[guniv]

Something our team started doing very successfully last year was very simple: find big events in your area; fairs, parades, etc. Look at those events and the companies that sponsor them. Almost always there are the same five or so companies who are getting out there and WANT to be giving money to their community.

Many of them also make it very simple and offer "donation request" forms on their websites that you simply fill out and submit to them rather than being directed every which way on the phone (this is how that fair organizer got them to sponsor, most likely). You can also Google these forms: we used "Knoxville donation request," but any kind of variation on that should work.