Review by Jillian Poole of the book Effective Corporate Fundraising [New York, NY: American Council for the Arts, 1981].

The purpose of Effective Corporate Fundraising, as described in its preface, is to describe a practical, systematic approach to soliciting contributions from business firms, and to provide down-to-earth tools for fundraising. Indeed it succeeds in its purpose.

This small book is a thorough, if slightly pedestrian, primer based on Brownrigg's experiences as Director of the Greater Hartford Arts Council and as Director of the American Council for the Arts. It takes the reader by the hand and leads him through the basic principles of all aspects of corporate solicitation, from building a case to developing the essential documents, planning a strategy and the actual asking process.

The book would be most useful to anyone who has no background in corporate fundraising. It begins by listing, in order of importance, some factors upon which corporations place heavy emphasis in evaluating contributions. Heading the list is the requesting institution's impact on its local community, its geographic location in relation to the corporation being solicited, its management capability and artistic merit. These four criteria are closely followed by four more: the quality of the application, the strength of the Board of Trustees of the institution, the audience size attracted by the institution and the support the institution elicits from other firms. Corporations carefully evaluate these criteria and so they are indeed major points for any aspiring grant seeker to bear in mind.

Review by Jillian Poole of the book Effective Corporate Fundraising [New York, NY: American Council for the Arts, 1981].