Building financial support from local businesses can help most river and watershed groups increase their strength and effectiveness. Many groups, however, never approach their potential for this kind of support either because they underestimate it, feel that accepting it might compromise their integrity, or simply never get around to doing the significant amount of upfront work necessary to establish a solid program. Business fundraising is essentially about building long-term relationships and raising money as a result of those relationships; you visit businesses to ask for a relationship that results in them helping your organization in various ways, including making annual financial contributions.

Developing a Policy on Corporate Donations
By Don Elder

Most watershed groups that do any business fundraising at all will have to grapple at one time or another with ethical questions that arise internally or publicly. These questions will probably arise when your organization is approached by, or is considering approaching, businesses that not everyone believes to be "clean" enough. Since any two people's standards vary, disagreements can and will occur.

In the most extreme case, you may encounter individuals who believe that you should accept no money from businesses whatsoever. It is important for your organization to anticipate and address such questions from the outset; early on, the board should discuss whether and how the organization will approach business fundraising, make some collective decisions, and then stick to them.

It is good to establish some basic principles and policies in writing to guide the program from the outset. A set of written policies and guidelines adopted at the outset of your program and amended as appropriate later on can make your program much more effective (and your life much easier). These policies and guidelines will also help you deal with situations that may arise with your corporate donors - such as an expectation that, for a contribution of a certain size, a business should have a certain number of votes or be entitled to appoint someone to serve on your board of directors. Extreme caution is urged in your response to such requests. Your response should reflect the policy of the organization as a whole, and not the unilateral decision of one or more individuals handling the specific request. Not even the executive director or the board chair should have this degree of independent authority.

Another benefit of having your board lay out the ground rules from the start is that it can help keep the board united. The last thing you want is to devote considerable time and effort to building a program only to have disagreements arise later about how it's being built - or about whether you should have a program at all! This could happen in the short term if all are not in agreement in principle, or in the long term as board members either forget decisions made earlier or are replaced by new members. The board should establish the general policies and procedures, and then leave the development and management of the program to its designated committee and/or staff. The policies and procedures should become part of the basic orientation materials which new staff, board, and committee members are expected to review, understand, support, and follow.

When and How to Use Business Support

Business support, while somewhat dependent upon the economy and changes in management, can be a reliable source of annual revenue. Businesses, better than most funders, understand the need for revenue to meet the day-to-day expenses of an organization. In addition, businesses can also be solicited from time to time for project money or for one-time-only capital or endowment campaign funding. Finally, businesses can be asked to provide in-kind donations of equipment, technical expertise, facilities for meetings and conferences, supplies, and services such as printing, public relations, and legal counsel.

Preliminary Considerations

For the purposes of this guide, “business fundraising” includes small locally owned businesses, large corporations with a presence in the watershed, and everything in between.

Just as diverse, stable ecosystems reflect the particular physical and chemical characteristics of the watersheds in which they evolve, strong, effective watershed organizations will reflect the particular social, political and economic characteristics of the watersheds in which they work. Each organization will be different, so each one's fundraising strategies should be different. Some will have considerable business fundraising potential, and others will have little. (Few, however, will have none at all.) Business fundraising strategies will need to evolve as the organization matures, as the issues it addresses change, and as the economic climate in the watershed varies. In other words, there is no one type of program that is right for every organization.

There are, however, some common ideas and principles that should help most groups build a program that makes sense for them, and some common benefits that most will enjoy from doing so.

Benefits of a Business Member Program

Many groups can increase their overall support by as much as 30% with a solid business membership program. For many groups struggling to do a lot with a little, this is reason enough to establish a program.

Other benefits include:

• Local businesses are fairly reliable-once they give, they will often renew their support year after year.
• The cost/ benefit ratio for maintaining business memberships-the ratio between the dollars spent vs. dollars brought in-is usually higher than for individual members
• Having business members broadens your base of support in the watershed and can substantially enhance your credibility with other funders
• Business members often open doors to other potential supporters
• Business members provide access to power and political clout
• Businesses can be a good source of volunteers and board members
• Having business members can help diffuse conflict and avoid polarization in situations where there is a conflict of interest

There is even a benefit in establishing communications with the most skeptical members of the business community, those who will never offer their financial support. If and when conflicts arise, those who know you will be more likely to disagree respectfully than those who have never met you. Human nature being what it is, those who have never looked you in the eye will be more likely to demonize you and your organization—and, like it or not, many of these people have the potential to damage your organization’s ability to get things done for a very long time.

