Fundraising Communication Tips

If you're a founder trying to fundraise right now, it probably feels like the entire venture world has gone quiet. The response times are slow, OOOs are on and it’s easy to feel like you’re losing momentum. Don't stress. The summer slowdown is predictable, and it's not a setback, it's a gift of time if you use it well. I see this every year... The founders who scramble to send frantic emails in July/August are the same ones who struggle in the fall with an over-shopped deal and the fatigue of an endless fundraise. But the founders who use this quiet period for deep, focused preparation are the ones who run a crisp, successful process after Labor Day. The fundraising race is won in the prep lap. Here are a few things you can do right now to prep for a big fundraising push this fall: 1. Build a High-Fidelity Investor Pipeline. Go beyond a simple list of names. Create a comprehensive document that tracks every firm and partner, their specific thesis, your history with them (if any), your connections to them and crucially, the feedback they've given you in the past. This turns your outreach into a strategic campaign. 2. Assemble a "Push-Button" Data Room. Don't wait for an investor to ask. Build your data room now so it's ready to go at a moment's notice. This includes your customer contracts, cohort analyses, deck, references and financial model. A well-organized data room signals professionalism and creates momentum. 3. Craft a "Juicy" Forwardable Blurb. The best introductions are easy to forward. Write a tight, compelling, one-paragraph teaser. It must include a unique insight on the market, why your team is going to win and any key metrics. This makes it effortless for people like me to advocate on your behalf. 4. Pressure-Test Your Narrative. Use this time to pitch trusted advisors, mentors, and other founders. This isn't about memorizing a script, it's about finding the weak spots in your story. Ask them to be ruthless. The tough questions you answer now in a friendly setting will save you in a rapid fire partner meeting later. 5. Get Your "Diligence" in Order. This is the one everyone forgets. Talk to your lawyer now. Make sure your corporate governance is tight and your cap table is accurate (and clean). Uncovering a messy problems during late-stage diligence can kill a deal. Solving it now is a massive de-risking event. 6. "Warm Up" Your References. Your best customers are your most powerful asset. Don't wait until an investor asks for a reference call to talk to them. Re-engage with your top 3-5 champions now. Check in, share your progress, and get them excited about your vision. A reference who is prepped and genuinely enthusiastic is infinitely more impactful. The fall fundraising season will be here before you know it. The work you do in the quiet of August will determine the success you have in the chaos of the fall. We are prepping for our next fundraise as well so this is how I'm spending my time💥

I tracked all fundraising activity for one year so you didn't have to. Here is what I found: - A substantive, in-person visit with a donor resulted in gifts 5x larger than donors who only corresponded via phone calls or emails. - It took roughly 12 touchpoints to secure a visit with a donor. That is a high number, but pretty characteristic of human services. - Each handwritten card sent produced 1,169x more value than it cost. - Response rate increased dramatically with a voicemail + email combination. - Gifts from DAFs, gifts of stock, and gifts from RMDs became more popular only as donors were informed that those were giving options. Here is what this means: - Meet in person with donors as much as humanly possible - Make as many attempts as possible to schedule visits with donors - Write handwritten cards. Like, right now. - Reach out to donors with a multi-channel approach (DM me if you'd like to see a call, email, +handwritten card cadence) - Donors don't always know how to maximize their generosity unless you tell them. Inform them of their options if they give you permission! Ultimately, provide value to your org's donors and watch as generosity unfolds for the benefit of the people your org serves!

I had a call with a YC founder building a billion-dollar company in an AI-native way, and he phrased the new world pretty well. The simplest path to building a $1B+ company? It's not fundraising. It's not team building. It's not even product. It's collecting insights before you need capital. Here's what most founders miss: 1/ The biggest mistake founders make: Raising millions before understanding their market. A YC founder who's building a unicorn told me: "The only thing lacking from building a large company isn't money - it's insights." Here's why this matters: 2/ The landscape has changed dramatically: • AWS made infrastructure cheap • No-code tools reduced dev costs • AI accelerated development • Remote work lowered overhead Result? You need 90% less capital than 10 years ago to start. 3/ But here's what hasn't changed: You still need deep market insights to win. Look at the most successful founders: • Brian Chesky (Airbnb) - Lived the problem • Patrick Collison (Stripe) - Felt the pain firsthand • Tobi Lütke (Shopify) - Built for his own needs 4/ The modern playbook is backwards: ❌ Raise millions ❌ Hire a team ❌ Then figure it out ✅ Gather insights ✅ Test assumptions ✅ Build minimal solution ✅ Let customers pull you forward 5/ How to become an insight-gathering machine: • Talk to 100 potential customers • Join industry Discord servers • Attend niche conferences • Follow practitioners, not influencers • Build side projects in your space 6/ The math of insights: • Every conversation = 1 new insight • Every insight = 10% better product • Every improvement = 2x easier sale • Every sale = 3 more conversations It compounds rapidly. 7/ Signs you have enough insights: • You can predict customer objections • You know the market size firsthand • You understand why others failed • You have customers asking to pay 8/ The secret most founders miss: Money amplifies execution. But insights determine direction. Without insights, more money just helps you go in the wrong direction faster. 9/ Your first job as a founder: Become the most knowledgeable person in your space. Not through: • Reading blogs • Watching videos • Following trends But through: • Direct conversations • Real experiments • Hands-on experience The answer to the "What's your insight" question is worth millions.

