5/1/2013
Effective Corporate Fundraising May 2, 2013
Lorena McLaren Associate Director, Corporate & Institutional Partnerships
Agenda introductions corporate relations best practices in cultivation and stewardship of corporations • Return on investment • Developing deeper connections and partnerships moving from transactions to partnership connecting institutional mission and corporate priorities • Transactional vs. engagement • Sponsorship, sponsored research, engagement creating strategic plans understanding successful research techniques working across campus
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Lorena McLaren Eleven years in Corporate Relations • Carnegie Mellon University – central office • University of Washington - college of engineering • CASE member for eleven years and counting • Network of Corporate Academic Relations Officers - NACRO Past President, President, Vice President, and Conference Program Planning Chair
Polls 1. How much time do you spend doing corporate relations? Corporate Relations is my primary role Corporate Relations is my secondary role
2. How many years of experience do you have in a corporate relations role? I have been doing corporate relations for three years or less I have been doing corporate relations for three – seven years I have been doing corporate relations for seven+ years
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Corporate Relations at CMU • Corporate & Institutional Partnerships • A central office, 5 front line fundraisers (FLF) • One director and 4 associate directors • 3 FLFs have a unit-based portfolio • My portfolio covers the Scott Energy Institute, advanced manufacturing, and campus-wide corporate relationships • 12,000 students • Private, research university
Corporate Relations (CR) •
Central vs decentralized
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Staff size
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Reports to Advancement, Office of Research, or Provost Office
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Portfolio is corporations, corporate foundations, foundations
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Connections to Technology Transfer, Workforce Development, Government Relations, Sponsored Research, Marketing and Communications…
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Portfolio focused to build relationships
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Corporate Relations (CR) •
Family foundations are typically associated with an individual or family, so land in individual giving
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CR handles ‘everything else’ so faculty and program staff can have the technical conversation
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Looking for win-win that brings $ to the institution
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Company visits are complex
connector, match maker, agent, fixer, glue, luggage storage, provider of lunch, parking permit holder, note taker, sender of reminders …
Corporate Relations Programs NACRO 2010 survey polled 45 CR programs: NACRO 2010 survey polled 45 CR programs:
In 2010, NACRO polled 45 programs
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Source: NACRO Five Essential Elements of a Successful TwentyFirst Century University Corporate Relations Program
Student Organizations
Poll Is your corporate relations office centralized or decentralized I sit in a decentralized office (academic unit/program focused) I sit in a central office I don’t know
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Q&A
Kinds of corporate support Philanthropy • Event sponsorship • Scholarships • no strings attached for research, programs Sponsored/Directed Research • Funding for a specific research topic • Current use to be accomplished in a specific time frame with deliverables Research Consortium • Annual fee to have access to the research in a particular research field • Led by faculty
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Corporate Support continued Endowment • Appealing in unique situations, such as… • In honor of a retiring executive • Deeply connected to the department • Research is incredibly valuable to the company Technology Licensing • They are the experts • Referrals between CR and this office
Mehrabian Collaborative Innovation Center at CMU
Best Practices in Cultivation and Stewardship Develop many relationships within the company • Understanding the corporate hierarchy • Email distribution list per company • Leveraging alumni connections Engagement prior to solicitation • Speaker on campus – in class, lecture series… • Host an alumni event at the company site • Student tour • Recruiting Build a case for engagement • Return on Investment (ROI) • Who cares about your initiatives and why? • Current touch points/connections
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Recognition as Stewardship •
Official institutional naming policies for building and internal spaces
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Stories/profiles for publication
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Endowed Professor Installation Events
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Publicity beyond a press release
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Annual Reports
Tracking ROI Quantify and qualify anything you can! • • • • • • • • • •
Number of your graduates at the company Number of interns over the years Research projects – title, duration, company lead for projects Years of support for signature events Board of Trustees Continuing education courses you have designed to meet company needs Significant equipment donations Classroom speakers Matching gifts Alums in leadership roles at the company
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Levels of Engagement
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Company H: research lab on campus Board of Trustees recruiting sponsored research equipment
Company E: engr scholarships sponsored research diversity programs
Company A: recruiting
Company B: sponsored research Single Point of Engagement Involved in a limited capacity
Company C: recruiting student orgs matching gifts Company F: arts scholarships faculty Awards events - premier sponsorship
Company G: gifts across campus sponsored research board memberships
Description Tailored Partnership CR works closely with company to identify value added opportunities
Broad Based Engagement engaged across multiple units, includes company leadership participation
Company D: sponsored research recruiting Managed Relationship several points of interest that require coordination
Strategic Partner long-term, on-going relationship with financial contributions. Requires coordination across campus
Source: NACRO Academic-Industry Partnership Continuum
Moving from transactions to partnership… • Focus on mutual goals • Cultivate relationships with higher level managers and C-suite • With deeper engagements each partner understands capabilities of the other • Deeper engagement = numerous significant touch points • Understanding leads to new ideas • A partnership can be started with one champion, but multiple champions are needed for long-term sustainability • Daily transactions are seamless • ROI must be indisputable and clear!