You will find that even adversaries will respect you for your courage in calling and asking for an appointment and a contribution. You will also find that speaking regularly with your friends and foes alike will provide a regular “reality check” for you as your organization develops its programs, thus keeping your messages and methods closely tuned to the social, political and economic characteristics and needs of your particular watershed.

Over time, as your organization evolves, it may well be to your benefit to include several key business leaders on your board of directors. These (like all other members of your board) should be individuals chosen first and foremost because they have demonstrated real support for your organization’s mission and a willingness to commit time and effort to helping pursue it. This will necessarily include a number of individuals whose chief contributions will include helping raise money. The community contacts developed through a business membership program will be vital as you seek to identify these types of nominees for your board.

Nuts And Bolts: Building And Maintaining Your Business Membership Program

Understanding the Motivation of Businesses

It is important to understand that the basic reason businesses give to nonprofits is to improve their “bottom line” (i.e., how much money they can make), and to choose your prospects, and design your pitch, based upon that simple fact. Possible ways that nonprofits can help businesses improve their “bottom line” include:

• Provide visibility, enhanced public image for the business
• Provide benefits for employees of the business-opportunities for them to get involved or to learn new things, a nice place for their children to swim, etc.
• Enhance a resource the company relies on, i.e., clean water (utilities), a healthy river full of fish (tackle manufacturers), a beautiful waterfront (restaurants, stores), etc.
• Enhance the vitality/sustainability of the community in which the company operates
• Attract new business or customers for the company
• Provide a tax deduction
• Ensure faster permitting, fewer hassles over enforcement, etc.

In addition to the “bottom line,” some businesses may be motivated by guilt, or by a desire to divide and conquer the environmental community, or to defuse or avoid opposition. If you can clearly identify what motivates each of your business prospects, you may be able to avoid subsequent problems and build your relationship more easily.

Developing the Prospect List

The first step in building a strong business fundraising program is to develop a good prospect list. Your entire board of directors should be directly involved from the outset in the development of this list. If the organization already has staff, all staff should be involved too. One staff member should be assigned the duty of coordinating the list generation process. If there is no staff, this essential duty must fall to a board member-probably a member of your fundraising committee, and ideally a member or the chair of the business fundraising subcommittee-or to a volunteer.

Begin with those businesses most closely associated with you, or where you have access to a decision-maker, and work outward:

• Those already supporting your institution.
• Those owned by, or employing members of your staff or board, their colleagues or their friends and relatives.
• Those supplying your organization, and/or your constituency with goods or services-banks, supermarkets, office supply stores, printers, phone companies, utilities
• Those that depend on the river/watershed for customers/resources-power companies, manufacturers that draw water from the river, utilities, fishing tackle manufacturers, rafting companies, tourism businesses, etc.
• Those with a record of giving to environmental and/or other civic causes
• Those that depend on public goodwill and community involvement for patronage-banks, real-estate brokers, insurance companies
• Those locally owned and operated in your city or area of operation.
• Distantly owned companies with large installations and many employees in your area.

Some techniques your can use in developing a list of prospects include:

• Ask staff, board members and friends
• Conduct a windshield survey. Cruise around your watershed and note what businesses are prominent, which depend on the river, etc.
• Consult chamber of commerce listings and state business directories
• Ask your local librarian for help with directories and computer-based databases
• Check permitee lists such as National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) lists, 104 lists, stormwater lists, etc.
• Read the business section of your local newspaper, check statewide business publications, and review national listings like the Forbes 400 (highest paid executives), the Fortune 500 (most profitable companies), and the Inc.100 (fastest growing public companies). Clip articles on any local businesses that are doing well, growing greener, etc.
• Check annual reports of other local or national nonprofits in your geographic or programmatic area to see which businesses support them
• Survey your membership

Researching Your Prospects

Your list should be more than a mere compilation of all the businesses mentioned by anyone; ideally it should be maintained in a table or simple database format so that new categories of information can be easily added over time. (A simple database is probably best, since it is more expandable, and affords more flexibility in the ways the information can be viewed, analyzed and presented.) At a minimum, the list should include the name and address of each business prospect, the name(s) and title(s) of the decision maker(s) for charitable donations/grants, and the name(s) of personal contacts on your board and/or staff with at least some influence with decision-makers. Other useful prospect information (particularly for medium-to-large businesses) for your database includes:

