Reviews

Do Your Homework

Corporate and Foundation Fundraising: A Complete Guide from the Inside
By Eugene A. Scanlan. Aspen Publishers, Inc. 800/638-8437, (Maryland) 301/417-7500; Online catalog at http://www.aspenpub.com. 1997. 304 pages. $59.

Reviewed by Pamela Cook

Eugene A. Scanlan’s Corporate and Foundation Fundraising is an excellent guide for nonprofits that want to better understand the world of foundations. Scanlan, who has had experience both as a fundraiser and a grantmaker, clearly outlines how to work effectively with foundations.

Scanlan points out that the submission of a proposal to a foundation is only a half-way point in the process. He describes the primary kinds of foundations (community, corporate giving, corporate foundation with assets, corporate foundation without assets, general purpose, special purpose, family, operating) and the importance of understanding which type you are considering approaching. How can you recognize each? What kind of return on investment are they seeking? Who makes the decisions and who manages the process?

How can a nonprofit determine whether it might be a possibility for foundation funding? First, Scanlan cautions, understand the national trends. Most giving is now from individuals. Of the more than $140 billion given to nonprofits in 1995, foundations represented 7 percent and corporations 5 percent. Individuals gave 81 percent directly and another 7 percent through bequests. There were more than 575,000 tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charities in 1995—with these kinds of numbers, competition for the available foundation dollars abounds. The bottom line: Competition is fierce and nonprofits must do their homework.

Inherent in these discussions is Scanlan’s belief that a nonprofit must take the time to research, review guidelines, read between the lines and attempt to understand a funder long before submitting a proposal. He cites the disastrous example, which will resonate with many fundraisers, of a nonprofit that sent out 45 proposals to foundations over four days, but whose returns did not even cover postage.

Scanlan does an excellent job of pointing out the ever-increasing range of resources available to nonprofits to research foundations. The first step, reviewing and evaluating available published information about foundations, is neatly summarized in Scanlan’s "Foundation Filter," which notes the questions each nonprofit should ask about a foundation to determine the potential match. Scanlan cites some interesting examples to aid in reading between the lines. Why would a foundation make a grant to an organization that seems outside its boundaries? How do you interpret guidelines when reviewing actual grants made? Who is on the board and how do you evaluate the board’s role? How important are staff to the decision?

Scanlan’s chapters on approaching funders and proposals are less crisp than the rest of the book. His classification of funders as blocks, process administrators and helpers places artificial categories on behaviors. As Scanlan has made clear in the rest of his book, the behavior of a representative of a foundation may vary considerably based on the kind of relationship that has been established over time with a nonprofit. Individuals in foundations may act in a given manner because of past history with a nonprofit, instructions or directives from board members, the pressure of other responsibilities, the amount of funding available at a particular point, or changing trends at the foundation or nationally. Most administrators may adopt any one of the behaviors noted in a given situation. Nonprofits are better served trying to develop relationships with foundation staff than trying to type work style into narrow categories.

Although Scanlan has a valid perspective that a team of one board member and one executive director makes for a strong foundation visit, there may be times when other teams may yield more information. An example can be when an individual supporter who is not on the board may have a strong foundation contact. A staff person other than the executive director may have a contact or may be able to more easily obtain a first, and less formal, meeting than the executive director and board member team. As Scanlan states, each case is different, and the decision on who makes the call should be based on the most effective relationships between the nonprofit and the foundation, the stage in the solicitation, and timing.

Scanlan clearly makes the point that if foundations ask for a certain format or length, these instructions should be followed. He could have stressed more that proposals should be as brief as possible in covering the critical points. With the volume of proposals foundations receive, clarity and brevity of language is appreciated and may lead to more favorable consideration.

As a foundation administrator, I was impressed with Scanlan’s book. Scanlan’s focus on research and relationships, his emphasis on the importance of knowing one’s own organization and his discussions of national trends in giving and in foundation decisionmaking are insightful. The step-by-step approach is easy to follow and Scanlan’s frequent use of examples, tips, charts and boxed summary points meets his stated goal of keeping "the fun in fundraising." I plan to recommend Corporate and Foundation Fundraising to nonprofits I work with.

