory or other location in the geographical area where your charity operates it is an appropriate target for your fundraising.

There are the exceptions to this, but not many. There are a few companies that are more interested in their global image than in their geographical locations. They support particularly significant projects, worldwide.

For example, American Express has supported the creation of the Word Monuments Watch, which is dedicated to preserving the 100 most endangered sites of the world's cultural and architectural heritage. These sites are located throughout the world without any direct relationship to the presence of American Express offices or employees.

So your starting point is to make a list of the businesses in your area and identify those that are US-owned. The best way for many charitable organisations to do this is to walk or travel around your area and note down the names of the larger employers not forgetting that locally there are often small branches of huge multi-national organisations such as banks and other financial institutions.

When you have done this, or if you are trying to cover a larger area than your own immediate locality because your organisation has a regional or national remit. You need to obtain information about American ownership. You can get this in a variety of ways--you can ask the businesses you have identified, you can approach your local US Chamber of Commerce or other similar organisation, or you can contact the commercial section of your American Consulate or Embassy.

When you have developed your list of US companies, get information about their grantmaking. You may be able to get this from the local office. For larger companies it is also useful to obtain grantmaking guidelines from the USA. Increasingly these can be obtained from company web sites. Like private foundation web sites, most are available through the Foundation Center.

In addition to grantmaking guidelines, if you get a copy of the company's Annual Report it will give you an overview of what the company does in the USA and throughout the world. It is not always obvious from the local activities of the company what makes up its core business. The Annual Report is usually available free of charge from larger company locations, and even the smallest may be prepared to obtain one for you, or tell you where to get one.

For example, Philip Morris Companies, Inc. may mean cigarettes to you but half or more of its business comes from owning famous names like Maxwell House, Kraft and Lowenbrau.

You may also discover clues in the Annual Report about which parts of the company are profitable and in which parts of the world, which are unprofitable but with potential, and which are struggling. You are more likely to discover this from reading the text (perhaps reading between the lines!) than from the accounts. This is important information because the charitable contributions budget may be under threat when a company is failing to make a profit in a particular country.

On the other hand, when an American company is trying to establish a new market in a country, long before it is profitable there, it may consider allocating a charitable budget to demonstrate that it is generous and concerned to help the local community. This generosity may also assist the company to obtain licenses and other permissions it needs to operate successfully.

Meet the Company
Although the information you obtain about a US company may be different from what is available about other local companies, the fundraising objective is exactly the same-- you want a meeting.

Ideally, you want to identify one of your supporters who can open doors to the decision makers in the company. These decision makers may be local managers and you may not meet any Americans. This does not mean that decisions made locally, including decisions about charitable contributions, are not reported back to headquarters for further endorsement.

If you cannot find a supporter who can help you take a first step into the company, you will have to communicate with the company and discover the name and job title of the senior manager or director locally and write and ask him or her for an appointment with he appropriate person, This person may not be in a senior position in the company. They may be a member of an employee committee that makes recommendations about charitable contributions from the company locally. Indeed, the money that is given away may not be company money at all, but money contributed by employees, perhaps with some element of matching from the company.

Some US companies use US job titles worldwide, and these may be different from those used by indigenous local companies. There are numerous possible permutations of US job titles. The most significant single title is probably Vice-President. For countries where a President is Head of State, Vice-President sounds pretty important. In fact, a US company vice-president is comparable to a senior manager in some other countries. US companies may proliferate vice-presidents, but there will be only one President!

All the information you can obtain about the company will be useful if you meet its representatives. Remember that companies can buy and sell bits of the business at any time, so last year's annual report may not be the current position.

It is flattering for company executives to learn that you are interested enough in their company to do a bit a research and the research may help you to identify areas of mutual interest between the company and your charitable organisation. But give executives an opportunity to explain their company to you themselves and show you around if they offer to do so. You may learn a lot more than you can read in a company report, and it helps to develop a relationship between you and your charitable organisation and an executive in the company.

However you obtain information, you are particularly interested to learn about actual grants that the company has made. These grants will give you an idea of what is considered important by the company. You may find that there is no relationship between what the US Guidelines say that the company is interested to fund and what is actually done locally because autonomy is given to local management.

