A #nonprofit secured a $150,000 grant to create Makers Spaces in two public schools in their region, but six months into the grant there was a serious problem. One of the schools had a leadership transition, and could not start the project. How does the nonprofit deal with the #funder so that the #grant is not in jeopardy?
If your organization is pushing its #innovation edge, then this is a likely scenario. Communicating with funders in an open and transparent way is key. Two mindsets are critical to the way you handle this communication...
a Design Thinking mindset and Funder-Partner mindset.
#DesignThinking is about creating a learning culture that works deeply with its intended beneficiaries-- conducting cycles of brainstorming, prototyping, implementing in real-world contexts, evaluating, and refining.
The #FunderPartner mindset enables a nonprofit to bring their funder into the project design work, share your learnings including the challenges and draw on the funder’s expertise to work on adapting your solution.
#Funders appreciate your honest assessment of the risks and challenges. Being part of your design process helps create a new collaborative space to work through the hiccups.
Now You: How have you communicated a bump in the road to a funder or client?
The Side Door for Cultivating Foundation Relationships
#Nonproits how do you get introduced to new foundations and begin cultivating these relationships?
Use the “Side Door” to start a relationship with a new foundation prospect.
Foundations are inundated with hundreds of proposals for every single proposal that they fund.
Developing relationships with foundations can be challenging.
Regional and national foundations can be purposely inaccessible and have strong gatekeeping.
Many family foundations fund preselected organizations or are by invitation only.
Use the Side Door--A strategic approach that will get you into a conversation faster.
If you would like to learn how to implement this strategy to gain better traction with new foundation relationships ..
1. Download your free Power-Up New Foundation Relationships
Guide https://lnkd.in/eRseW2E
2. Contact lpoller@agilefundraisingstrategy.com for additional resources and a 15-minute discovery call.