We must realize the Fund-raising in a more Counterintuitive, get out of the ordinary. Redirect our gaze from the obvious to the original. Re-read our modus operandi. Question our values, our methodology, our principles and strategies.
By choosing to follow best practices, you may be using the most popular method, but not necessarily the approach that will work best for you, for your reality, for your needs. The same strategy can hardly be completely efficient in all cases and situations.
When carrying out a fundraising process, think about the SITUATION from your financier, don't focus on the possible DISPOSITION of the same in financing its Project.
A DISPOSITION from your financier is an imaginary analysis of the possible prospect of contribution. Do you imagine what the disposition of him to contribute resources to his Project. This often leads to mistakes, failures and errors.
However, when you focus on SITUATION from your financier, it is necessary data, information, strategies for decision making, as you will need to understand the real situation of the financier, so that it is possible to envisage a greater possibility of success in your fundraising.
When you present your Project to a large company, for example, you imagine: “… – There is…, who will analyze my Project, ah, it's the Marketing Director, the person within the company who is concerned with analyzing the best path for the company's institutional marketing. Or not, who will analyze my Project, is the CEO, is the Executive Director, he will check that my Project is appropriate to the company's vision, or otherwise, the Project will be analyzed by the Financial Director, he is concerned about whether the existing resources are sufficient, adequate and whether it is worth financing my Project…”. In these cases, you may often be focusing on your financier's analysis from the perspective of disposition, that is, if they would be willing to make a decision to invest financial resources in their Project.
For a more realistic perspective of success, it is necessary that your perspective is based on SITUATION of this or that decision maker. Which SITUATION of Marketing director to support my Project? Which SITUATION of CEO to choose my Project? Which SITUATION of CFO to finance my Project? Everything revolves around you analyzing the SITUATION and not the DISPOSITION from your Funder.
The fundraising process is becoming increasingly complex. A few years ago, an average of five to six people needed to sign off on a financing decision. Today the Gartner (consulting company for decision making for executives) reports that the “the management group that chooses the projects to be contributed has become more complex and involves between six and ten decision makers”.
In other words, you are not just presenting a Project to a financier - you are trying generate consensus among multiple stakeholders. These stakeholders may not share the same interests, but this group has one thing in common: The SITUATION. In theory, all people in the group and all groups are in the same SITUATION.
Lenders do not finance your Project because of who they are, because of the region in which they operate or because of their work characteristics. They are more concerned if the SITUATION current of them is putting AT RISK YOUR BUSINESS OBJECTIVES. This is the concern, with the BUSINESS SITUATION, not with the willingness to analyze, approve and contribute to your Project.
The science that supports this is called FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR. Find out more about this in the previous link.
The real drivers behind behaviors and behavior change are the challenges of SITUATION your lender's, not yours disposition professional .
Your lenders are asking important questions that are specific to the SITUATION their current. Together, we call this series of situationally specific questions Funder Decision Journey.
WHAT IS THE FINANCER’S JOURNEY?
A financier's journey, according to my analysis, making an analogy to the fundraising journey, it is necessary to check what is going on in your financier's mind, understand how he makes the decision whether or not to contribute resources to your Project.
Certainly, each actor, the Marketing manager, O CEO and the CFO present different ways to finance or not their Project. Therefore, it is necessary that you, as a fundraiser, understand the journey that your funder goes through, to try to obtain a reasonable success rate. The Funder’s Journey is generally based on four premises:
CREATE VALUE
1. In the financier’s head he reasons: – This Project Does it create value for my brand, for my company, for my products? He thinks: Why should I change what is working? Why should I choose this new one Project? Why not continue with the projects we are already used to.
In this aspect you need to fight against the financier's inertia, against the maintenance of status quo. For him, keeping things as they are is easier than deciding to choose a new one. Project, which he doesn't know yet, he doesn't know if it's really good, if it will really create value for the company.
In this case you will need to find ways to break this “no decision making”, this inertia. Try to show that by financing sue Project, it will add value to the brand, to the Product for the company. This is your initial challenge.
RAISE VALUE
2. Financier: “- Why should I finance this Project at that time?"
Now, this is when you need to justify the value of your Project. Your goal is to demonstrate the importance of your Project to your funder's interests, highlighting risks that affect the maintenance of inertia, presenting unconsidered needs and providing a solution that will have a positive and tangible impact on your funder's business.
GET VALUE
3. The financier wonders, why am I going to contribute 100%, if I can donate 20% or simply not contribute?
Each time your funding increases in level of demand, the challenges of dealing with amounts and the possibility of smaller and less substantial contributions become greater. Demonstrating the value of your proposal as requested is a challenge that you, as a capturer, need to be completely familiar with in order to be able to counter argue, developing the power of persuasion to emerge victorious in negotiations.
INCREASE VALUE
4. The financier asks: why continue with you? With your institution? With your Project?
Once you're in, the business changes. Your role now is to try to maintain the status quo of your financier's decision-making. Try to keep him inertia, to prevent him from placing another Project in your place. At this level, an even more efficient approach is necessary, as the possibility of exchange is great, and the other projects have worked to get your financier to break out of inertia and exchange you for their projects.
Continuing to create and expand value for your financier is your goal, every year, every Project you need to maintain alignment with your funder's objectives, understanding their needs, pains and challenges. Only then will you be able to stay on top.
The lender's decision journey reflects what's going on in their mind – how they think and behave as they decide to finance their Project. When you understand their underlying motivations and behaviors in each conversation, you can personalize your Prospection to match the SITUATION, and win.
Don't just focus on title, position or persona. Instead, start capturing for the SITUATION from your financier. Help your fundraisers understand whether their current approach is putting your funder's business objectives at risk? Then, adapt your fundraising techniques to each moment of the funder’s decision-making journey. This way your chance of success grows exponentially.
Success in your fundraising.