Clorox Company Community Relations Manager Pamela Cook manages the Oakland, California-based Clorox Foundation. Prior to joining Clorox, Cook worked as a fundraiser for 15 years for several universities and museums.

Falling Short of the Promise

Looking Good and Doing Good: Corporate Philanthropy and Corporate Power
By Jerome L. Himmelstein. Indiana University Press. 800/842-6796, (Indiana) 812/855-4203. 1997. 200 pages. $29.95 cloth, $12.95 paper.

Reviewed by Joan P. Scott

"Caving in to Extremists, AT&T hangs up on Planned Parenthood." Quoting the angry full-page ads that appeared in newspapers nationwide in 1990, Jerome Himmelstein opens his new book, Looking Good and Doing Good: Corporate Philanthropy and Corporate Power with a promise of controversy and excitement. However, the book falls short of this promise, offering an often dry, monotonous sociological analysis of corporate philanthropy and its role in contemporary society and politics.

However, while the book does not offer much practical advice for philanthropists, it is effective in providing a broad overview for understanding corporate philanthropy.

In the book’s early chapters, Himmelstein provides a historical context for corporate philanthropy, taking the reader from the early 1900s, when railroad companies supported the YMCA, through the late 1970s and 1980s when corporate giving nearly doubled, to the 1990s and the era of professionalism and strategic giving. Even the most seasoned philanthropist will find some new information and gain a better historical perspective of corporate philanthropy.

Also valuable is the author’s view into the "workaday worldview" of corporate philanthropy managers. Because it is based on Himmelstein’s interviews with managers at 55 of the largest U.S. corporate donors, including IBM, Ford, Chevron, Merck, Johnson & Johnson and AT&T, this part of the book is the most engaging.

Himmelstein quotes his subjects heavily, allowing them to tell their stories, making the book more friendly. The philanthropists are believable, presenting an honest portrayal about the positive and negative aspects of corporate giving.

Although the book’s central thesis is to demonstrate the social and political nature of corporate philanthropy, it is not until chapters five and six that the discussion of controversy and politics in corporate philanthropy truly emerges. In these chapters, Himmelstein provides a detailed look at two recent cases: (1) the battle between anti-abortion groups and Planned Parenthood, which placed corporate philanthropists in the middle of the abortion debate; and (2) the Capital Research Center’s attack on "liberal corporate philanthropists," who, they claim, "use the resources of the nonprofit world to expand the power of government."

Although both situations are important examples of the politicization of corporate philanthropy, Himmelstein could have presented them in a more straightforward fashion. In the case of the Planned Parenthood controversy, for example, the author methodically outlines the history of the issue and the corporate response, provides a lengthy analysis of corporations’ decision-making processes, categorizes corporations into camps, then proceeds to describe the differences in their reputations, views of corporate philanthropy and organizational structures. This is more analysis than seems necessary to demonstrate the point.

In the final chapters of the book, the author takes a much broader look at corporate power. He presents what he calls the two faces of big business in American politics: "Corporate Conservatism, which seeks to push the political universe in a conservative, pro-business direction; and Corporate Pragmatism, which tries to establish relationships, gain access, and seek influence broadly across the existing political spectrum." He studies the impact each strategy has on corporate philanthropy and political action committees and argues that it is the mix of these strategies that makes the power of big business distinctive.

It is from this broad political backdrop that the author enters into his final chapter, walking the reader through the examples he presented earlier to defend the central argument of the book: "Corporate philanthropy is first of all an economic act, but it has social and political dimensions as well." Although I agree with his thesis, I couldn’t help but remind myself that I agreed with his thesis in chapter one, several interviews, analyses and case studies before. A worthy thesis, it seemed too generic and all-encompassing to keep my interest throughout the book.

Looking Good and Doing Good does present a useful historical perspective and an inside view of the world of corporate philanthropy; it’s just that it doesn’t provide much else for people already in the field of philanthropy.

Joan P. Scott manages corporate community relations for National Semiconductor Corporation, and is a member of the Council on Foundations Corporate Committee.