CHAPTER FOUR

MAKING YOUR FIRST CONVERSATION COUNT

Following the steps outlined in Chapters Two and Three allows you to select appropriate grantmakers and develop basic strategies for approaching them. These were general preparations; now you need to prepare specifically for your first encounter. As you know, first impressions are very powerful, and they set the tone for everything that follows. Remember, in the relationship model of grantseeking, you are not merely trying to get a grant but to lay the groundwork for a partnership that can generate support for years to come. The first conversation, then, will be a complex interaction. You will convey and decode subtle, implied messages, as well as explicit information.

If you are like most people, you may be somewhat anxious about this conversation, and anxiety can impede your performance. The best way to reduce anxiety is to prepare thoroughly. The better prepared you are, the better you will perform, and giving it your best shot is what this chapter is about. There are two possible scenarios for an initial conversation: the cold call, an exchange between people who have never spoken before and have no knowledge of one another, and the warm call, an exchange preceded by a third party who knows you both asking the grantmaker to talk with you. For the sake of this discussion, we will assume that you are making a cold call—the more difficult variety. To position yourself for success, plan the conversation with the following objectives in mind:

• Convey an explicit message. When seeking a grant (Scenario A), you need to let the grantmaker know what your organization wants or needs. When responding to a grant opportunity (Scenario B), let the grantmaker know what your organization has to offer.
• Convey an implicit message. Specifically, you want the grantmaker to infer that you are a person with whom she would like to establish a relationship. This impression can be created through the subtext of your conversation.
• Elicit information about the grantmaker's situation. If you listen carefully, you can often gain valuable information about the grantmaker's program, priorities, and timetable.
• Set up your first meeting, nailing down all the details.

Placing Your Call

Take into account that there will probably be one or more rounds of “telephone tag” before you and your prospective grantmaker connect. Be prepared to leave messages and to speak with the grantmaker at a later date.

If the grantmaker is not in when you call, you may speak first with the receptionist, then with the grantmaker's secretary or administrative assistant. Remember that each of these people can be helpful in developing your relationship with the grantmaker. Assistants process your paperwork, provide (or impede) access, and have an intimate knowledge of the grantmaking process. Receptionists often keep track of where program officers are and what they're doing. It is clearly in your best interest to be on good terms with people in these support positions. One successful grantseeker observes Secretary's Week by sending flowers to the assistants of all his grantmakers.

If the receptionist puts you into the grantmaker's voice mail system, the message you leave will create your first impression on the grantmaker. It should therefore be clear and brief, but include enough details to make it easy to return your call. Allow for the operation of Murphy's Law—by the time your call is returned you will probably have misplaced or filed the fact sheet you prepared to guide yourself through the conversation. Make up a miniature, fail-safe version of the fact sheet on one or more sticky notes and place them on any phone you might conceivably pick up when the call comes in.

Once you reach the grantmaker, remember that your main goal is to communicate effectively. Find out right away if you can have her undivided attention at this particular time, or if she would prefer to speak with you later. If her tone of voice indicates that she is rushed, or if background noise makes it difficult for her to hear, ask if you can reschedule the conversation. The grantmaker will appreciate your consideration, and you will ensure that your message is heard.

Conveying Explicit Messages

When you finally find a good time to speak and the grantmaker is on the line, use your fact sheet. Here are three examples of how successful grantseekers applied the principles outlined in Chapters Two and Three to introduce themselves effectively.

Example One

Background and Planning

The Conversation

Example Two

Background and Planning

The Conversation

Example Three

Background and Planning

The Conversation

Conveying Implicit Messages

In addition to conveying explicit information during your first phone call with a grantmaker, you will need to communicate certain implicit messages as well. Here are the most important ones.

I understand the system.

Though grantmakers are accustomed to dealing with grantseeking novices, obviously it's tedious for them to explain over and over again how their grantmaking processes work. If you show that you understand the basic steps involved in making grants, your dialogue will rise to a higher plane more quickly, and you will be able to engage in conversations about your work, the project you wish to undertake, or other topics of far greater interest to your grantmaker. Meaningful dialogue is at the heart and soul of good relationships, so you should try to get to it as soon as possible. The experience and knowledge you have gained through other relationships can be applied to a new one; for instance, in initial encounters, both parties decide whether they wish to establish a relationship. You certainly want to, and you can probably get that implicit message across fairly readily. Making the grantmaker want to have a relationship with you, however, is another matter; it requires relaying another quite critical implicit message.