As a founder who raised a $500K pre-seed 💰 Here are my biggest (updated) takeaways about fundraising: 1) 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚. It’s about trust...they need to believe you can figure it out and make it happen. You matter more than your pitch deck. 2) 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐂𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲. Unless you have multiple exits or significant traction, focus on your product and users. Early VC calls should be about understanding the milestones you’ll need to hit. Don’t ask for money, ask: “At what point would a business like ours be exciting to you?” They’ll tell you. 3) 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭. Don’t aim for a $4M seed round out of the gate. Too many founders try and fail. Start with angels or your personal network. 4) 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐌𝐕𝐏. If you think you do, you’re probably not being resourceful enough. 5) 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤. Plan accordingly, and don’t underestimate the time commitment. 6) 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. I made this mistake early on. A “no” isn’t always about you. Sometimes it’s about them—investors often like to appear wealthier than they really are. 7) 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞. I know sometimes this is hard to avoid but investors can sense desperation from a mile away. Walk into meetings with confidence, believing they’re lucky to get on your cap table. 8) 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. Investors are people, and knowing others are excited about your idea gives them comfort. Set expectations upfront, send regular updates, and don’t just rely on email...pick up the damn phone. 9) 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦. When you secure one investment, it’s the best time to close another. Keep the energy going. This is underrated. 10) 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭. Both are full of “no’s.” The difference in a successful raise is they didn't give up. To all the founders out there fundraising...Stay positive, stay persistent, and keep building. 💙 #startups #venturecapital #fundraising

As a founder, I have made a ton of mistakes, but fundraising I (mostly) got right. This includes securing $400 million for my own startups over the years, but also helping fellow founders successfully with their investment rounds. At the same time, I have seen founders run disastrous and failed funding processes. The big difference is a proper process. Running a proper process enabled us to select the best investors to help us most at each stage. I never chased the highest valuation. I focused on finding the investor who could solve our biggest challenges for the next two to three years of growth. That only worked because I ran a proper process. So, what does a proper process look like? Every founder will have a view, but in my experience it includes eight golden rules: 1. Nail the story - Most important, but hardest part. Define a maximum of two to three key messages. Repeat them everywhere, in calls, emails, and on every slide of your deck. 2. Build a tight deck - Every slide reinforces those two to three key messages. Slide titles should summarise the key point, not just say “Market” or “Product”. 3. Raise the minimum - Ask for as little as you need. Far better to oversubscribe than face a never-ending process or failure to hit the target. I much prefer raising to hit the next milestones, prove progress, then raise bigger later at a higher valuation. 4. Do not obsess over valuation - Too often, founders chase the highest valuation, which then bites hard later with a painful down round. Valuation is driven by timing, traction, and demand. Focus instead on your ideal investor, the one(s) who can help solve your biggest challenges over the next two to three years. 5. Kiss a lot of frogs - Build a wide funnel of at least 50 targets for an early-stage raise. Prioritise your ideal investors, but keep optionality until the very end. Use warm intros where possible, ideally at partner level. Do not contact anyone until 100% ready. 6. Craft a killer intro - Short email, four to five bullets on the key pain points and “why now?”. Keep it short and punchy so a warm contact can forward it without rewriting a word. 7. Run a tight process - Hit everyone at the same time to create momentum. Keep competitive tension throughout by trying to move everyone at the same speed. Assume at least six to nine months. Make sure you have cash runway for longer. Show traction and results throughout. It is a big commitment, half of a founder’s time. 8. Prep your data room early - Financials, cap table, corporate structure, FAQs, all ready before serious conversations begin. I will cover how much to raise, capital strategy, investor mix, and specifically what is different for climate tech founders next week. But the foundation is this: fundraising is a process. Run it like one. This is part of a weekly series on scaling lessons from building PropertyGuru to NYSE and backing climate ventures at Wavemaker Impact and Planet Rise. Follow along if useful.

Stop sending your donors newsletters. Start sending them evidence. Your donors don't want updates about your organization. They want proof their investment is working. Your quarterly newsletter is filled with staff announcements, upcoming events, and organizational milestones. What's missing? Clear evidence that donors' money is creating real change. The organizations with the highest donor retention don't send better newsletters. They send better evidence. Pull out your last donor newsletter. Count how many articles focus on: Your organization's activities versus actual outcomes. Your staff updates versus lives changed. Your upcoming events versus problems solved. Your organizational news versus donor impact. If your newsletter reads more like a company update than an impact report, you've found a problem. The most successful fundraising programs I work with have transformed their donor communications: They replace activity updates with specific outcome stories. They substitute staff profiles with beneficiary transformations. They swap event announcements with problem-solution evidence. They trade organizational milestones for donor impact milestones. Your donors didn't invest in your organization to get updates. They invested to make a difference. Stop telling them about your work. Start showing them their impact. Evidence of change matters more than evidence of effort.

