TIPS ON MAKING A GOOD FUNDING REQUEST

1. While you are allowed to request funding from any angel you choose regardless of cause or location, it is recommended that you pay attention to their list of preferred causes on their profiles.  E.g., it would make little sense to ask an Angel for money to help you open up a luxury clothing store that offers “Real Animal Fur” products from someone who lists saving endangered species as one of their preferred causes of interest.

2. It is important to understand that the goal of a successful request is to establish further contact with your angel of choice, either directly by email, on the phone or best of all in person through an attorney etc., so you can be on your way to getting funded. Of course it would be nice if they just send you a check, delivered by overnight courier right to your front door within 3 days after making your request, but the truth is that life simply does not work that way for most of us. Which leads to the third and most important point of all.

3. KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE.  Ranting on and on add-nauseam about how desparate you are for money is NOT going to get you funded. Infact it is much more likely to put the angel off.  Think of your request as not selling your cause, but the PRE-SELL which you use to get the angel emotionally compelled enough  that they ask you to make contact, at which time you can then carefully go into the details of your request. Remember that people who win the lottery are probably already getting numerous requests from “friends”, family and cousins five times removed who they never heard of until they won the lottery, so you don’t want to send them unless piles of text because the chances are they won’t even bother reading all of it.   

4. So how do you GET FUNDED? Try to make your request no more than three paragraphs long, i.e. ONE PAGE or less. The more white space on the page the better.  In the first paragraph use three or four sentences to introduce yourself,  state why you want the money, how much you want and why you picked that particular angel. In other words, try to personalize your request without making   it seem like you’re just blasting out a general email to every angel on the site, hoping that one of them will help you, that will not work.

5. In the second paragraph you can then go into the basic details of how you intend to use the money, the basic time frame involved for repayment if you’re asking for  a loan, how other people might benefit if you are asking for a gift and/or how the angel will be involved if you are asking for a grant, e.g. will they get a producer credit or a walk-on role if the money is for a film?, etc. In other words all the key points of your request. The second paragraph is where you’re writing skills will need to shine if you are to hook the angel emotionally and we do recommend having someone else you know read the request before you start sending it out to angels, to make sure it looks presentable.

6. The third paragraph is where you can convey to the angel a sense of urgency for your cause, touching on what personal or financial commitments you yourself have already made to see it through. Briefly mention why yours is a worthy cause and then demonstrate some common courtesy by thanking them for the time and consideration.  If you follow the basic steps we’ve outlined above, your chances of getting funded will greatly improve, since an angel will be more interested in making further contact  with you. We will soon have samples of successful funding requests on this website.

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