It's Not Just About Money

If you let your relationships with funders be “only about the money,” your organization will miss out on valuable assets – which may be worth far more than the donation or grant amount in the long run. Okay, so that’s easy for me to say, having been on the corporate side of the relationship with nonprofit organizations. My first foray was all about donations and sponsorships of Atlanta area organizations, to benefit the company that employed me at the time. Win/Win was more like “you can win, if I get all the marbles first”. Over time, as some very kind leaders educated me, I found that working to share those marbles made possible a much bigger win for both parties. Every corporation wants to get the maximum positive coverage and impression from each donation or sponsorship. Can you blame them? Offering the company a logo position on your event banner, in the program, or the opportunity to be recognized at your event … trust me, you CAN put a price on those opportunities. Any organization having a fundraiser has done it – “Platinum,” “Gold,” and “Silver” are the equivalent of a pricetag. And for many corporations, that’s enough. -