Stop launching your #GivingTuesday or year-end fundraiser at $0. I’ve watched too many strong campaigns underperform simply because they went live before showing even a tiny hint of momentum. Behavioral science backs this up. People are far more likely to act when they see others already doing the thing (social proof and herd behavior), and they’re more motivated when a goal looks “in motion,” not untouched (the goal-gradient effect). Here’s the smarter play: 1️⃣ Anchor the campaign with early supporters. Line up 3–5 early gifts from board members, champions, or monthly donors before you go public. You’re creating social proof that lowers the mental risk of giving. 2️⃣ Don’t press send at $0 raised. An empty thermometer reads like uncertainty. Even a small amount of visible progress signals that backing you is safe and worthwhile. 3️⃣ Name the momentum. “12 supporters already jumped in this morning” activates bandwagon behavior more effectively than any clever subject line. 4️⃣ Stack micro wins. Short progress updates throughout the day amplify the goal-gradient effect. The closer you appear to the finish line, the faster people give. 5️⃣ Help latecomers feel early. Don’t frame them as behind. Highlight what their gift unlocks next so they feel part of forward motion, not filling a gap. Most nonprofits blame donor fatigue. Often, the real issue is momentum fatigue — asking before you’ve built any. Want my Brave Fundraisers Guide with the scripts and prompts that help campaigns start strong? Comment BRAVE and I’ll send it to you. #nonprofits #funding #fundraiser #marketing #fundraising

Fundraising in India is a beautiful, brutal dance. After 15 years of knocking on doors, writing proposals, and building relationships in the charity space, I've learned that money follows trust, not just need. And trust is earned in whispers, not shouts. Most fundraisers think it's about the pitch. The perfect slide deck. The heart-wrenching story. The immaculate impact metrics. But that's just the costume you wear to the real party. The truth is messier. More human. More honest. First, nobody cares about your organization. They care about the problem you're solving. Stop talking about your NGO's journey and start talking about the journey of the people you serve. Your founder's story matters less than the story of the girl who can now read because of your work. Second, relationships outlast transactions. I've watched fundraisers chase cheques like they're chasing buses – desperate to catch the next one, forgetting that the real journey happens when you're walking together. The donor who gives you ₹10,000 today could give you ₹10 crores in a decade if you treat them like a partner, not an ATM. Third, most Indian donors don't want innovation. They want reliability. They've seen too many NGOs come and go, too many promises evaporate. They're tired of funding pilots that never take flight. Show them consistency before you show them creativity. Fourth, your finance team is your secret weapon. In a country where trust in institutions is fragile, your ability to account for every rupee isn't just good practice – it's your survival strategy. I've seen brilliant programs collapse because someone couldn't explain where the money went. Not because of corruption, but because of chaos. And finally, the hardest truth: fundraising isn't about money. It's about meaning. People don't give to causes; they give to become the person they want to be. The businessman who funds your education program isn't just building schools – he's rewriting his own story, becoming the hero his childhood self needed. I've sat across from millionaires and watched them cry when they talk about their mothers. I've seen corporate leaders who manage thousands of crores struggle to write a personal cheque for ₹5,000. I've witnessed wealthy donors argue over a ₹500 expense while approving ₹50 lakhs in the same meeting. Because money isn't rational. It's emotional. It's cultural. It's complicated. The fundraisers who thrive in India aren't the ones with the fanciest degrees or the most polished English. They're the ones who understand that in this country, giving is deeply personal, profoundly spiritual, and incredibly relational. So stop treating fundraising like a Western import that needs to be implemented. Start treating it like what it is – a conversation about values that's been happening on this soil for thousands of years. Because when you get it right, you're not just raising funds. You're raising hope.

I’ve secured over $1.2M in funding for my company. But the path has not been what you’d expect. After 3 years of building Chezie, here's our actual fundraising journey: - $20K of our own savings - $275K from grants - $160K from friends/family - $110K from pitch competitions - $100K from accelerators - $470K from VCs - $25K from revenue-based financing Two things most founders miss: 1. Revenue unlocks everything     Without paying customers, we wouldn't have qualified for grants, VC, or loans.      Focus on revenue first and all of the other funding options become available to you.      2. Don't limit your options     Only about a third of our funding came from VCs. Another third was completely equity-free.      Be open to whatever funding source you can get to reach your goals. The reality is that there's no 'right way' to fund your startup. Whether working your day job longer, consulting to get some early revenue, taking loans, or raising from friends and family, do whatever works. The best funding source is the one that keeps your company alive. And sometimes that means taking the path others won't. Build your company your way. What untraditional funding paths have you taken to grow your startup? Share them in the comments! 👇🏾