Getting Your BD Project Funded: The Underrated Trick

Budget submittals are a bit like proposing marriage with a spreadsheet instead of a ring. You can prove the numbers work. You can demonstrate the upside. You can even quantify the risks. But nobody ever fell in love with an ROI calculation.

And nobody ever funded a bold new business development initiative because the spreadsheet was perfect. It takes a whole different approach: a passionate plea.

Your emotion, enthusiasm, and confidence can crush any numbers you offer.

One long-time CMO and client had asked for funding for industry teams for 3 straight years. A lot of discussion and questions about how it would work and who would lead it – all leading to 3 polite rejections.

In year 4, she stood before the firm’s 3 most senior leaders and declared:

“If this doesn’t increase new business, you can keep my bonus. I won’t even want it.”

She got funded. She got her bonus. And the firm now has 6 industry teams, each with its own robust budget. And yes – growth exceeded expectations.

Another client and CMO wanted to launch a client feedback program. The management committee debated the idea, with a few loud doubters questioning the need. They already knew their clients. What could they possibly learn?

After endless questions about why, what could go wrong, and whether the investment was worth it, the CMO stood up and said:

“If there isn’t at least one surprise that shocks each of you when this is over – I will quit. You won’t have to say a word to me about it.”

The managing partner immediately stepped in and said the promise wouldn’t be necessary. The committee approved the request – with one holdout.

As the project unfolded, the holdout reviewed the client feedback transcripts. He promptly requested feedback from his own largest client. Then he wanted feedback from every member of the in-house legal department at his largest client. He went from the loudest skeptic to one of the biggest believers.

Here’s the part neither CMO expected.

Both managing partners later told me the threats meant almost nothing. It was the passion.

After sitting through endless budget requests filled with predictable benefits, optimistic projections, and carefully calculated ROI, they finally encountered someone willing to put something personal on the line.

They weren’t buying a project. They were buying belief.

Most budget requests try to make the decision feel safe. These CMOs did the opposite. They made the decision feel important. And they made doing nothing feel like the bigger risk.

There’s another payoff. Once leadership sees someone take a stand with such conviction, the rest of their requests start getting a less jaundiced look. Credibility spills over.

You don’t have to threaten to quit or put your bonus on the table. But you do have to make them believe you’d bet on your own idea. Pick one big initiative. Go all in. Make them feel what happens if they say no.

Bring the spreadsheet. But give them a reason to fall in love.

To passion, belief, and getting the funding you want.