1. What type of business are they? Where do they operate? What are recent earnings?
2. What are their giving priorities/interests which relate to our work? What are the personal interests of key decision-makers?
3. How much do they give away and what is the average contribution/grant size?
4. What are the budgeting and contributions cycles?
5. Do they have other pots of money (environmental compliance budget, marketing budget, capital budget) that could be tapped for your project?
6. Who have they given to in the recent past? Are any of the recipients similar to us?
7. How do they give? (grants, contributions, sponsorships, in-kind equipment and supplies, scholarships, matching gifts, loaned executives, etc.)
8. What do they NOT contribute to?
9. What is the best way to approach them?
10. Is there a person within the company who would “shepherd” our request?

Who to Target

You should put some time into deciding who to target for your visit. Basically, there are decision-makers, gatekeepers, and influencers. There are also people who can’t really help you, and they are usually the easiest to get to. Try to go to the highest level in the company that you can get to. You should do some research to determine who the best person is, and some networking to find a person who knows that individual. If it's not the CEO, then it could be the human resources director, community relations director, media relations director, environmental compliance director, or a board member of the business. If the business has a corporate foundation, then it should be the foundation director, or the director of environmental giving.

Mapping out the Campaign

Once you have done your prospect research, a target “ask” figure should be assigned to each business on the list. (This is usually somewhat higher than the amount you have reason to believe you are likely to get if a contribution is actually made.) At this point, an annual campaign goal can be set. The goal should be much lower than the sum of all the "ask" figures, but high enough to challenge and inspire both your organization and your potential donors.

Next, serious thought should be given to the beginning and end dates for your first annual corporate campaign. There is no right or wrong time—the only wrong you can do here is to fail to begin or conclude! Your campaign timing considerations should include other annual activities (particularly other fundraising activities), the timing of your area’s United Way campaign and other major nonprofit fund drives, and the budgeting and contributions cycles of area corporations.

Experience reveals that many companies’ fiscal years begin July 1, and most have made commitments for their available money by September. December is a good month to skip, since it is very difficult to get appointments with business people then.

All this considered, a good time for many groups’ publicly announced business fundraising campaigns is July through September. This is early enough in the common fiscal year to give you a good chance with new prospects and well outside of the end-of-year holiday season. It is a short enough period to concentrate the attention and efforts of your donors and committee, but also long enough to make prospect calls, follow up, and secure the contribution.

Keep in mind that work begins long before the public campaign is announced and will likely continue with follow-ups and thank you’s long after it is concluded. The July through September timing allows most groups to do all this necessary work without shortchanging other fundraising and organizational work that must be done each year.

Building the Business Fundraising Committee

The next step is building your business fundraising committee. The best way to identify who should sit on your committee is to walk through all these preparatory steps with the entire board. Once you have a clear idea of who on your board knows whom in the business community, who has experience with and/or an affinity for this type of work, who has personal computer skills or administrative support that may be helpful, etc., you will be in a position to choose the best group of people to spearhead your drive. Encourage board members to invite other business leaders to the group, stipulating that all committee members should allow the use of their name on mailings, etc., and be prepared to use their business contacts to help solicit support. For example, larger companies tend to have a long list of subcontractors and vendors to whom they throw business. These companies could help solicit these subcontractors and vendors with a letter of introduction or other contact that would break the ice.

It should be understood from the start that the work will not be confined to the committee. In all likelihood, every member of the board will need to play at least some role. Getting everyone involved from the start helps make this point, helps get you all the information your committee will need to conduct a successful campaign, and, most importantly, helps everyone buy into the idea that everyone needs to help. The committee then continues the planning and preparation, and later leads the campaign, but it must be clearly understood that the success of the business membership campaign (and of every other fundraising endeavor) is the responsibility of the board as a whole.

Preparing the “Case” Statement

Developing a clear, strong and concise case for support is one of the most important preparatory steps to a successful campaign. The “case” should demonstrate a clear understanding of what drives the business and address those drivers. It should also reflect your organization's mission and vision statements, your major accomplishments to date, and your major goals for the near future. It should, of course, include the theme that clean, healthy streams in the watershed are good for the economy in general and local businesses in particular. Here are some other questions the case statement should answer:

• What is the need or problem you are addressing?
• What is your proposed specific solution or activity?
• What are your special qualifications for the job?
• What is the cost of the solution or activity?
• How much are you asking for?
• What's in it for the donor?

