Determine If Your Project Fits Business Goals

If you think corporate funding may be a good fit for your project or program, please review these detailed questions and contact us for assistance building your strategy.

1. What does your project offer a corporate partner?

Companies are interested in forming partnerships with universities and supporting academic and research initiatives that help them achieve their business objectives, recruit talent and develop their workforce, support their own R&D, increase brand awareness, and demonstrate corporate social responsibility.

Which of the following benefits can your project, program, or expertise offer a corporate partner/funder (please mark any that apply):

• Inform corporate strategy and/or business operations
• Recruitment/Workforce Development
• Fulfillment of R&D objectives/ Research access/ Product development
• Marketing/ Branding / Product promotion
• Fulfillment of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) / Community Giving and Engagement objectives

2. What is the nature of your funding need?

• Research funding
• Commercial research collaboration
• Philanthropic support for a program
• Philanthropic support for students or faculty (scholarships, fellowships)
• Sponsorship gifts
• In-kind donation of products or services
• Internship opportunities for students
• Recruitment

3. Which companies are potential prospects for funding your program?

Thinking about question #1, which companies would benefit from your project or program?

Relationships are key in securing corporate funding; knowing someone who can introduce you to prospective funders increases the likelihood of a corporate partnership.

• Do you know of companies that have supported similar efforts?
• Do you have contacts who can introduce you to someone at a company who may be interested in your project?
• Do you have former colleagues, friends, or connections you’ve met at conferences who can provide an inroads for a conversation with your prospective corporate funder?

Interested in corporate research funding or commercial research collaboration?

• Please use our funding search tools to discover current corporate RFPs.
• Look at the websites of the companies you have listed above as potential prospects, to see if they have any open RFPs.

Interested in philanthropic support for a project/program or students/faculty?

• Look at the websites of the companies you have listed above as potential prospects to review their Corporate Social Responsibility pages or check if they have corporate foundations. Research whether your funding need aligns with their CSR objectives or corporate philanthropy guidelines.

Interested in sponsorship?

• Review the Sponsorship Toolkit for tips and guidelines on securing sponsorship gifts for JMU.

The CFR team will be happy to consult with you and guide your corporate engagement and solicitation strategy.