Faculty Guide to Finding Support from Corporations and Foundations

The Corporate and Foundation Relations team at the University of San Francisco is here to help you find funding from foundations and corporations.

How our process works

  • We meet with you to determine if your project could be a potential match for corporate or foundation funding. 
  • We conduct research and work with our contacts to find funders that may be interested in your program.
  • If we find a potential match we assist you in applying for funding.

    • What we need from you

    We need a general understanding of how your program operates. We will also need to know:

    Your program’s impact

  • Population(s) served
  • Number of individuals served
  • Geographic scope

    • Your resource needs

  • What types of support—financial, in-kind, etc. you need
  • A general breakdown of types of expenses (salary, travel, supplies, etc.)
  • If you currently receive any funding from the university

    • Services we provide

    Prospect Research- We help you find corporations and foundations that have an interest in your area and then work with our contacts at those organizations.

    Proposal Development- We help you refine project ideas and create a persuasive case for funding.

    Proposal Writing- We help you write and edit grant proposals.

    Site Visit Coordination- We coordinate logistics, create briefings, and lead visits to campus or arrange meetings in potential funders' offices.

    Gift Stewardship- We work with you to submit progress and financial reports, and we seek other opportunities to keep funders engaged.

    • Contact Us

      Corporate and Foundation Relations
      University of San Francisco
      101 Howard Street, Suite 200
      San Francisco, CA 94105
      cfr@usfca.edu

      (415) 422-4575

    • From the Faculty

      The CFR staff really took the time to meet with me to brainstorm ideas, develop a working concept paper and consider possible funding sources. In our meetings I felt my project was understood and valued and that they were able to represent my work authentically.

      Christine Yeh, Chair
      Department of Counseling Psychology
      School of Education

    • Working with the Corporate and Foundation Relations team has been a delightful experience. From the beginning, they took the time to understand the goals of our computer science outreach programs and worked tirelessly to connect us with corporations who would be interested in supporting our work. Thanks to CFR, we received financial support from AT&T and SanDisk Corporation to teach coding to over 60 high-school and middle-school girls.

      Alark Joshi
      Assistant Professor
      Department of Computer Science