Recently we’ve been talking about donors and how they are all different, as well as the importance of diversifying funding, especially in the light of the current world changes.

Today I want to talk about “faceless pieces of paper”.

Whether it’s a government department or a foreign multi-lateral funding agency, at the end of the day there is a real person who will be reading, assessing and filtering your application.

If that person or persons know you and believe in what you are doing, they can motivate within their structures for your application.

Let’s put these two important points together: understanding the donor + having the donor understand you = long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.

To help you out, here is a list of questions to ask and answer about the donor before hitting submit on that online application:

• How do they benefit from funding you: what do they gain, what do they need?
• Does their culture and ideology align with yours?
• Where does decision making sit (the Board, grant-making team or individuals)?
• What type of donation do they prefer (in-kind, once-off, regular, multi-year)?
• What is the average donation value?
• Which group of your beneficiaries would be attractive to this donor?
• Which projects/ activities (that you run) would this donor support?
• What benefit would the donor gain by supporting this project?
• How do you present what you do in the best way to appeal to this type of donor?
• Should you collaborate with another organisation to offer a comprehensive solution/project to the donor?

And here is a list of questions to help you give your application a face – yours!

• How can you best connect with this donor (in–person at conferences or events, web presence, direct mailing, only requests for applications or referrals)?
• What steps can you take to make the donor aware of your organisation, your impact and your expertise (over time) before submitting a proposal?
• How proactive can you be in connecting with the donor prior to submitting an application?

It does all take a LOT of work before you have started preparing proposals and applications for submission to the donors you’ve identified.

An application with a face (yours) connected to it is far more appealing than a faceless piece of paper!