We’ve all been in funding conversations that went sideways or got away from us. With the right awareness, planning, and tools, you can usually prevent this. In fact, with the right awareness, planning, and tools, you can LEAD a funding conversation. Here are some tips and reminders to help you lead.
- Have a visit goal.
Fundraisers are usually good about having relationship goals, but they’re also usually pretty bad about having visit goals. Without clear visit goals, you will often be at the mercy of chance – in other words, you’ll be hoping to stumble into the right time to make an ask. Here are some thoughts on setting strong visit goals.
- Predispose effectively.
When it comes to leading a funding conversation, you can often use predisposition as an opportunity to set an agenda, or flow, for a conversation. This “agenda” can be more formal or less formal depending on the audience and circumstance.
Examples:
- “In our conversation this afternoon, I will be prepared to share a little more about our program and then, if there is alignment, it would be great to talk about what a potential partnership could look like.”
- Or in a more defined setting – like a visit with a program officer from a foundation that you know well, “I’m looking forward to our discussion. If it’s helpful, here are some (agenda) points that we can use to guide our time.”
- Use the For Impact Visit Flow (link) – but more importantly, navigate the visit using alignment questions and transition phrases. The Visit Flow helps you navigate from the opening (think: human connection and context) to the objective of the discussion.
Examples:- “I would love to [transition] to talk about our three-year funding plan and where we go from here. Would that be okay?”
- “With our time left, I wonder if we could talk about what a funding partnership might look like?”
- (Coupled with the Visit Flow) Use an Engagement Tool (link). This is a simple 1-3 page visual that helps you navigate from big picture (30,000’) to the ask. The presence and order of the visual will naturally support the conversation flow, and it can also help you get numbers on the table. Or, if it’s too early to make an ask, the funding picture provides context and predisposition for a future conversation.
- Don’t go down a rabbit hole.
If a prospect asks a question, fundraisers often let the question become a journey down a rabbit hole instead of jumping back to the main agenda, objective, or moving up in altitude.
The key to avoiding the rabbit hole is to simply walk the conversation back up in altitude or move beyond the rabbit hole toward the visit goal. There are a few ways to do this.
- Simply don’t go down the rabbit hole. Answer a question and then go back to the main line of discussion.
- Use a “set aside,” e.g., “That’s a great line of discussion. I’m worried I’ll go down a rabbit hole on that one. If it’s okay, let’s note that for later and come back to (xyz).”
- Mix some concepts: Permission + contingency + elevation. “I’m worried I’ll spend too long on (x). With your permission, I would like to go to (y), acknowledging that (x) is something we’ll need to unpack more fully if and as there is an opportunity to work together.”
- Don’t focus on a yes/no – focus on a yes/no/roadmap. One of the top reasons that strong leaders abandon an ask strategy is that they’re afraid of a “no.” More specifically, they’re worried about messing up their one shot (so they don’t take the shot).
The idea that we might only have “one shot” isn’t a very helpful construct in the world of fundraising. If you’re aligned with the funder’s cause, and you’re engaged in strong dialogue to suggest some potential then think beyond the dichotomy of yes/no (See: Ask as a dialogue). Through dialogue, move the conversation to a:- Yes/commitment.
- No, with clear understanding of how this does not fit with cause or capacity; or
- A roadmap, i.e., the timing, conditions, or action plan to get to an aligned ask and commitment.
The For Impact Visit Checklist can help you prepare and think through most of these concepts.
