Read Step 2, Developing Relationships with Founder’s pp. 21-31. We’ll spend some time next week on that sample letter of interest (LOI), so don’t worry about the worksheet on p. 27. What’s interesting/helpful/curious about this chapter?
One of the things I found interesting from this chapter was that a lot of funders don’t particularly like sitting down and having a conversation about what the future holds for the grant being discussed. This is because they don’t what to have “unrealistic funding expectations”. It almost seems like it is another obstacle that the grant seeker has to overcome. They would have to find a funder that is willing to sit down and talk about their options with confidence. I would not want to be applying for a grant with someone that didn’t know what they were able to provide for me before hand. I also thought it was interesting that it’s very important to build a good relationship with the funders because it makes it easier to communicate and stay on communicative terms with them. It might seem to some people that these non-profits are kissing ass a bit, but that is the whole point.
