A 5-Step Process for Increasing Charitable Giving
by Your Community’s Corporations

The following is extracted from the above-titled "RKC Idea Paper", Spring, 2003. It is available at no charge as a 7-page Powerpoint file, upon request. Please enter your e-mail subject-line as "Please send Spring Idea Paper" and direct your e-mail request to Jim Killian at < jimk@riordankillian.com >.

“Corporate philanthropy is in decline.”
So reports Michael E. Porter and Mark Kramer in “The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy” Harvard Business Review, Dec. 2002. Their research indicates corporate giving declined almost 15% in real dollars in the year prior to their article, and also declined over the past 15 years as a percent of corporate profits.1 Their article encourages corporations to adopt a new approach to giving -- by designing their philanthropy to improve the company’s competitive advantage, while also meeting selected community needs. ...

Can grant-makers and community-based non-profits increase corporate philanthropy by using this concept? In this "Idea Paper”, RIORDAN KILLIAN CONSULTING builds on the Porter-Kramer framework and outlines a basic 5 step process to help non-profits increase corporate donations … :

1. Build interest and target prospects -- convene companies for a seminar on the concept.
2. Plot a company’s position on the “Scale of Strategic Giving”.
3. Graph the benefits of changing their corporate giving approach.
4. Match the company’s corporate interests with community needs.
5. Assist the company in designing charitable initiatives for competitive advantage.

Will this process increase corporate giving in your community? The likely answer is “yes”, for 3 reasons. First, this process gives non-profits a new reason to “get in the company’s door” and have a serious discussion with corporate executives on philanthropy.… Second, the process encourages the company to make money through its charity -- that is, it gives the company bottom line reasons to consider philanthropic options. Third, the process also can promote more public discourse on ways for area companies and the public sector to collaborate for community benefit … [to] join with public agencies or other non-profits …

Is this process right for your organization? For some non-profits, this process is a modest alteration of their existing development approach; for others it is a significant new orientation. So consider the opportunity and costs from piloting this process, weigh the costs … and act on your decision.
-----------------------
1. See also, “Clouds on the Horizon”, Debra Blum and Martha Voelz, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, July 25, 2002; “Charitable Giving Slides”, N. Lewis, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, June 27, 2002.

Step 1. Build interest and target prospects. Convene area corporate donors and present the topic of philanthropy for “competitive advantage”. In preparation, develop data on local corporate giving trends, plus examples of “competitive advantage” giving used elsewhere, and update the list of needs for your community (or for your single non-profit) that could be addressed by such giving. Then conduct the meeting -- with objectives of promoting more giving by those attending, and of assisting them in designing their approach. A table such as the one shown could help spark the meeting discussion.
Step 2. Plot their position on the “Scale of Strategic Giving”. Steps 2 through 4 are related and rapid -- they may all occur in a single meeting with a company. Step 2 starts by meeting with an interested company. Begin the discussion by asking company leaders to “plot” their position on the “Scale of Strategic Giving”. This is a simple method to open the discussion of how they give, why they give that way, and what they’d like to see change in their approach to giving.
Step 3. Graph the benefits of changing their corporate giving approach. Next, in the same meeting, help the company leaders envision how a change in the company’s giving approach could be beneficial. This would require some advance preparation ... Using a graph such as suggested could illustrate how continuing the “current giving approach” ... may not have a net benefit to the company, while a change could offer bottom line benefits. The main reason for discussing such a graph is to get the company to consider specific strategic benefits that would be important to them.
Step 4. Match the corporate interests with community needs. In the fourth step, help company leaders move into practical options -- practical for the company and practical for the community. By using a discussion tool as illustrated, ... the non-profit can suggest how to “match” possible needs and interests -- and once started, the company leaders are likely to see other matches as well. For example, … After identifying several possible matches, the non-profit then can help the company leaders identify which “matches” are most important to the company, and begin to outline possible initiatives the company could undertake.
Step 5. Assist in designing charitable initiatives for competitive advantage. In step 5, assist company leaders to conceptualize and design their “competitive advantage” initiatives -- as suggested in the illustration. Such assistance by the non-profit’s staff could range widely … Overall, this 5-step process puts non-profits in a consultative role with community corporations. It leverages the knowledge of non-profits about community needs -- in a proactive business development process, that can build stronger relationships with giving companies. It also can help some non-profits see community needs from a different perspective -- from the view of a company needing bottom line benefits. And -- it can increase company giving.

To discuss issues facing your organization, please call Carol Riordan, PhD, or Jim Killian

at 212-909-2692 ...