Your case should be committed to paper in a form that can be modified for various purposes (including membership brochures, grant proposals for foundations, press releases, and the like.) It should be distributed to all members of board and staff, who should each be able to express it clearly and succinctly in their own words. Considerable care should be given to developing a very short (ideally one page) case statement, and to training board and staff alike to stick closely to its themes in their presentations to all prospects. It is crucial to your campaign and to your organization’s overall work that all spokespeople remain “on the same page” with their messages.

The Case Statement should also include, or have attached to it, the following:

• The budget for the project and who else is contributing
• A list of your board of directors and their affiliations
• A copy of your 501(c)(3) letter
• A list of other companies who are already supporting the organization

Other Supporting Materials

Another useful (though optional) piece of material is a Corporate Program Brochure. As with individual large donors, it can be helpful to give a catchy name to your business members, such as “Corporate Champions,” “River Stars,” etc., provide various levels of giving and benefits, and list other donors to the program.

A third very helpful fundraising tool is a small picture book containing maps, photographs of the waters you are working to protect, the life those waters support, and some of the people involved in and/or benefiting from your work. One thing watershed groups have going for them in fundraising is that their work can be easily documented in maps and photos. The images you present may well be remembered more clearly and longer than anything you can say at your fundraising call. Your “photo album” need not be expensive or slick. In fact, sometimes simpler is better. Photo books are better than slide shows for fundraising calls because they are easier to carry, require no setup, and lend themselves better to "skipping around" as the particular situation dictates. If they are kept simple, they are also just as easily updated as slide shows.

Getting Underway

With the case statement and other supporting materials prepared, and with the prospect list established, it is time to identify your top prospects and get to work. The top prospects should probably be those that you have reason to believe can give, that have a history of giving to groups like yours, and where you have a personal connection with a decision-maker. Don't let the absence of one or even two of these criteria deter you from calling on a prospect, but do, by all means, begin with those that meet them.

The next step is to decide who should make the visit. As a general rule, it is best not to outnumber your prospect(s) by more than one: if you are calling on a single person, take one or two people from your organization; if you are calling on two, take two or three, and so forth. If two people from your organization go on the call, ideally one will be staff and one, board. If three go, it is usually best to have one staff member and two board members. There will be instances, however, when it will be best to send an all-staff or all-board contingent. Use your own judgment based on the best knowledge you have about your prospect.

Getting the Appointment

Here is where fear can set in and lead to paralysis. One individual must be designated to “take the lead” with each and every prospect, and each board, staff, or committee member so designated must be charged with doing everything possible to get an appointment with each person on his or her list by a particular date. The chair of the committee should check in regularly with all campaign participants to remind them of their duties, if necessary, to see how their work is going, and to offer words of encouragement and support. (The chair's ability to encourage and motivate without offending will be one of the most important factors in a successful campaign.)

Individuals should use their own discretion as to whether it is best to “cold call” a prospect, or to precede the call with a letter. Prospects vary, and so do the best strategies. One word of caution, however: if a “write-then-call” strategy is adopted, it must be remembered that without a follow-up call there is virtually no chance of getting an appointment or a donation. Rare indeed is the businessperson who will take the time to pick up the phone to call you for an appointment or give you money on the basis of a letter alone. Occasionally, a prospect will offer to make a donation without setting up a meeting. If this happens, you should probably graciously accept—but not without still trying to get an appointment. You probably will not get as large a gift as you might have with a face-to-face meeting. At any rate, you will want to meet him or her to offer your thanks, so you might as well save a step and try to get an appointment at this time.

Procrastination must not creep in. All who have calls to make should be strongly encouraged to set aside specific blocks of time on a regular basis to “go down their lists.” Successful fundraising hinges directly on people's making themselves take the rather uncomfortable step of picking up the phone and asking for an appointment to discuss a charitable contribution.

Often those who fear this the most are the most enthusiastic when they succeed. There’s nothing like the zeal of the newly converted-their enthusiasm is infectious. A few minutes should be set aside at each board or fundraising committee meeting to allow individuals to report on their progress. The knowledge that each campaign participant will be expected to report personally to the group as a whole is a powerful motivator.

