The Approach
Face-to-face communication is always better than phone calls, email or documentation. Make appointments to present your ideas to key decision-makers, and make the appointments short and well-organized. Always be respectful and courteous to secretaries and assistants because they can facilitate or block your access to key people.
Working Within Hierarchy
When initially approaching top administrators, you might be referred down to lower-ranking administrators. This can work to your advantage if you succeed in keeping the option open to return to the top-level manager later. Simply ask if you can seek her or his advice as things progress. Even if that top person does not have the time or desire to be part of the vision creation, at least she or he will be familiar with your proposal when the time comes to present the final request. A project that sounds great to you and your co-planners could be blocked by a final decision-maker who has been disengaged from or unaware of the idea as it developed.
Be sure to respect the political landscape of your potential funding partners. Going over someone's head to his or her boss in order to pressure them into doing something rarely, if ever, generates the kind of positive engagement you need. You must win hearts and minds at each and every level in the hierarchy if you are going to succeed. This means taking the time to meet and build working relationships with each relevant staff person along the way. Middle managers are particularly important because they can be terrific allies as you move up and down the hierarchy to make sure everyone is on board.
When administrators are new to their jobs, they may be too preoccupied with the process of getting oriented and may be unable to respond quickly to your ideas. Sometimes, however, they may seize upon the idea as a way to establish themselves in their new setting. Factors such as these are important to consider as you seek to understand how and why people respond to you (or do not respond).
Building Support and Timing Your Final Request
There is always a right time to push for final funding approval, and knowing when the time has come is an important skill. This is a critical moment because if you have miscalculated and the answer is "no," then your options for continuing to advocate for the program may be limited. It could also damage your newly established relationships.
The best time to request funding approval is when you have fully secured informal support, the kind that develops over an extended period of discussions, proposal readjustments and general relationship building. By the time you request final funding, all of your stakeholders' concerns, barriers and ideas should have been addressed, and the proposal should be well understood by all parties.
At this point it may be wise to meet with all key funding partners to establish and formalize their commitments and to set a start date for the program. Schedule the meeting well in advance so that you and your team have ample time to prepare a polished, detailed and organized presentation.