The Funding You're Chasing Is Already Spoken For

The funding you just read about was committed months ago by people you have never met, to problems they had already named. Districts make their spending plans before the money arrives.

After forty years of selling to K-12 districts, I can tell you the financial side of a district deal has a timeline of its own, and most EdTech founders have never seen how it works.

There is a common habit I want to change. A founder sees news that a state has passed its education budget or that Federal money for a program they care about has been released, and they act quickly. They email the district, mention the funding in the subject line, and feel like the timing is finally working in their favor.

But that is not the case. By the time the money is released, districts have usually planned how to use it months in advance.

Here is the general pattern, though details can vary by state and program. Funding is promised before it is actually released. Districts often find out about a year in advance how much Federal and State money they can expect and what it can be used for. They plan based on these promises. In the fall, needs assessments name the problems. By early winter, draft budgets assign dollar amounts. Approvals in late winter and spring turn those drafts into final plans. Sometimes, the money arrives months into the next school year, and it is spent according to the plan that was already made.

So when you read about new funding, you are seeing the end of the process, not the start. The decisions about how that money will be used were made the previous fall, by the people who approve each part of a district purchase, in documents you never saw.

This is why many founders feel like they are always a little too late, no matter how quickly they act. They are responding to money that has already arrived. Districts, on the other hand, work based on promises. If you only begin when the money appears, you are starting after the district has already finished planning.

Here is what this means in practice. The important funding conversations happen during planning season, which runs from mid-September through December. When a district is naming its problems and drafting next year's budget, the key question is not whether they have money today. Instead, you should ask what funding they expect next year, what it can be used for, and which problems they plan to address with it. Your contact can answer these questions or connect you with someone who can.

You want to be involved before the money arrives, not after. That is the key difference.

Look at your best deal and ask yourself one question: Did the district plan for this spending, or are you hoping they will find money for it later? If it is already in the plan, you have a deal that fits the district's timeline. If not, you need to have that conversation this fall, while next year's plan is still being created.

The money you just read about is spoken for. The money you will hear about next summer is being planned right now. That is the funding you should be talking about.

If you are not sure whether your best deal is in a district's plan or only in your hopes, that is worth a conversation. Helping founders figure out where their deals really stand is something I do every week. Book a call with me right here on the site.

This article first appeared in my LinkedIn newsletter, Why Districts Don't Buy, where I write twice a month about how school districts really make buying decisions. You can subscribe on LinkedIn.