Preparing for the Call

Once the appointment is scheduled, it is time to pull together and carefully consider all available information about the prospect. Ideally, someone should pull pertinent facts together in a briefing memo to be shared with those going on the call. With this in hand, a decision should be made about the key objectives for the call and the specific amount to be requested. This information should be appended to the briefing memo and kept in the prospect's permanent file.

Decide in advance who will play what roles. Who will “break the ice” with the usually necessary small talk? Who will talk about your organization’s mission? About its current plans and needs? And, most importantly, who will make the ask? The importance of deciding in advance who will make the ask and how s/he will make it cannot be overemphasized. Do not trust this to the collective intuition of your party. It is amazing how even stouthearted individuals loyal to your organization and impassioned about its work will find a way to shy away from this task given the opportunity. Human nature being what it is, most people convince themselves on the spot not to do the uncomfortable then and there, but to “give a call later” or “write a follow-up note.”

You most certainly should write a follow-up note after the call (more on this later), but it should reiterate the request, not make it. In order to make the ask when the time comes with confidence and in accordance with the decision of the entire party, the “asker” absolutely must have a specific figure in mind. All but the most experienced fundraisers should probably practice by literally saying the words before going in: “Mr. Warbucks, we would like the General Bull Moose Corporation to join our organization as a corporate member with annual contributions beginning in 2003 of $5,000 per year.”

You must, of course, be prepared to be flexible and modify the request on the spot if the situation dictates (especially if things are going very well and you believe you should ask for more), but having decided in advance exactly how much to ask for will greatly increase your chances of success.

Making the Call

Be punctual. Meet the others in your party a few minutes early outside your prospect's office and go over your objectives and strategies together one last time. Be prepared to make your case in just a few minutes, and always ask if your prospect is pressed for time. After a brief introductory period of small talk, change to a more businesslike tone with a key transition sentence or two. (Eye contact, tone of voice, and body language are all-important here.) Once the "pitch" begins, move steadily through your major points, taking no more time than necessary with each one, and moving with a clear sense of purpose toward the key moment when you make your specific request for financial support.

When the request is made, sit back, look your prospect squarely in the eye, and wait for an answer. There is a saying among fundraisers that at this point “the next one to speak loses.” If discomfort getsthe best of you and you stammer something apologetic like “of course, if this is a bad time...” the results will surely not be as good as they could have been. On the other hand, if you are patient and calm and maintain polite eye contact during the next few seconds (which may well seem like an eternity to you and to everyone else in the room) your prospect will probably not give you a flat “no.”

However, you will seldom get a definitive “yes.” Be ready next to bolster your request with a few important follow-up points. Stress the importance of your organization’s work to the community and the importance of your prospect’s support to your organization. Ask if your prospect has any questions, and offer to send along some additional information. Mention your overall campaign goal, if appropriate, and the target date for the campaign’s conclusion.

Then, quickly and courteously, say you will be back in touch and take the initiative to conclude the meeting. Few things gain you more respect than keeping your word about taking just a few minutes of a prospect’s time.

Getting the Gift

Few things, that is, other than immediate follow-up. A good thank you note written the day of the meeting and received just a day or two later inevitably gets the attention of, and is appreciated by, the person you visited. It also greatly increases your chances of success. The note should thank the prospect for his/her time, reiterate the request, and serve as a reminder of any commitments, firm or tentative, that were made. It is good to include a fact sheet or two about your organization or some issues that came up at the meeting with your note.

While there is something to be said for a form thank-you letter on your computer that you modify slightly on a case-by-case basis, there is even more to be said for a letter that comes across as being very personal. The fact is that the best way to make a note seem personal is to make it personal. In other words, for this type of letter (as opposed, for instance, to the one that you sent asking for the appointment), try starting from scratch. Often, a simple handwritten note of just two or three sentences on a beautiful note card can be extremely effective.

Short notes or quick phone messages from other members of your board are also very effective at this point. Pushy tactics are unnecessary, and usually counterproductive, but when your prospect hears from several respected members of the community associated with your organization who thank him/her for seeing you and for consideration of your request, your chances of success skyrocket.

At this point, neither you nor anyone else in your organization need speak directly with your prospect; make a note to follow up your “thank you for the visit” letter with a phone call on a specific date a week or two after the meeting if a contribution has not yet been received. Don’t just put “call Daddy Warbucks” on your “to do” list; put Daddy and your other current prospects down to get a call from you at 2 p.m. on Thursday the 15th. At that time, close your door and devote your attention to this and only this until the job is done. This is another crucial step in the process where it’s all too easy to procrastinate. If you don’t get Daddy himself, speak at least to his assistant or his voice mail and say you're looking forward to a response. If something comes up at the time you’ve set aside to make your follow-up calls, immediately make another firm appointment with yourself to get this done. Polite persistence is absolutely necessary to get the contribution in the door.

