No, I Won’t Write That Grant Proposal for You.

Here’s why.

I’ve been in the business of development — a.k.a. helping organizations raise funding — for 10 years now. It was success stories like securing over $5 million USD in just one year that pushed me to start my consulting firm, Karfi. Every person eager to build a startup or charity in Africa hoped to use me to reach their financial goals.

Obviously, I’m flattered. However, I soon realized that taking the money thrown at me immediately would do more harm than good.

Why would I turn away people so eager to pay me?

Many of you, respectfully, are blinded by the dollar signs. That usually means you’re ignoring red flags and neglecting the self-examination necessary before you launch your ambitious goals.

Only a loan shark would give you an extravagant amount of money, not knowing who you are and without asking questions. So think about it: what’s the necessary work you’d have to do to find money that doesn’t involve running from the Mafia or paying a 50% interest rate for the foreseeable future?

Funders (especially in philanthropy) are extremely fickle when it comes to deciding whom or what to give money to.

A fundraising audit is necessary as a first step. It’s much more prudent to do the necessary homework researching the basic criteria you must meet to secure funds the legal (and safe) way. Even better, it would make more sense to hire a seasoned development manager (someone experienced in fundraising) to examine your business infrastructure for areas that put you either at an advantage or disadvantage with the leading institutions that finance early-stage startups or newly formed not-for-profit enterprises.

Yes, you are spending money before making money in this scenario. You may think hiring someone right away to write the grant applications or create the pitch decks is more “bang for your buck”, but you’re actually wasting more money & time. Hiring a grants consultant is expensive and even with the best systems in place, your organization is never guaranteed to win any award for funding. Funders (especially in philanthropy) are extremely fickle when it comes to deciding whom or what to give money to.

You have an enormous amount of competition asking for the same money from the same people. Do you have a clear idea about what makes you stand out? What makes you a trustworthy steward of these funds? Are you prepared to write numerous reports that prove you achieved what you said you’d achieve with that money?

This is where my expertise is most useful. As I said, I have over 10 years of experience watching trends and learning from mistakes that cost the organizations I served millions of dollars. So while I have a 5-to-1 track record for the number of awards won vs. lost, I also know how challenging it can be to get a funder’s attention in the first place.

Allow me to help you. A fundraising audit, now offered by my company Karfi, is a good, risk-free investment to start your journey as an entrepreneur/business owner. And it’s also a lot cheaper than my other fundraising services ;-).

In the end, ask yourself this critical question: do I deserve the money I want based on what I’ve set up so far?

If you have a tough time answering that, I’m 100% sure you should use my services.