The Elevator Pitch
All of us in the fundraising business are essentially trying to communicate a message that we are deeply passionate about. Be that about endangered animals, hungry children, a family member with a six or seven figure hospital bill without insurance, etc. It is no doubt that every one of us has countless action items, completed tasks, meetings, and volunteers to coordinate as they relate to our missions. However, in the end, your donors, volunteers, supporters, friends, family and loved ones really only care about one thing; the result. How many meals did you serve with my money? Was my neighbor able to rebuild his home after a fire that destroyed their home? Was my mother able to secure the money to travel and pay the surgeon for an organ transplant?
It is these stories that bring forth the best in all of us to help one another. To that end, I just completed an article on getting your point across quickly called, Why should I give £100 to your charity now? In very plain spoken Queen's English I might add, it hits the nail on the head. Basically, it indicates that if you can not answer this question in a few words or less it will be difficult, at best, to keep the attention of your existing and prospective donors. It evens go so far to suggest a four pillars exercise to establish this elevator pitch;
-
What is your vision?
-
What prevents you from accomplishing this vision?
-
Who is needed to achieve this mission? THE DONOR
-
Who will benefit from achieving this mission?
Those seem like very simple and logical questions to ask. That said, have we all done that to maximize our potential?
A slogan, tagline or elevator pitch always conjures up images of Nike with their advertising campaign, Just Do It! While that is no longer a running campaign of theirs it was one of the most popular campaigns ever and still resonates. While none of have the advertising dollars to spend that Nike does it is important to recognize the value of a simple yet moving slogan for your cause.
In closing, I challenge everyone to spend 15 - 30 minutes to develop your own elevator pitch to bring you closer to your fundraising goals. As always, if you have any product suggestions or simply want to share a great story about online fundraising please do not hesitate to email me at kirk.sadler@blackbaud.com.
Happy Fundraising!