Fundraising can be a real rollercoaster sometimes - especially with so many moving pieces.
A ton of teams use simple spreadsheets to get the job done, but they don't realize that they're running mental gymnastics just to make their spreadsheet work for them.
Manage your fundraising in Notion to create a little bit of headspace so that you can spend less time managing your investor list and more time fundraising.
Give our ready-made template a go when creating a new page or keep reading to learn how to make one from scratch!
Step 1: Create a database to get started
Let's start off by creating a database that can house all of your investor contacts. You can add one in with a simple slash command (/) or by clicking the [+] button on a new line in the editor by selecting 'Table.'
If you have an existing spreadsheet that's been keeping track of investors, you can import that in with a .csv file. Click the '...' button on top of the table and click 'Import CSV.'
Step 2: Add custom properties to track investor details
To make your database easily scannable, let's define some properties you want to track for each investor.
What are properties? They're like column headers in a spreadsheet, but properties in Notion can be more than just text and numbers.
Let's make use of the following properties to manage fundraising:
- Select: highlight the status of your interaction (e.g. initial contact, due diligence, term sheet, closed)
- Text: indicate the firm and the title of your contact
- Date: include when you made last contact
- Email: add their contact details
Notion currently supports 15+ property types!
Step 3: Add investors and corresponding notes on each
Once you've had a chance to add in some potential investors, let's make the most of this new database by adding in notes on each of them.
Since we've set things up as a database - every investor has it's own unique page. Click on the little [⤢] button next to an investor's name to open one up.
As with any other page in Notion, each investor page can make full use of the 25+ different content blocks available.
Here are some popular use cases for these investor pages:
- To-do lists to keep track of follow up actions
- Bullet list of notes from other founder's experience with the investor
- Links to interesting resources from the investor
- Images of physical notes you quickly jotted down during the meeting
Step 4: Discuss potential investors with others
We all know getting second or third opinions about potential investors is crucial. You can do so directly in the context of an investor's unique page.
Make comments inline on specific points or create a longer form discussion thread. If you're in a time crunch or you want to draw someone's attention for quick feedback, @ mention one of your colleagues to trigger a push or in-app notification on their end.
Share the page via the 'Share' dropdown in the top-right to get started if your colleague isn't in your workspace just yet.
Step 5: Use a Kanban to visualize investors by current status
Databases come in two visual flavors - a table view and a board view. They're just different ways to visualize the same set of information living inside of your database.
Tables are great at condensing your investor database in one digestible view, but boards are ideal for viewing things in a linear way (e.g. by fundraising stage) or by grouping the contacts by specific groups (e.g. firm).
Let's add in a board view that groups investors based on the current stage of the investment process they're in to get a clear idea of how things are progressing:
- Click '+ Add a View,' name the board 'Board by Status,' and hit 'Create.'
- Re-order the statuses to fit the right order (e.g. meeting, due diligence, term sheet, closing) with a simple drag-and-drop.
- Clean up which properties are visible on the cards by clicking 'Properties' and toggling which properties you'd like visible.
Step 6: Keep investor details up to date and follow progress
Update an investor's status as they move from one stage in the fundraising process to the next. Rest assured that changes made to one view will be synced across others!
To follow progress, click 'Updates' in the top-right to scan a list of the latest changes.
Something we didn't cover?
Message us in the app by clicking
? at the bottom right on desktop (or in your sidebar on mobile). Or email us at team@makenotion.com ✌️