3.6 THE FUNDER MAP

Every first transaction starts from a map of four columns

6 min

Column 1

Your current donors and partners, who tell you what is missing at no cost and whose commitment prices everyone else.

Column 2

Funders active in your sector and country, who already believe the problem is worth money, so you only argue the mechanism.

Column 3

Outcome funders, lenders, guarantors and buyers, who care about structure before theme, where a wrong instrument means an instant no.

Column 4

Corporates in the value chain, off-takers and buyers, where a reporting or supply chain reason outlasts a philanthropic one.

Your own last five grant contracts and the funders behind them.
The sector card from Module 2.
Public databases, including Convergence, the GIIN, Impact Europe and the GSG national advisory boards.
Your own network, including your board, your evaluators and Alliance peers.

Keep: five names you call within a month. Park: names for the second transaction. Drop: names that fail any one filter.