So often, you are told that fundraising success depends on activity: making calls, sending emails, handwriting notes, driving hours across states, and even flying across the country and back, all to get in front of possible donors.
But too often, the focus is so much on constant activity that you come to see it as an end in itself, then find yourself making no progress. You know you are reaching the right prospects. Why isn’t your message resonating? Why aren’t the dollars flowing in?
If you take nothing else from this article, it is my hope that you remember this key fundraising formula:
Take a moment to consider your efforts. What has your success rate been? I benchmark a successful major gifts prospecting rate at 20%. In other words, out of 100 prospects contacted by the nonprofit, 20 would be expected to engage meaningfully or donate.
If you are reaching the right people with demonstrated capacity and alignment but are still falling short, it’s time to consider your message.
Your fundraising pitch is your most important fundraising tool, and you should take the time to perfect it before getting in front of donors.
You should answer these questions:
Next: What is your ideal funder trying to accomplish? What issue do they care about so deeply that it keeps them up at night? Why are you the one best equipped to help them do something to address it?
Consider how you can win their trust (and funds) by highlighting that you have exactly what they are looking for. Then, what words and phrases will resonate with your ideal funder? You can win their trust and establish expertise by showing that you know the lingo and the industry. You want to speak to their desire to effect change in the world.
It ultimately doesn’t matter how good one iteration of your pitch is or how impactful your mission if your message isn’t unified—across your copy, taglines, slogan, and website. Your team should be speaking with one voice, magnifying the same message. It is this unity that will give you credibility with your (potential) funders.
It is critical that every member of your team, from fundraising to communications, and even your board members are communicating the same message. This especially means your programs team and fundraising operations need to be speaking to each other.
Your pitch should be the most compelling thing you can communicate to a potential funder. Simply put, it is a quick introduction to your nonprofit. It should be 30 seconds long (max), highlight the problem you’re solving and how, and spark an interest and a response.
Your elevator companion asks, “Tell me about what you do.” Do you have a response ready to go?
You shouldn’t respond with jargon or slang, such as how the organization was founded, vague generalities, or granular specifics. Assume your elevator companion is ten years old, and knows nothing about the problem, your nonprofit, or why any of it matters. In short, remember the old acronym: keep it simple, stupid.
The perfect pitch will be about 30 seconds long with a clear call to action, and that symphony will have three movements: the hook, the body, and the close.
Your hook should lay out the problem. Why does it matter? Then move into the body. How are you solving the problem? How does your approach differ from other organizations? Then, close. What do you want them to do about it?
This could change depending on whom you’re speaking to. All the same, you should know your various closers. Here's an example I like:
Sex trafficking is a huge problem in Cambodia, ruining countless girls’ lives. We help victims escape and help them rebuild their lives. We also engage with the government and business leaders to get to the root cause. Because we know that if we can end sex slavery in Cambodia, we can end it everywhere. We can’t reach our full potential until we all work together to create a world where women and children are safe. Would you be willing to explore how we could partner to reach that goal?
Once you’ve crafted your pitch, you should role-play it constantly until you could deliver it in your sleep. Do it with your team members, consultants, friends—even family. Record yourself and listen to it. Tweak and practice until it rolls off the tongue naturally.
I’ll never forget a formative moment in my early days of development. I was working for a large, mature fundraising shop. Leadership flew in over a hundred development staff members for a week-long, all-hands-on-deck team alignment . . . on the pitch. Expert public relations consultants from a global firm were brought in. As a group, we role-played the pitch for days until leadership felt it was consistent across the team.
It’s that important.
I’m a big believer that you don’t need a leave-behind for a meeting if your pitch is clear. However, having your supporting documents at the ready is crucial as a follow-up piece to your pitch meeting. If a check wasn’t signed at the meeting, a proposal or one-pager gives you an opening to thank the prospect for their time and provide more details on ways to partner.
By having these, along with your pitch, ready before your meeting, you’ll secure the funding you need to carry out your mission.
Before joining AmPhil, Alice co-founded a consulting group, Nichols Norman LLC, where she advised her clients on communications and fundraising. Previously, she held fundraising roles at Stand Together and the American Veterans Center and served as Communications Director for a political consulting firm.
Alice graduated with honors from the University of Mississippi, earning degrees in Public Policy Leadership and Integrated Marketing Communications and a minor in Business. Her thesis on housing policy dynamics was based on two years of community research in Mississippi and Mexico. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her family.
Learn more about Alice here, connect with her on LinkedIn here, or contact her anytime at anye@amphil.com.