Category Archives: Gifts from Businesses

Corporate giving is up, according to the 2012 Giving in Numbers report from the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy.

It’s up across the board, to the tune of 42% or $4.48 billion between 2007 and 2012. That’s good when you want straight cash. But it’s even better when you want a non-cash contribution from a business, such as  a gift basket, hotel stay, case of wine, or other tempting item for your next charity auction.

Non-cash corporate contributions accounted for 69% of the 2012 corporate giving totals, up from 57% in 2007. We seem to be at a curious point in the U.S.’s economic recovery: Business profits are up just enough that owners feel comfortable increasing their donations to charity — but with sales on the sluggish side, they’re still ending up with excess inventory, which can go toward a nonprofit in need.

Of course, need alone isn’t enough to convince a business to hand over its goods. The savvy nonprofit will make professional requests that stress the attractive manner in which potential auction items will be displayed as well as how the corporate donor will be recognized.

For more on how to hold a great auction, see the article, “Twelve Steps to Preparing a Successful Fundraising Auction.” And while we’re talking about auctions, make sure your nonprofit isn’t making the common mistake of giving bidders an exaggerated idea of how high a tax deduction they’ll receive, as discussed in, “Is Your Nonprofit Overpromising Tax Deductions?“

As someone who faints dead away if anyone bearing a needle removes even a drop of my blood, I bow in awe of the heroes and heroines who — willingly! — donate their blood.

But I also had to laugh when I saw a friend sporting not only a red bandage on her arm after giving blood, but this “Give blood” sticker.

Yes, Dark Shadows is a vampire movie. (With Johny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer no less!) Vampires like blood. People need blood. Get it?

It’s offbeat, but humor is a great way to bring attention to a nonprofit’s cause. And, as in the ideal collaboration, both the nonprofit and the business gain. I’m assuming that the movie folks helped underwrite the ARCs efforts in some way; reports have it they at least donated some movie tickets to be raffled off to blood donors.

As for benefit to the business, I, and probably anyone who saw these stickers, will remember the name of this movie a lot longer than we would have otherwise.  (But will I go see it? Hmm, I’m not crazy about the sight of blood, either, even if it might be on Johny Depp’s lips.)

Instead of spreading their gifts widely across multiple program areas, corporations are choosing one or two societal issues to focus on, according to a survey and 2011 “Giving in Numbers” report by the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy. (The survey included 184 companies, 63 of which were among the top 100 companies in the Fortune 500.)

Which issues were most of these companies choosing to target? Basic health and social service programs topped the list, followed by education and community and economic development. Basic human hardship in their communities appears to be their central concern. That’s bad news is you’re with an arts program, but those whose missions match these targets should take note, and revisit their corporate fundraising strategy and prospects. Perhaps there are some corporations who’ve showed no interest in your organization in the past, but have since changed their tune.

You know how I love fundraising that makes money by selling something that costs the nonprofit nothing, and the Montclair Veterinary Hospital’s Pet and Wildlife Fund’s “Pet Mayor Contest” is one of the best examples I’ve seen lately.

Here’s how it works:

• People pay a $25 registration fee to enter their pets in the annual “Pet Mayor” race, fill out a simple nomination form, and send digital photos.
• Local businesses sponsor pet candidates and provide polling places , where people can vote for their favorite, on their premises.
• The winning pet gets a $100 gift certificate for veterinary care along with pet food, treats, and services donated by local vendors. The pet mayor’s responsibilities don’t sound too onerous: According to the Fund, the winner “serves as an ambassador of goodwill to all creatures in the community: two-legged, four-legged, furred, feathered and scaled,” enjoying “media attention and the chance to appear in public on behalf of the Pet & Wildlife Fund.”

This is apparently the Fund’s most popular fundraising event of the year. And it’s a proven publicity-generator — I read about it in the local neighborhood paper.

These are tough times for libraries, businesses, and donors, but the Rockridge DVD Project has come up with some creative solutions that unite all three.

The library was offered a chance to buy, at low cost, the inventory of a DVD rental store that was closing. With a loan from the library, the newly formed DVD Project did so — but then needed to pay the loan back, by an October deadline. The group started soliciting neighborhood donations, through means such as publicity in local publications and setting up an information table in the library.

I confess, I was initially skeptical about the importance of this project. After all, I like books, and questioned whether the library should turn into a DVD rental outfit.

But after talking to a volunteer at their table, I understood the brilliance of their strategy: DVDs bring people into the library — people who then tend to check out books, as well. When library circulation goes up, city funding goes up, and it becomes easier to advocate against, say, library closures (which Oakland has been threatening a lot lately).

It’s more than a fundraising effort, it’s a strategy for library advocacy. The urgency of the upcoming deadline is also a fine way to raise the library’s profile. And if the effort raises questions (like mine) about the ultimate purpose of libraries, all the better — the end conclusion can only be that they’re incredibly important community resources.

