Nonprofit Leadership Podcast · Dr. Rob Harter

How Best to Approach Corporate Donors

·35 min·2 clips

Asha Varghese says proposals to the Caterpillar Foundation should be "rooted in that purpose and backed by evidence."

1. Nonprofit Leadership Podcast, hosted by Rob Harder, features the Caterpillar Foundation and how social impact organizations can approach a corporate foundation as federal funding cuts reshape fundraising. 2. Asha Varghese, who heads the Caterpillar Foundation, is the guest, and Harder places her alongside earlier foundation guests from Walmart, Hilton and Newman's Own. 3. Varghese says the foundation reached $1 billion in investments since its 1952 founding and frames it as "not the finish line" but "a launchpad," with "here's to a next billion." 4. She describes a three-part approach: workforce skills, natural infrastructure that helps communities withstand disasters, and the engagement of employees, retirees and dealers, adding "We never go into a community thinking that we have the answers." 5. On disaster work, she cites the American Flood Coalition's flood resilience projects in under-resourced Carolinas communities, pre-funding for the American Red Cross, a response to Hurricane Helene through the Atlantic Hurricane Recovery Fund, and Caterpillar machines used in the LA fires. 6. For jobs of the future, she highlights Learning Undefeated's mobile "breakout box" lab, which aims to reach around 20,000 people, and FAB Foundation's digital fabrication kit in Decatur, Illinois. 7. She also names Jobs for the Future apprenticeship and dual-enrollment work in Tucson, Arizona and Athens, Georgia, linking high schools and community colleges to vocational and trade careers. 8. Asked about federal cuts that leave some organizations short by 10, 20 or 40%, Varghese says "our mission hasn't changed" and mentions pro bono talent and collaboration as ways to help partners. 9. Her advice for lasting impact includes "addressing the root cause and not just the symptoms," accounting for childcare, transportation and nutrition, and the line "you can't manage what you can't measure." 10. Suited to executive directors, development directors and board members preparing foundation funding requests.

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