Finding Your Funder Fit: Understanding Donors vs. Partners

In most cases, looking for a good funder is very subjective, and depends as much on what you want to get from a funder as what they are able and willing to give. I like to divide funders into two categories as I start prospect research: donors and partners. From donors, you’re looking for foundations that are willing to provide financial or other material support to your programs. These are the easy ones. Does a funder’s programming priorities align with what you do and where you do it. How much funding do they typically give? How much work will you have to do to receive a grant, and does that provide an adequate return on investment?

Partners are more complicated, and require a little bit of self-reflection. Partnership can be driven by either side of the equation – some funders truly want to partner with the organizations they give money to. They are investing resources, expertise, and energy in the grant relationship, and expect to play a role beyond providing dollars. Or at least feel like they are playing a role. Sometimes you as an organization are looking for that level of engagement from your donors. Whatever the starting place, it’s important to assess what you want out of a partnership, and what you’re willing to contribute to a partnership before you start engaging with this type of funders. So first off, what do you really want from a partner? (Note, you can call all your funders partners, it sounds nice, and is a pleasant acknowledgement of grant contributions, but here I’m talking about organizations you want or need a more extensive relationship with). And maybe more importantly, what do you not want from a partner? If a key foundation is willing to give you a big grant in exchange for some level of involvement in your work and programming, at what point is that trade no longer valuable to you? Once you know your internal baseline, take a look at those donors who align with you, and who might be potential partners. What do they expect out of a partnership? Do they seem like they would be willing to work with you to establish the parameters of a partnership? Is there an understanding that resources required to maintain partnerships can come out of grant funding? Do you see yourself wanting to work with this funder for multiple years?

Both donors and partners are an important part of a diverse institutional funding portfolio. But as you assess where you want to dedicate time and resources, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what funders fall into what categories. Once you have that clarity, it becomes much easier to plan cultivation, build relationships, and start applying for funds.