I am a credible person,
worthy of a relationship with you.

You want to make yourself appear attractive enough to interest the other person in getting to know you. The most basic requirement in any business relationship is trust, which is based on credibility; so you want to imply in every possible way that you are who you say you are, and that you will do what you say.

It takes time to convince a person that you are honest and trustworthy. Ultimately your credibility depends on your ability to deliver as promised, but a few simple strategies can help jump-start a grantmaker's initial impression of you as a credible person.

We talked earlier about using academic or religious titles when you introduce yourself. If used appropriately they can certainly add to your credibility; earning a terminal degree, for example, does not guarantee that you are honest or trustworthy but it does say something about your perseverance. If you are an officer in the military, you did what it took to achieve this distinction, and you should let your grantmaker know that you made a substantial contribution to your country's well-being. If you are a nun or a priest, you have made a commitment to the spiritual life, and your title can encourage the grantmaker to see you as a credible person and to take you seriously. At the very least, a title can set you apart from other grantseekers. That is highly desirable, as the average program officer must deal with a large number of applicants.

Another way to promote your credibility is to refer to a distinguished pedigree, if you have one. You might say, for example, “I began working on this problem when I was a graduate student at MIT” or “This project relates to the work I did to prepare for a congressional hearing.”

You can also share with grantmakers your background of successful experience. For example, you might say something like this: “In my last position, I was responsible for turning around an organization with a large operating deficit and a high staff turnover rate. Within three years, we eliminated the accumulated deficit by tripling annual giving, and we reduced staff turnover to less than 5 percent. I believe that similar improvements are possible in my current situation.”

I want to understand you better.

Next to credibility, the quality that most promotes sound relationship-building is a genuine interest in the other person. Show that you are interested in the grantmaker and her priorities. You might express yourself along these lines: “I'd be especially interested in learning more about the most effective economic development programs you are funding. I'd also like to know more about your foundation's priorities in terms of job creation and retention, and your view of the foundation's role in helping high-tech industry grow.”

Some grantmakers are very forthcoming about their current interests and challenges, and that makes it easy for grantseekers to learn about the organization. Others may be less enthusiastic about sharing inside information. If this is the case, you can still imply your interest by indicating that you have done research on their past grantmaking activities. You can then begin building these relationships later, when they become comfortable enough to be more open with you.

In any case, your purpose is to determine whether your two organizations share core values that make it possible for you to work together. If these values drive you toward common goals, there is a rich potential for fruitful collaboration. To find out whether this potential exists, you will need to clearly articulate the ends your organization is pursuing, and how today's specific project provides a means to those ends. You will also need to ascertain what ends the grantmaker is seeking, and think about how your project may provide a means to achieving those as well.

Fruitful relationships between grantseekers and grantmakers develop when the interests of both coincide. Once the relationship is established, you can concentrate on weaving its fabric through hundreds of interactions over many years.

Setting Up a Meeting

If your telephone conversation has uncovered enough common ground, the grantmaker may suggest a meeting. If not, ask for one yourself.

No matter how well you have prepared for your conversation, and no matter how persuasive you have been, some grantmakers insist on seeing something in writing before they will agree to meet. This can present a major hurdle in developing a relationship, but when you encounter this demand you must comply. In the next chapter, we will discuss the best way to respond.

For now, let's assume that a meeting is in order. In making the arrangements, keep in mind that the grantmaker is the customer; though you should have a plan for how to proceed, remain flexible enough to accommodate your customer's preferences. Basically, however, planning the meeting requires asking the same questions as any good journalist: who, when, and where. Also ask how long the meeting will be and what will be on the agenda. Let's address each of these in order.

