Corporate Giving: Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Some corporate donors stay with your organization for the long haul.

Others may change their philanthropic focus and drift away from your mission.

And then there are the corporate supporters that make the news for decisions and announcements that, suddenly in some cases, run counter to your organization's values.

There's two ways to look at this potential problem.

The first (and the more common in the nonprofit space) is to react. This forces you to make some tough decisions about possible future gifts, possible PR issues, or conversations with board and community members.

The second is to get ahead of things. Not by predicting what corporate donors may or may not do, but by being clear about your organizational values. What do you stand for? What's a red line for your organization? Do you have a gift acceptance policy that can help leaders evaluate (and reject, if necessary) future gifts?

Having these planning conversations is an important part of your fundraising strategy. Consider it a necessary part of your corporate giving program.

When I talk about these issues with clients, I tend to cover it under the guise of corporate giving. While values mis-alignment can happen with individuals, too -- major corporate decisions are more likely to make the news (and to catch the eye of your supporters).

Ready to learn more? Join me on January 29, 2026 for "Corporate Giving: A Good News / Bad News Situation" - a free webinar from Monkeypod where I'll be digging into more ways to make a corporate giving program sing. Registration is free - sign up here.