DLead Webinar

DLead Webinar

Every time I do a demo on funder prospecting, fundraisers ask for the least helpful thing first.

I had this conversation yesterday with DLead, a great group of development professionals doing important work across the Jewish nonprofit world:

Fundraiser: Where can I see which foundations have open RFPs or are open for solicitation?

Me: That data is in there. But I'd start somewhere else.

Fundraiser: Where else would you start?

Me: Your board. Specifically, who your board members are connected to.

Fundraiser: I know that's the best approach, but I never know how to actually find that information.

Me: Using Impala, you can map how board member A sits on a committee with a trustee at a major foundation. That trustee has a relationship with the program officer. That path exists right now, but most organizations can't see it.

Fundraiser: But the foundation isn't publicly accepting proposals.

Me: A lot of foundations say that. But if you look at what percentage of their grantees are new each year, you can tell whether they actually mean it. Above 20% new grantees in a year, they're bringing in new organizations. The question is how to get on their radar.

Fundraiser: So relationships over RFPs.

Me: Every time.