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Connecting Institutional Mission and Strategic Priorities to CR Listen for stated and implied strategic initiatives or priorities • Research strength • Superstar faculty – nationally and internationally recognized, attracts funding • Who owns strategic priorities on your campus? • Identify how corporate relations supports those strategic priorities • May be rooted in economic development for your region – potential for government, academia, and industry partnerships
Connecting Institutional Mission and Strategic Priorities to CR Clues to follow… • Which faculty are bringing in the most funding – federal and private? • Which faculty names come up repeatedly? • What research/programs are repeatedly profiled? • Which programs/faculty is leadership talking about? • How are your academic programs ranked?
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Annual Plan •Goals to achieve within a specific time period -personnel needed, finances needed, operational resources required •Outcomes and assessment criteria •Tactics •Near term
Strategic Plan •Sets vision and aspirational goals •Analyzes future •Guides fundamental decision making •Covers three – five years •Inclusion of the entire organization
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Strategic Plan for Corporate Relations Plan for the next 3-5 years Align with university/departmental strategic priorities • Where does CR fit and what contributions can be made? • New industries to cultivate for new strategic priorities Which industries do you need to develop? … also known as bringing in new companies Who are your top 10 corporate relationships for the entire university? • Factors might include money, regional presence, board of trustees connection • Have you managed these relationships to the full potential? • Is there room to advance the relationship along the engagement continuum?
Elements of an annual plan Goals for the year Semesterly/Quarterly Goals (events, proposals submitted, campus visits you are aware of, recruiting events) Strategies for specific companies Activities/events November
December
January
February
scholarship awards stewardship
plan CFR coverage at January career fairs
Engineering Lecture Series
MESA Board Meeting
Seattle Foundation RFP
WISE Conference - 7
WRF event for new faculty (or Feb)
Kyocera Endowment Report
Minority Career Fair-22
VLSI Conference in San Fransisco - EE
SWE Evening With Industry-21
Intel Fdn progress report
Intel Diveristy RFP
Lockheed Martin
CPAC Microsoft diversity proposal
Boeing scholarship breakfast Tektronix
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Research on Corporations Research office within Advancement Places to find information on your own: • Company website – official company name, executive biographies, company description • Internet search • Subscription services e.g. Hoovers • LinkedIn • Alumni • Foundation 990s e.g. Foundation Center
Hints…… 1) for subscription access university login and password may reside with an individual in the research office or may be available through the library 2) official company press releases use the formal company name
Can philanthropy funding be leveraged into sponsored research? Can sponsored research be leveraged into philanthropy?
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Working across campus Advancement Sponsored Programs/Tech Transfer
Marketing
Corporate Relations Office
Career Center
Colleges/Schools
Collaborations between Individual Giving and Corporate Relations • •
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Double file contact reports in corporate record and on individual record Departmental Lecture Series Invitation lists Speakers based on topic Brainstorming college-wide lecture series Endowed Professor Installation events When ‘intellectual property (IP)’ is mentioned – bring in CR Foundations can be large operations and think like a company
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Final Thoughts • • • • • • • •
Translator Institutional Champion/Corporation Champion Thoughtful assessment of your institution’s program and capabilities Understand how your performance is evaluated and deliver Corporations care about content and subject matter expertise Focus on ‘why’ (purpose driven) When in doubt, go back to the numbers! CASE CFR conference and NACRO are the organizations for CR professional development Lorena McLaren Associate Director Corporate & Institutional Partnerships Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA
[email protected] 412-268-4220
Q&A
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