Who? As will be detailed in Chapter Six, your first meeting should include the president or CEO of your organization, a representative of your board, and a fund development staff person. For reasons of strategy as well as courtesy, it is important to let the grantmaker know in advance who will be representing your organization. For example, though you may be meeting with someone at the staff level, your board representative may know someone higher up in the grantmaker's organization; if you mention this to the staff person, she may invite the higher executive or trustee to stop by and say hello. Mentioning the participation of an important person raises your stock, so to speak, by showing the grantmaker that you can secure the involvement of powerful people.

When? Because the grantmaker is the customer, the meeting will be scheduled at her convenience. But as at least three people will be representing your organization, you will need to do some advance planning before you make your call to identify a date that will work for everyone. Check the calendars of all those who will represent your organization, and select at least three dates when they are all available. At least one of these will usually work for the grantmaker as well.

Where? Hold the meeting where it is convenient for the grantmaker—her office unless she specifies otherwise. If you are planning to meet with a grantmaker whose offices are out of town, schedule the meeting just as you would if the grantmaker were based in your own community.

People who are new to grantseeking sometimes feel uneasy about admitting that they're planning a trip for the sole purpose of meeting with a grantmaker, but it is best to be honest. As a program officer from the Kellogg Foundation pointed out at a recent meeting of grantmakers and grantseekers, “No one just ‘happens to be passing through’ Battle Creek, Michigan.” If you aren't completely honest as you begin your relationship, you will jeopardize your credibility and undermine the basis of a sound relationship.

How Long? It is important to know in advance how much time you will have with the grantmaker. Strategically, the script you prepare for your meeting must fit the time available. In terms of courtesy, it is important not to overstay the time allotted for your visit unless the grantmaker suggests it. If the conversation is progressing well, and she becomes so engaged that she wants to prolong the visit, your schedule should be flexible enough to accommodate this.

When planning a series of meetings with grantmakers in another city, it is probably impractical to plan more than four or five meetings in a day. First, there are the logistic challenges of getting from one place to another in a timely fashion. Second, if you have already made the same “pitch” three times, it may be difficult to remember if you have mentioned a critical point in this meeting yet—or in the meeting you just left.

What's the Agenda? As detailed in Chapter Six, there are two kinds of initial meetings between grantseekers and grantmakers: the get-acquainted meeting and the get-down-to-business meeting. In your telephone conversation, you will need to determine which kind of meeting this one will be.

The Get-Acquainted Meeting. Ideally, you will have an opportunity to get acquainted with your prospective grantmaker, using the initial meeting to learn more about the individual, the interests of the organization, the immediate challenges it is facing, and any upcoming opportunities for grants that have not been publicized yet. This information will enable you to identify activities that your grantmaker is most likely to support. At the same time, you will be able to share your own interests and areas of expertise, giving the grantmaker some sense of the ways in which you might become helpful to her.

Like a blind date, the get-acquainted meeting provides an opportunity to find out if you have mutual interests and wish to pursue a relationship.

The Get-Down-to-Business Meeting. This type of meeting focuses on the project you are seeking to fund. As it is also your first meeting with the grantmaker, you still need to provide some background on your organization. In essence, you will combine everything you would present in a get-acquainted meeting with a discussion of a specific project.

Even for a get-acquainted meeting, you should have one or two projects in mind and be ready to describe them; you never know when a get-acquainted meeting will suddenly turn into a get-down-to-business meeting. On hearing of a grant opportunity, for example, you may think of a project you are planning or already conducting that fits in, and it may be entirely appropriate to begin a dialogue about submitting a proposal.

Getting the Hang of It

Your first conversation with a grantmaker requires a greater investment of time and energy than subsequent encounters will. Grantseeking is like any other complex skill. Do you remember the first time you sat behind the wheel of a car, and how you felt as you listened to your driving instructor? At sixteen, you needed to think about every decision involved in driving: How far back do I need to brake to come to a full stop at the stop sign? Where's that little stick that makes the turn signal come on? But with experience, driving becomes automatic, and the same is true of grantseeking. Niccolò Machiavelli, the master strategist, may have said it best when he observed that “he who does not lay his foundations beforehand may by great abilities do so afterwards, although with great trouble to the architect and danger to the building.”²

You are the architect of the grantseeker-grantmaker relationship. If you take care in laying the foundations, the structure will be sound and it will endure.