This should sound straight forward. I mean who wouldn’t do some research before venturing to raise funds, or so we think. You would be surprised to know how many of us just get to fundraising with nothing but pure belief. While belief is very essential for somebody trying to raise funds for some reason, it just might not make the cut when it comes to serious fundraising. Chances are that the person you talk to already knows something about what you are talking or they think they know something. You should either know enough to make him/her feel that you know more about it than them or you should at least be able to convince them enough into believing so. Otherwise, more often than not you might have to leave empty handed from such meetings. Of course there are many other factors that are in play simultaneously but not doing enough research will go a long way in ensuring that you remain unsuccessful with your fundraise.

So next time you think about fundraising for an idea or a cause, start by reading about the topic. Do some googling, possibly using various keywords around the core topic. The more time you spend doing this, the better your pitch will get. In fact, you would also know answers to most questions that might come your way during the fundraising meetings. The most successful of fundraisers will be good at what they do and one of the most important things they do is research about the topics they are going to talk about. Possibly also about the various sub-topics and other related topics. Always go into a prospect meeting with a holistic picture, so that you are always driving the conversation and not the other way round.

As I said, there are no sure-shot methods to succeed with fundraising but there are definitely sure-shot methods to fail with fundraising and not doing enough research is definitely a sure-shot way of failing at your fundraising effort…

Hope you found this short article useful. Happy to discuss further, should you feel like discussing further. Have a nice day, people.

Fundraising is an art more than a science. There are no laws that govern it. Sometimes you can be successful at it because you are at the right place at the right time with the right people or sometimes you can be successful because you made everyone around you believe that you are the right person at the right place at the right time and with the right idea.You don’t always need to sell big stories to make people fund you or your idea or whatever it is that you are trying to sell; all you need is the ability to understand what your prospect wants and then pressing the right buttons. This is a blog where I will discuss about the art of fundraising and how to become a successful fundraiser.

To be a successful fundraiser you have to have 4 essential qualities: 1) Ability to sell a story convincingly. 2) Ability to understand your prospects. 3) Ability to adjust and adapt. 4) Ability to close deals. If you have these 4 broad qualities, chances are that you can become a successful fundraiser. But simply having these qualities will not ensure success. You need to be at the right place and with the right people. Most importantly, you should not be responsible for anything else but fundraising. Often times, the leader of an organization or a company, takes it upon himself/herself to fundraise. Although this might sound natural, it might not always be the most effective way of fundraising. Reason is simple- you really can’t just focus on a single thing with the responsibility of the entire organization on your head. You might be a great storyteller, you might understand your prospects too but sometimes you might just not be able to adjust and adapt as a leader because you always tend to see things from your organization’s perspective and not from that of your prospect. And even if you somehow manage to adjust, you will never be able to properly close the deal because you always have 10 other things revolving in your mind.

Fundraising is very similar to selling; only that in this case you are either selling a cause, a need, a want or a desire. Making someone commit their hard-earned money is one of the toughest things you can make someone do. And it can never happen without context. For example, you can’t expect yourself to sell the most lucrative asset to someone who doesn’t get the head or tail of it. That is because, people commit money when they are entirely sure about something or when they believe that they are entirely sure about something. For you to be able to sell your story to someone, you need to first win their trust. They need to believe that you mean what you say. And that leads us to a very important step prior to undertaking your fundraising pitch- Research.

I will write in detail about the same in my next blog post. Till then enjoy..

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton