How to … Maximize Your Chances with Foundations

Some final takeaways from the “Meet the Grantmakers” panel discussion, sponsored by the Nonprofit Center at La Salle University and held in Center City Philadelphia late last month:

• The nicely dressed executive at whose desk you nervously sit is the foreboding face of the foundation you’re pitching, but she’s a person first. Approach her as you would a major individual donor, suggested Bruce Melgary of the Lenfest Family Foundations.
• Deal with each foundation individually, and don’t generalize. “When you’ve seen one funder, you’ve seen one funder,” as Laura Otten, the Nonprofit Center’s director, put it.
• Strategy and accountability are the new watchwords. It’s not enough to be a “good” nonprofit. That which you’re seeking funding for must match the foundation’s strategic goals, and you must be able to show that the foundation will get a nice return on its investment.

“How to …” appears Mondays at the 501(c) Files. | 501(c)