Since I cover both fundraising and real estate matters at Nolo, I can’t help but notice how often the two intersect.

This week, for example, my local neighborhood newspaper’s real estate section contains a front-page article about the Grubb Company’s recent donation of $5,000 to a local arts center.  DJ Grubb is quoted as saying, “From a personal perspective, I can’t wait to enjoy and participate in upcoming events. From a realtor’s perspective, it represents the spirit and ingenuity of the community . . . .”

On page 5 of the very same section, McGuire Real Estate’s home ads are accompanied by an announcement of its “1st Annual Neighborhood Garage Sale,” to benefit local schools. For every local homeowner who registers to hold a garage sale on September 17, McGuire will make a donation to the schools.

And agents at Pacific Union routinely donate part of their commission to a “Community Fund,” which makes annual awards to local nonprofits.

The pattern here looks pretty clear: Real estate companies have an interest in maintaining the vibrancy of the communities in which they operate, given that it helps them sell houses. And by helping local nonprofits, the get positive press coverage, or can at least draw attention to their own advertising.

Sure, they might have altruistic motives as well, but when it comes to business donations to charity, that altruism almost always gets exercised in a way that simultaneously benefits the business.

So, if you haven’t been watching which local real estate agents are interested in partnering with nonprofits, perhaps now is the time to open your local real estate section.

Or, get proactive. Even without making a cash donation, there are ways that local real estate companies may be able to pitch in with your nonprofit’s efforts — perhaps by lending their offices for a phone-a-thon or event, or suggesting properties for your next fundraising home-and-garden tour.

Spending a summer’s day in the park seeing the San Francisco Mime Troupe, picnicking, and seeing which old friends you run into: It’s a Bay Area tradition.

No, the Mime Troupe is not silent, as in pantomime — it’s campy political comedy, with rousing music to boot. (To quote their website, “We mean ‘mime’ in the ancient sense: to mimic.”)

The question every year (other than, should I buy a T-shirt or just make a straight donation?) is, what topic will have the politically savvy Bay Area audiences laughing, crying, and clapping along — without saying, “Didn’t we see this last year?” That’s no mean feat, given that they’re in their 52nd season. (Though I still wish they had an excuse to bring back their Dick Cheney character.)

The answer this year: Nonprofits’ desperation for funds, and the pushed-to-the wall question of whether to accept funding from dubious corporate sources. It’s sort of a play within a play, as a scrappy political theatre group faces imminent closure and the temptation of corporate funding from the mysterious (and more than a little pushy) Mrs. Haverlock.

To say any more would be require a spoiler alert, so I’ll just send you to the Mime Troupe’s website for reviews and the performance schedule.

Fundraising is harder for every group out there, but small, mostly volunteer-led groups face particular challenges — and have come up with unique ways to overcome those challenges. Hear from parents, event planners, and other volunteers who contributed to Ilona Bray’s recent book, The Volunteer’s Guide to Fundraising, in this newly released podcast (from the CD-ROM that comes with the book), “Fundraising in a Down Economy.”

Yesterday was “Mug Root Beer Float” day at the Oakland A’s baseball game, at which families brought lots of kids to enjoy meeting celebrities, watching floats, and of course drinking root beer floats.

Yes, it sounds like it was fun.  And according to the press release, the event raised over $29,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

But as a friend of mine who went to the game commented, “Isn’t there something a little weird about feeding kids sugar at an event dedicated to dealing with a disease that’s all about the body’s inability to regulate blood sugar?”

Call me a curmudgeon, but I’d say it’s very weird. No one has yet found the cause of diabetes, but doctors are certainly raising alarm bells about sugar consumption and obesity, both of which are rampant in the United States. I give the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation credit for creating a business partnership that got them in the headlines and raised some significant amounts, but what a mixed message to send.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that processed and sugary foods have been drafted into the cause of fundraising. And people are taking notice — and better yet, suggesting creative alternatives.  For example, you’ll find some helpful tips on healthy food alternatives in this guide from Canada’s Nova Scotia Department of Education, called “Fundraising with Healthy Food and Beverages.”

The humble school bake sale is dead, according to NPR’s recent story, “Forget Bake Sales: Schools Turn to Luxe Auctions,” by Lauren Silverman. The story describes how (as every parent knows), trying to fill the gaps left by reduced government funding is forcing parents to put in as much effort at special events such as auctions (live or online) as they did for their own weddings.

Even if to you, this is old news, the story is worth a listen for:

• its ideas on the latest items to attract bids (though not every school has access to an unwashed Lance Armstrong T-shirt, I assume) and
• the professional auctioneer demonstrating how she slows down her normally rapid-fire patter when dealing with a benefit auction audience (who isn’t used to live auctions).

Unfortunately, you won’t find anything in the story about what type of doctor is able to offer a vasectomy to both the top bidder and his cat!

Whichever of your volunteers can line this one up probably deserves a prize.