How do you find new fundraising opportunities?

When fundraising, it can be tempting to rush out and start chasing the money. But while there are dozens of fundraising opportunities, each requires a lot of time, energy, and innovation. So, in a sea of possibilities, how do you decide what to prioritise? I always start by assessing the organisation's current situation. Has something already been working? Do more of that. Has something failed? If you can figure out why, try again. If not, leave it and focus on the low-hanging fruit.

I see often people tend to react to calls from.donors rather than assesing one's funding requirement or real capacity to deliver, therefore its important to have a framework on what programs/ themes you can implement and the scale in that way rest of the work can be done in a more focused manner

This is well conneted to what was suggested in the previous step , having list of donors who have frequent calls, related to the themes you work on will enable you to plan your proposal s inadvance, identify suitable partners and there by increase the chances of succeeding

No one wants to build relationships anymore. If you take the extra time to do this you stand above 99% of the pack. Fundraising of any form is about building and managing genuine relationships. Don't try to hack this.

I tend to have normal relationships with the people I've talked with on LinkedIn who've liked what me and my team are doing. Some I have their personal cell phone numbers and others their emails but I keep them in the loop after having a normal discussion about their day, we talk about our families and work. It's just like getting to know someone you're becoming friends with.

Our organization grew out of a specific ethnic-faith tradition. But the people we serve came from many different communities and backgrounds. To diversify our support base, we needed to intentionally engage families of those we serve, and their communities. Through patience and persistence, as well as several meaningful engagement opportunities and events, we have successfully connected a broader base of support from outside our traditional constituency.

I build relationships that last a lifetime. These relations become my friends for life and from this aspect, you develop donors for a lifetime. No one wants to just be a number that the development officer has found, people want to build relationships that result in friendships. It’s a known fact that people give to people first and then to a project they like. You cannot be successful in raising money if you forget the relationships.