The article below is basically what I say in the video. Choose your adventure!

Finding new funders is one of the most underrated skills in grant strategy. Most organizations apply to the same pool of funders year after year, and while those relationships matter, some of the most meaningful funding comes from foundations you have never had a conversation with before.

For most executive directors and development staff, the pressure to find new funding sources is a quiet but constant weight. You are already managing programs, supervising staff, reporting to your board, and somewhere in the middle of all of that you are supposed to be identifying and cultivating relationships with funders you have never met. It is one of the loneliest parts of the job, and most people doing it feel like they are guessing more than they are strategizing.

The first step is research. And research means more than reading a foundation's website. It means understanding who they are.

Some funders will make it very clear they do not want unsolicited outreach. If that is the case, respect it. Their process exists for a reason and honoring it says something about your organization.

But if a funder is your neighbor, if there are no do not enter signs, if the connection feels real and the door appears open, then it is worth being creative about how you introduce yourself.

This is a story about what happens when you stop fighting an idea and just let it take over.

I was writing grants for Street Roots, a Portland nonprofit where houseless vendors buy papers for a quarter and sell them for a dollar, and during my research I discovered a foundation that appeared to be a five minute walk across the bridge from their office. Something about that proximity would not leave me alone.

So an idea came over me to build a box. A large box covered in photos of Street Roots vendors. Inside was confetti and a single piece of paper that said hey, we are your neighbors and it would be great to meet and see if we can make something happen together.

When I walked across that bridge to deliver it, nobody was there. The address was outdated. I stood there with this giant box full of confetti and I was crushed.

But the idea was not done with me.

I made a video showing the entire process of building the box, and I used their website, their board member photos, their staff profiles, to have a conversation with. I sent the email.

They wrote back, and said they were open to a meeting. They said it was the most unique outreach they had ever received. We met, had a nice conversation, and they invited Street Roots to apply for a grant, which when all was said and done was five figures.

Creative outreach, genuine curiosity about who is on the other side, and a willingness to step outside the normal process can be part of your grant and major donor strategy.