Many design and communication professionals have the ability to find the most innovative works and bring them to life with relevant imagery. They can tell a story that will not only connect with the relevant audience, but will also create a power symbolic representation of whatever branding or corporate identity the relevant organization wishes to portray. But behind the scenes, what processes may actually be at play? Often when I take on new clients, the inside workings of what goes on behind the scenes with my clients are just as fascinating, yet often unspoken of, as the final product itself. But perhaps that is in itself, what makes them, so fascinating in their own right. One such example is the concept of a acordo de financiamento. Have you ever heard of it? Or perhaps do you know, depending on the nature of your work, what exactly a fund agreement is? Well, if you haven’t perhaps this article is for you, as it gives you insight into how an executive who has worked in the field for years would describe a form of a fund agreement, and what it can mean for you if you don’t know what it is, when you are working on front of the project. A fund agreement, is essentially agreement or understanding reached between the relevant funders on what amounts of the budget will go to each category of the budget and resources required to complete the process. It is a contract mutually agreed upon between the different stakeholders, and is usually done in an overall sense, not on a project by project basis. Now let’s talk about benefits for a moment, and what this means for you as the professional or design professional engaged in the project and its relevant overall management. If you have a fund agreement in place, you will know succinctly all the relevant processes that are taking place, and you won’t have to wait or rely on someone else to provide these processes in order to create and bring your work to life. It will save you time and effort in the process, and allow you to do what you do best: which is to do the work you were engaged to do. If you don’t know what a fund agreement is, well, let’s put it this way, you will have some explaining to do to the client in the process if you are not aware of it. So instead of being uneducated in such matters, you can educate yourself and in that way expand your value as a creative or design professional. Besides to facilitate this knowledge amongst creatives and experts in the design fields, I’ve added fund agreement, to my toolbox, the same way that I use any other legal agreements in my work and help you gain insight into this amazing world that exists behind the scenes when you do projects, and what is essentially a form of a fund agreement. I would also like to add that best practices are key to creating long term impact within your trade or industry, and expanding what you already know and have structural knowledge of to a personal level makes a huge difference in terms of the work you can deliver. There are some people out there who love to do what they do, and create the end product. But they don’t love the behind the scenes, how something came to live, how something was purchased, what sort of agreement was entered into etc, and that is fine. But some people have the capacity to appreciate the whole process as a project manager where they are involved in some of this, and it all begins with being engaged or otherwise taking part in the process of a fund agreement. This is where your value as a professional comes in: by knowing the rules of the game, and the impact this has on the overall mechanics of what you are engaged to complete at the end of the day. Sometimes this may also mean having a conversation or two in order to assess whether or not this is for you, but other times this may mean a lot for you. In the past year, I’ve had two projects where both produced positive results as a result of having a fund agreement and I’ve had a lot of positive conversations around this topic, but not enough to show others how they work, or how they can be incorporated into an overall strategy. The other thing I’ll mention is the importance of having these discussions with other experts in your field as a sort of brainstorming session: It can be received with most, outside of your circle of work, who may or may not relate to the work you are doing on this, and will be able to offer some insight. It’s also important throughout this process to be heard and acknowledged, and incorporate the views of others where and as required, and I’m sure throughout the process you will encounter people who may or may not be supportive of the idea of having a fund agreement but as long as you are clear on the basic premise of what it is and can articulate it, you’ll see the value in this concept in your work. And if not, that is ok too. As long as you’ve educated yourself on this topic, you’ve got the basics down.