Economic news runs hot-and-cold. Social media keep us informed with beeps and dings we start to hear in our sleep. Those in need are, unfortunately, growing as the Great Recession has hit different economic sectors differently. Donors still want to give, although perhaps not with the open-ended resources they believed they had. And everyone’s time seems limited. Which is why when you have a chance to pitch your philanthropic organization‘s opportunity or plan to donors, you need to be quick, concise, and clear. Which is why the great ‘Elevator Pitch’ never goes out of style (at least until we build personal pneumatic tubes to whisk us around our business spaces). The good folks at “The Chronicle of Philanthropy” have collected a series of such pitches for us to see what works, what does not, and what we need to do with ours.
Of course, brevity is the soul of wit. Your pitch can not exceed 60 seconds, and many counsel something closer to 40. You want to be quick to the point, so introduce yourself and your relationship to your non-profit/mission-based business, then get to the heart of the matter. What the heart-of-the-matter is will require reflection and perhaps a group effort. Moreover, the focus might need a couple of variations for different clients or prospective clients. For example, those already in-the-loop do not need a rundown of what the organization is about – only what the organization needs him/her to do to facilitate change via a focused project.
Once you lay out what the problem is and what your group is doing that will help fix it, remember to call the person to whom you are pitching to swing. Give him or her something they must/ought to do with/for your organization. That their donations will have multiplier effects or save babies (one of the pitchers in the videos posted at The Chronicle works for an organization that does both!). The point of your pitch is to call the audience to action, not to show your skills in making the pitch. Bringing in a focused, emotional, response is important as well (and a quality that non-profits and philanthropies probably already have some advantage over their for-profit/corporate counterparts).
Finally, be specific and engaged. Even non-experts are aware when an expert is waffling or trying to find a second theme to pick up on or is moving towards abstractions. Discipline yourself to practice, perhaps in front of a mirror, and to stay on-message. You have less than a minute, anyway – no need for filler.
And on that note, see you tomorrow.