C&FR serves as the College’s office for prospect clearance and repository of data for corporate and private foundation entities, and works collaboratively with the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship to maximize funding. Because both C&FR and ORCS administer numerous solicitations and proposal submissions to external funders, faculty and staff seeking corporate and foundation funding must contact C&FR (see contact details below) for clearance prior to any external approaches. Clearance through C&FR assures that college priorities and strategic relations with corporations/foundations take precedence beyond one particular project, and assures that two offices are not approaching the same entity for funding, since many corporations and foundations restrict the number of proposals allowed per institution per year. The tracking and coordination of approaches enables Emerson to provide essential management and services for corporate and foundation prospects, leading to more satisfied relations with funders and sustained giving for the College.
C&FR Functions
C&FR provides a range of services for faculty and staff, and works closely with the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship to ensure consistency with Emerson College policies and guidelines.
Services for College Staff
- Meets with campus administrators and faculty to discuss funding needs and project ideas
- Facilitates and leads on approaches to corporations/foundations, providing strategy and guidance around messaging in order to cultivate and grow relationships
- Writes, edits, advises on, and submits letters of inquiry or proposals to corporate and foundation prospects, including preparing and gathering all required support materials
- Coordinates corporate and foundation meetings, calls, visits, and events
- Facilitates the processing of checks from corporate and foundation partners
Additional Services
- Identifies corporate and foundation partners whose philanthropic priorities are aligned with institutional funding needs and project ideas
- Facilitates interdisciplinary and cross-institutional opportunities/proposals
- Drafts all gift recognition and acknowledgment letters
- Creates stewardship plans and facilitates all reporting
- Works with ORCS to determine whether a project would be administered as a gift or sponsored project.
- Tracks the history of all corporate and foundation partner relationships with the College, including all communications, meetings, proposals submitted, gifts acquired, and reports submitted
Working with C&FR and Corporate and Foundation Prospects
Philanthropic foundations are dedicated to specific missions and agendas. Increasingly, foundations are also committed to highly specific strategies for accomplishing those missions and even specific ways of measuring impact and progress—their social “return on investment.”