Corporation and Foundations: Successful Solicitations
July 23, 2013
Round Table Discussion Groups
Moderator: Betty Karlsson, LSU

 

Examples of Effective Partnering:

• One example of a financial corporation with desire for community outreach partnered with the SVM for marketing and PR effort
  • The firm offered to include a monthly Vet School PR flyer in their regular statement mailing to about 18,000 financial clients
  • The ad described the Vet School and hospital services available to the public at large
  • The SVM designed and developed the ad piece
  • Mailing/distribution costs paid by the financial corporation
  • Additional partnership with the VTH to arrange payment options for clients needing payment extensions
• A major restaurant owner established a signature label wine that is sold within his restaurants, and he donates a portion of the proceeds to the SVM.  The wines have a custom label, which advertises the School and the great work they do, and notes that proceeds are donated to that cause.

Utilizing Alumni Connections:

• Alumni who choose not to go into private practice often go for corporate or research jobs.  They are often able to help their alma mater “get to the right person” in order to get an “edge” on securing corporate grants/funds or special allocations.
• All agreed that keeping up with alumni as they move through various career opportunities was desirable for corporate and foundation access points, not just for individual alumni giving, although that was a benefit as well.

Working with Vendors and existing relationships:

• One school has an established policy that they cannot accept gifts-in-kind from vendors to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.  Its university has implemented and enforces a strict Vendor Relations policy.   Most of the other schools generally followed good ethics practices, but did not have as strict Vendor Relations policies.
• SCAVMA groups had a variety of practices for donations/sales of pet food.  Some has one brand of food, but several now had multiple brands of food.
• Some teaching hospitals have implemented a Pet Nutrition Center that offered one or more brands of food to clients.
• The downturn in the economy over the last several years has impacted corporate funds available for support, which is most often targeted to students

Foundations and Grants:

• Some schools research and prepare their own grant proposals, while others go through a more centrally structured process via their own foundation
• Several noted that particular foundations had detailed allocations of fundingacross the 28 schools, with each applicant school getting a percentage of the total funding amount for that year
• With other foundation grant-making, it was strictly first-come, first-served