Private funding opportunities

When looking for funding, it is important to match your work with the right funding source. Some projects will attract corporate funders, other projects will fit in well with governmental programs, while still others will be highly appealing to foundations. Some might be of interest to more than one source. Generally speaking, foundations fund a range of projects and programs. Corporations fund efforts that provide tangible returns to them.

Talking with senior colleagues and administrators might help you narrow your search to a group of funders or to identify a specific funder to review. Keeping your department chair apprised of your fundraising plans provides both an opportunity to tap that individual’s personal experience and a chance to measure the institutional support you might receive for your project. Many funders require letters of support or financial commitments from the university, and these are best sought early in the process. A brief straightforward conversation with someone in the Corporate and Foundation Relations office should clarify what assistance you can expect and what procedures you should follow. VCU has a priority-driven agenda with selected funders, and the CFR staff can help negotiate institutional policies or submission concerns.

The following links will help answer your questions and direct you to a variety of links and resources to guide you in your search for private support.

Foundation fundamentals
Foundations are unique entities. This section explains how foundations operate, how to decipher their funding strategy and how to position your project for success.

Gift or grant
The difference between a gift and a grant goes beyond semantics and can affect your solicitation approach dramatically. This section highlights the important differences in policy and procedure that govern gifts versus grants and helps identify the resources needed for each.

The corporate and foundation fund-seeking process at VCU
This section includes a step-by-step overview of the fund-seeking process at VCU, including identifying and making contact with a funder, crafting letters of intent and proposals and working with VCU’s CFR staff.

Corporate philanthropy and partnerships, corporate sponsorships and corporate matching gifts

Corporations invest in a university through philanthropy, sponsored research projects, sponsorship of university events and projects or simply by matching gifts made by employees. At their core, corporate investments reflect an emphasis on strategic, mutually beneficial alliances between the institution and the corporation. This section explains recent trends in corporate philanthropy, the differences between sponsorships and philanthropy and how all of this impacts the positioning of requests to corporations.