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Four Ways To Crack The Corporate Fundraising Market

At the beginning of 2016 there were 3.3 million registered limited companies in the UK. A good proportion of these companies, from the large national brand names to local micro-businesses, have charitable interests and budget to spend on fundraising partnerships – but currently only 2% of the charity sector’s fundraising income comes from businesses. Clearly there is room for growth, and a report from Good Values in 2015 indicated that 95% of fundraisers are optimistic about the potential from the corporate market. However, competition is fierce, relationships take time to nurture and securing a partnership can be hard work.

Here are four strategies that charities can try when looking for new corporate fundraising partners.

1) Exploit your local market

This is the most common way of soliciting new corporate partners but is also the most competitive and labour-intensive. The idea is to identify all businesses within a defined radius of your charity and approach them all with a funding request aimed at a specific project. This is a great way of building new relationships and getting new supporters on board, but bear in mind other charities will also be trying the same thing. It is likely to reach a point where your local market will become saturated.

2) Introducing new ideas

Have a look and see what other charities are doing in your area, and see what you can do differently. Companies often like sponsoring new ideas, as it makes their business stand out. Try piloting a new event that hasn’t been tried locally, whether it is a sponsored litter pick, a wine tasting evening or a Moonlight walk. Then use this idea to make a targeted approach. Some charities use the sponsorship offer is the basis of a direct mail or email campaign, while it can also be used as a means of deepening our relationship with an existing corporate supporter.

3) Migrate proven ideas

Another way of building corporate support is by introducing ideas that you have proven to be successful in other fields into your corporate fundraising strategy. For instance, you may already have a successful challenge event programme as part of your individual giving strategy, or an established events programme as part of your community fundraising. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Use the knowledge and contacts you have built up in other fields of fundraising to offer teambuilding events to potential corporate sponsors in your area.

4) Hit above your weight

Competition for some of the more lucrative corporate partnerships is intense. Some charities have overcome this issue by partnering with related causes in order to secure joint corporate fundraising. A high profile example of this is the 2015 joint funding partnership between Tesco and the British Art Foundation and Diabetes UK, but the same principles are also applicable locally and on a smaller scale. Partnerships of this kind give the charitable sector a good name with both the public and corporate donors and encourage exchange of knowledge and expertise between different fundraising teams.

When it comes to corporate fundraising, relationship management is key. A good charity CRM can help you organise your contacts and donations, including email campaigns, gift aid returns and direct mail. For a streamlined approach to membership, fundraising, events management, volunteering and more corporate fundraisers, check out our SubscriberCRM online tour and demo.