Grant Writing For Dummies, 5th Edition

Chapter 21

Securing Matching Funds and Other Goodies from Corporations

In This Chapter

Knowing what’s acceptable to ask for

Doing the right preliminary work

Writing a winning corporate request letter

Circling back with the letter’s recipient

Many Fortune 500 corporations and smaller corporations reduce the taxes they pay on their bottom-line profits by creating community reinvestment programs that give away money, goods, and services to nonprofits located in or near corporate headquarters and operating locations. When a company’s end-of-financial-year profit is $5 million, it can give away 5 percent of the profits in the form of deductible contributions (according to Uncle Sam). In many regions across the country, this annual transition of taxable to non-taxable dollars drives big bucks into small and large communities. Grassroots nonprofits, mid- to large-size nonprofits, and units of municipal government can request matching funds and a myriad of program-related items.

How can your organization get a piece of a corporation’s philanthropy pot? In this chapter, I walk you through ...