It can be bad news if you discover that the price of local autonomy is that charitable contributions are funded from local profits. The nightmare scenario is when a local manager is set profit targets that do not take into account the several hundred thousand dollars he or she is instructed to give away in the local community each year. If you suspect that this is the situation, it may help if you tell the company that your organisation can receive a grant directly from the US and give a tax-deduction.

The aim of your meeting with the company is the same as with any other local company--you want to present what you do, or some aspect of your activities, and ask for he company's support. To do this you need to prepare a very brief presentation, not more than 5 minutes, one piece of charity literature, and one or two pictures are good if they are illustrative of what you are saying. Keep it simple. Aim to present a project that from the research you have done you expect will appeal to the company.

However, be prepared for the company to have its own ideas. They may want to put a proposal to you. So forget what you have prepared if they make the running. They will certainly be more likely to fund what they suggest if you are able to agree!

If the company encourages employee participation in its community programmes you will also want to explore ways of involving staff. It is a matter of patiently building relationships by involving the company in your organisation in every way possible. You will want to ensure that the company is given an opportunity of discussing any new projects you are considering before they are announced, particularly if they could affect the relationship between your organisation and the company.

Do not give the company any surprises, particularly when they do give you support and they might find the surprise embarrassing.

Benefiting from Matching Gifts and Volunteering
Ask each company its policy regarding matching gifts and company volunteering and if your charity qualifies.

When you have established that a company will match gifts to your charity, or match volunteer hours, or both, you can put this information into your literature to encourage employees to support you and maximise the value of their contributions.

Ensure that all your literature asks all employees: Will your employer match your gift? If you receive Matching Gift Forms be sure to complete and return them quickly. You will see that some say that they have to be returned within a certain period in order to qualify for the matching. If you are instructed to return the form to the company, it is reassuring for the employee if you thank him or her and confirm that the form has been completed and returned.

Whether you have your own 501 (c)(3) or are working through an intermediary you must also ensure this organisation qualifies under the company's matching gift programme. You should also have a note on your literature about the availability of a US tax-deductions (see chapter 1 Fundraising from Individual Americans) to encourage American staff. Draw this to the attention of the company executives that you meet.

Some charities do not have time to do the administration necessary to obtain contributions and matching contributions that need paperwork completed for tax purposes, particularly when the contributions are small. If this is the case you should make this clear.

Benefiting from Technical Support and Gifts-in-Kind
Ask each company its policy regarding technical and professional support and gifts-in-kind. US owned companies that are not able to offer financial support may be able to give you invaluable technical and professional help of different kinds--everything from free banking and accounting to IT and Internet access--low cost to them, high value to you. If you meet the company. or a meeting is refused, in both instances it is worth asking about their policy.

Similarly, gifts-in-kind can range from new products manufactured by the company to pre-used equipment of every sort. The company will usually find someone to help you with the installation.

Companies can also find themselves with too much office or warehouse space as they develop a new business and expand. Charities can sometimes be flexible and do a short term deal with a company that can mutually beneficial. Of course, some companies offer permanent office or other space to charities. These opportunities are familiar to US companies with American management because there are various tax advantages in the USA. Although they may not be able to obtain any similar tax advantage in your locality, it may be part of the company culture worldwide.

Thanking American Companies
Always ask a US company What would you like us to do to thank you? The support and approval of a charity in a local community can be very influential with community leaders and other opinion formers.

If you are building a long term relationship with a company consider inviting a representative of the company to serve in some significant capacity in your organisation. Be clear from day one that the position can only be filled by a current senior employee of the company. In other words, when a current representative retires that person can only stay on in an individual capacity if invited to do so by your organisation. And a new representative of the company is appointed.

Warning
Companies compete with each other. This means that if you get the support of one, you may not get the support of its competitor.

Each company has its own agenda. It may be helpful and supportive when it is in its best interests, but when support is withdrawn for whatever reason it can be unexpected and difficult. Consider your options carefully if your organisation relies or the support of a particular company.

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