Picking up the phone to call someone you don’t know can be quite intimidating.
Calling a funder about a project you want funding for can be even worse.
The fear of rejection (often combined with an excuse of ‘there’s no time’) causes so many fundraisers to just ‘hope for the best’ without trying to contact the funder at all. It’s the easiest option, right?!
The thing is, so long as you’ve read the funder’s guidelines and you have a basic project outline, you’ve got nothing to lose by trying to call the funder.
At best, you’ll get some useful information that’ll help you build an even stronger application. At worst, they won’t be able to speak to you or you just won’t get through.
And while it mightn’t feel good at the time, being told that your project doesn’t interest them is also a positive outcome. You can move on to the next, stronger application!
As the old cliché goes – your fear of rejection is often worse than the reality. Give it a go.