Provost's Office: Memorandum
To: All Faculty
From: Dr. Mark Greenberg, Interim Provost
Subject: Corporate and Foundation Assistance
Date: 11 November 2008
There are numerous philanthropic foundations and corporate giving programs to support you, your students, and Drexel University. Seeking external funding for unique projects is a collaborative process involving content experts and development professionals. To support school, department, and faculty programs, the Office of the Provost and Institutional Advancement are focusing time, energy, and expertise on advancing corporate and foundation giving. Patricia Austin, Associate Vice President for Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR), and the CFR team are available to assist you in developing ideas into fundable projects, identifying funders and designing the appropriate strategy for project submissions.
We are sure you recognize the organic nature of developing such proposals and locating funders. Such a collaborative endeavor requires a well-defined and clearly developed framework before extensive research or proposal composition can be undertaken. That process is based on discussion to identify the key elements of the proposal and a clear strategy to construct the funding request that fully engages the attention of prospective funders. To accomplish this, the CFR unit within the Office of Institutional Advancement is available to work directly with you to develop a sound structure for constructing a proposal suitable for funding consideration.
Methods for initiating the process include meeting with your School/College Director of Development, contacting the Corporate and Foundation Relations Office directly, or visiting Sharepoint on the Drexel Institutional Advancement Website to secure direct access to the CFR Toolkit, available on the Office of the Provost website, to assist you in framing your approach to seeking philanthropic support. We encourage you and your colleagues to work with Institutional Advancement, to utilize the resources of its Corporate and Foundation Relations staff, and to become an active participant in securing philanthropic support to advance your program ideas.