By Vicki Boyce
One might consider working with a funder to have two aspects, or two sides of a coin: the personal relationship and the paper relationship. Assuming you’ve done your homework and established the fact that your organization is a “match” with a potential funder, here are some tips to making sure that “coin” shines!
The ‘personal relationship’ side of the coin:
1. Visit in person with foundation personnel and ask questions:
- Would this be a good time for us to request funding?
- Which of the two programs, A or B, would most appeal to your Board?
- How much would you recommend we ask for?
2. Invite Staff or Foundation Board members to visit with a specific purpose in mind:
- Don’t fill their head with statistics! Use few, and in the context of need or results.
- Avoid acronyms, they don’t live in your world.
- Honesty is the best policy! If for some reason previous funding has taken on a different look, communicate that.
3. Following the funding it’s important to show appreciation!
- Call and write a personal note, in addition to a form letter. The notes are passed around to the Board members, but the form letters are pitched.
- Send a photo of the funded program in action, or scan a letter written by a client and
- EMAIL it to the funder. It’s easy to hit “forward” and send to the entire Board.
Now, let’s flip the “coin” to the other side: The paper relationship requires that you do your homework prior to writing a proposal since there is no clearer picture of what is important to a funder than last year’s list of recipients.
- Answer in the space allotted. If you’ve ever read 40 applications, the consistent format of the application keeps one’s brain straight!
- Keep it simple; the funder may not understand your “language.”
- When asked how the requested funds will be used, be as specific as possible.
- Be a problem solver in your application, not just a problem describer. This gives the funder a reason to be hopeful and a desire to partner with your organization.
- Design your evaluation to be measurable.
- Read the guidelines one last time before you put it all together to submit.
- Do not wait until the foundation asks for a report. Enter in your calendar “report due to ABC Foundation” a week before it’s due.
So, as you’re addressing the personal relationship and the paper relationship with a funding organization, when you deposit your coin, make sure both sides are shiny and bright!