Once it’s in the door, respond immediately with a thank you note. Notify your committee and board by phone, fax or mail, and encourage them to send their personal thanks too. Donors remember philanthropic acts, and are much more likely to repeat them, when thanked amply and in a timely fashion.

Importance of Annual Renewals

Getting new business members is a lot of work. Keeping them is not. The simple things you need to do to keep them will yield more money for the time and effort spent than anything else you do in any given year.

Your annual fundraising plan should therefore begin not with what you will do to recruit new members but with what you will do to keep the ones you have. If circumstances result in your not getting around to everything you had intended, it’s much better to give somewhat short shrift to your new member drive than it is to give anything less than 100% effort to maintaining the solid base you have already built.

Consider: most organizations are lucky to get 15-20% of the total “ask” amount from their new business member prospects in any given year, even after following the extensive process described in the preceding pages. However, many enjoy renewal rates from existing members of 80% or more. This underscores the importance of giving plenty of attention to your business membership retention program. It’s also worth remembering that your list of existing business members is the thing most likely to impress a prospective member, so it makes little sense to neglect the existing ones in pursuit of the new.

Renewal Program Ideas

A strong retention program begins long before the first renewal notice is sent out. Business members, like the rest of your members, need to be kept informed on a regular basis in order for them to feel involved. Your business members should receive all your newsletters, of course. From time to time, it is also good to send them tidbits of information (reprints of newspaper articles, a word from the chair of the board or the executive director about a recent accomplishment or new program, complimentary quotes made by others about your organization, etc.). Rather than saving up a great deal of information to include in a big renewal package, it is best to send small, easily digestible bits of information regularly over the course of the year.

An advantage of this approach is that it makes it possible to keep the actual renewal notice package small, making it less likely that it will be overlooked and discarded. Sending several small packages instead of one big one is a little more trouble and a little more costly, but well worth it in the long run. In time, you may want to develop a special quarterly newsletter or simple flyer with topics of particular interest to your business members. Avoid committing, however, to anything new and time-consuming until you are sure you can sustain it.

It is good to recognize publicly and regularly all your generous members (except, of course, those who specifically request anonymity). This is doubly true of business members. One good method is to take out an ad in the local newspaper simply to list, recognize, and thank them. Make sure to have plenty of good quality copies of the ad made; send copies immediately to your existing members with an “in case you missed this...” note, and take copies with you on all new prospect calls to show your prospect the peer group you are asking her to join as well as one of the ways your organization shows its thanks for business support.

Another good way to recognize business members is to publish a list of them with addresses and phone numbers as a “pull-out” in one of your newsletters or annual report, with the words “Patronize our Corporate Supporters” blazoned across the top. This can take time and energy to put together, but may enable your business members to give you money earmarked for public relations and community outreach.

A somewhat more costly but extremely effective tool for thanking members and encouraging renewals is an annual tastefully-framed print of a beautiful scene in your watershed. Prints can be presented on calls at members' offices, at an annual event for business members, or at your annual general membership meeting. However you present them, these can be wonderful membership premiums, because they not only express your thanks, but make your thanks visible to all others who view the print in your members’ offices. These are often some of the most highly-trafficed areas in your community, and are therefore especially good places for you to “advertise” the resources you are working to protect.

Additional “Project” or “Campaign” Gifts

Once you have established a relationship with a business, and solicited and received an annual membership gift (and preferably at least one renewal gift), you have the option of going back to that business and requesting a project-specific or one-time-only campaign gift sometime during the giving year. Project and campaign gifts will usually be larger than annual membership gifts, but not nearly as consistent. Project and campaign solicitations should be carefully crafted to match the interests, motivations, and ability to give of specific businesses and should be handled in much the same way as membership gift solicitations.

Conclusion

Building a solid business membership program based on long-term relationships and using ideas similar to the ones described above can greatly enhance your organization's effectiveness and is well worth the required investment of time and energy. You will also find that the loyalty you have earned with an important segment of the community will stand you in good stead in many ways that go well beyond the financial.