Building Funder Relationships: You Can Do It!

With a military dad, my family moved about every 3 years from my birth until I graduated from college. It’s all I knew – packing up, starting over, and making the best of every new location. I often wonder if I would have been more introverted if not forced to figure out new schools, neighborhoods, and friends. All I know is that I wouldn’t change my childhood for anything. It taught me to speak to others without fear, find common ground, and quickly determine if I was meeting an acquaintance or a new best friend.

Who knew that skill would serve me well as a grant professional? Honestly, I never much thought about how I operate in the world until attending webinars and workshops related to funder relationships. And it just clicked: this is simply how I function in general, which makes it that much easier for me when working to build funder relationships.

But I get not everyone thinks and works the way I do. For some grant professionals, the allure of the job is writing, not having to participate in meet and greets, picking up the phone to talk to funders, or presenting in front of a big crowd of decision makers. But HayDay Services is here for you!

On our latest episode of the Fundraising HayDay Podcast (you can listen HERE) we are speaking with Carolyn Caldwell, GPC, CFRE about building funder relationships. Carolyn kindly shares some of her experiences, and we discuss the importance of doing more than submitting a grant proposal to up your chances of funding and continued support.

Whether you are seeking private or public grant funds, people are involved. It’s vital you pay attention to that part of the process to ensure your organization (or your client’s organization) is set up for a greater chance of success.

Here’s some tips to implement, whether you’re an introvert or extrovert:

• When preparing to speak with a funder, whether in person or over the phone/video conferencing, make notes. You don’t have to plan your speech verbatim but have a list of important topics to ensure you cover every angle.
• Practice! If speaking does not come natural to you, do a practice run. Grab a colleague who can play the funder and run through a few different scenarios. It makes the real call less stressful when you’ve already done it once (or three times).
• Invite your funder to events. Whether it’s a groundbreaking, grand opening, 10-year anniversary, or kickoff to a new program, funders like to see the fruits of their labor. It also gives you conversation points, as you’re discussing what you’re seeing, talking about the work it took to get your organization ready for the day, and more.
• You don’t always have to talk. Consider sending (via mail or email) documents and information. Annual reports are always a good place to start. Did you find an article the funder might find interesting? Do you have a video testimonial of someone served through a program that grant funded? All of these are great pieces of information to share with your funder so they know you are continuing your good works and working to build the relationship outside of a grant request.
• Attend funder events. If there is a grant workshop, go! And don’t just sit at the back and slip out quietly when it is over. Ask questions, if appropriate. Introduce yourself (and your organization) to both the funder and other potential grant recipients in attendance. Build your community connections. You never know when they will come in handy.

Often, I hear grant pros say, “well that’s all well and good for foundations, but that would never work with government grants.” I beg to differ.

In my experience, state and local governments are very personable. They love hearing from grantees and getting invites to see programs in action and construction projects completed. It’s a bit harder for federal program officers, because it’s rare that they are local. But that doesn’t mean you cannot communicate regularly.

Also, your Senators and Representatives all have local offices where they serve. Invite them AND their staff to events. More often than not, it’s the staff member who will attend, but that’s fantastic. They get to see your hard work, get to know you and your organization, and report back to the elected official about what’s going on. Now you have a contact in your senator’s office, which comes in handy if you need a support letter or have a Congressionally Directed Spending application to submit.

At the end of the day, grant professionals are so much more than writers. We cannot expect to hide behind the keyboard and fund the needs of our communities. We need to be in the community with our funders. It may start with an email, phone call, or invitation, but you’ll never regret getting to know your funder better.