131. Corporate Giving as a Major Gifts Lever
About this episode
When a major donor’s company becomes your next great partner, everything changes.
In twenty twenty six, I’m seeing more and more donors whose personal generosity and corporate influence are tightly connected. You feel the pressure to raise more, steward well, and navigate new tax rules, all while AI and shifting corporate priorities are rewriting the playbook.
So let’s talk about how you can blend major gifts and corporate giving in a way that feels human, strategic, and aligned with your donors’ values.
The shift I want you to make
In my experience, the biggest shift is this.
Stop thinking of “individual” and “corporate” as separate worlds that never touch. Start seeing some donors as whole people whose impact flows through both.
Here are a few lenses that can help.
Look for three legs, not one.
For many donors, there are three potential channels of support. Their personal major gift, their corporate giving or sponsorship, and employee engagement, like matching gifts or volunteer programs. When you only stand on one leg, the relationship carries more weight than it needs to.
Treat their role as part of their donor profile.
If your donor is a CEO, senior executive, business owner, or partner in a firm, that is not a side note. That is a signal that their professional influence may be just as important as their personal check.
Listen for company stories.
I have found that donors will often tell you when the corporate door is open. They mention company volunteer days, their corporate foundation, or how “we” show up in the community. Those are natural openings to ask gentle questions about corporate priorities and possible alignment.
Use AI as your quiet research assistant.
One approach I’ve seen work well is exporting a segment of your donor list and using AI-assisted tools to enrich employment data, identify who works where, and flag companies with known matching gift or CSR programs. AI can do in minutes what used to take you hours.
Think “one relationship, many expressions.”
Instead of “I handle the person, someone else handles the company,” try “We are one team caring for one relationship that may express itself through personal, corporate, and employee channels over time.”
When you think that way, you start to see new possibilities that were hiding in plain sight.
Simple actions you can take in under an hour
You do not need a full strategic planning retreat to start blending corporate and major gifts. You can begin with very small, focused actions.
Here are a few you can do in thirty to sixty minutes.
1. Run a quick portfolio “corporate influence” scan.
Pull a list of twenty to twenty-five donors or top prospects from your major gift portfolio. For each name, ask yourself three questions.
What do I know about where they work and what their role is?
Do they sit on any corporate or community boards?
Have they mentioned anything about the company giving, sponsorship, or employee engagement?
If your answers are “I’m not sure” for many of them, that is useful data. You now know where you need more information.
If you have an AI tool at your disposal, try this. Take that list, add job titles and companies where you know them, and ask the AI to help you identify which employers are likely to have matching gifts, corporate foundations, or strong community programs. You will end up with a short list of “blended potential” donors to focus on next.
2. Schedule one alignment conversation inside your organization.
In my experience, turf issues between major gifts and corporate relations quietly sabotage opportunities. One simple meeting can start to change that.
Invite your colleague who handles corporate partnerships, sponsorships, or events to a thirty-minute conversation. Bring three names of donors who have corporate influence. Ask them to bring three as well.
Together, decide on one shared next step for each of those donors. A joint visit, a coordinated proposal, or at least a shared understanding of who will lead what. You will walk away with clarity and, more importantly, with trust.
3. Add one corporate question to your next donor visit.
You do not have to turn your next donor conversation into a full corporate pitch. You can simply ask a thoughtful question.
A few you might try.
“What is your company thinking about in terms of community impact these days?”
“Are there any ways your organization supports employee giving or volunteering that you enjoy?”
“Would it ever make sense for your company to be part of this story too, or do you prefer to keep your philanthropy personal?”
In my experience, donors will tell you very clearly where the door is open and where it is not. Your job is to ask with curiosity and then listen.
A few examples of blended offers
Once you start seeing the possibilities, you might wonder what a concrete blended offer looks like.
Here are a few simple structures that tend to work well.
Sponsorship plus personal gift.
The company sponsors an event or initiative, while the donor makes a personal gift to deepen or extend the impact. Both are acknowledged appropriately, and you are not forcing one to do what fits better for the other.
Employee giving plus match plus leadership gift.
Your donor, as a leader, makes a significant personal gift, invites employees to give, and the company matches employee contributions. You raise more, you engage new donors, and your champion gets to lead from the front.
Multi-year corporate commitment plus personal anchor.
When a company wants to partner on a three-year initiative, your donor can add a personal pledge that shows this is not just a corporate marketing moment. It is a reflection of their own values, too.
None of these is complicated. They just require you to hold the whole picture in view.
Want to take a deeper dive?
If this topic resonates with you, I recorded a full episode of The Intentional Fundraiser podcast titled “Corporate Giving as a Major Gifts Lever.”
In that conversation, I walk through more real-world examples, specific language you can use with donors, and common pitfalls to avoid when you blend personal and corporate approaches.
You can listen to the episode here: Corporate Giving as a Major Gifts Lever.
I’d love to hear from you
I’d love to know how you’re seeing corporate and individual giving intersect in your own work. Connect with me on LinkedIn and tell me about one donor where you see corporate potential that you have not fully explored yet.
You are doing important, emotionally demanding work in a very complex fundraising environment. In my experience, when you slow down just enough to see donors as whole people, you not only raise more money, you also build relationships that feel more joyful and more sustainable for everyone involved.
“Collaboration is the real lever. When major gifts and corporate relations row in rhythm, donor relationships deepen, and everyone wins.”
Tammy Zonker, Major Gift Expert, Keynote Speaker, Author
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