Nonprofit's Elevator Pitch Tutorial: 9 Mistakes to Avoid!

Hi will from Classy here. Today we're talking about your nonprofit's elevator pitch. Now before we show you what it really polished pitch might look and sound like, we'd love to start with how not to pitch. So first up don't start your conversation with a high five. All right give it up! Don't recite from notecards. So we've got about 500 volunteers and like I can't really make it out but I think 35 fundraisers and ... Don't steamroll a conversation. Over the last year the hard work of our ded

icated fundraisers has helped us grow some enormous new programs. We couldn't do it without them and honestly we're always looking for more people to fight the good fight. Sounds great I'd love to join in... I wasn't finished I got to tell you about these programs first. they're great they've changed everything Dude don't use slang! dude we just finished this fundraising campaign it raised 50k it was sick!!! Don't use jargon. So at first the team and I were kind of worried we might not have the

bandwidth the host 3 fundraising campaigns at once but we innovated and we expanded the donor pipeline, so as a result quarter-over-quarter growth has really never been stronger. In fact we're looking to move the needle even further in the second half of next year... Don't be too pushy So when can I expect you to make a donation? Would you like to just do it right now? look it's really only gonna take a second. Hey don't walk away! Don't wing it. We do a lot of good in the world... I mean you've

seen our campaigns right? no well we have a lot of great campaigns. You know I don't have all the numbers about them right in front of me but I could always follow up with you and really you just gotta trust me on this one. Yeah sure... Don't lead with too much background. So our organization actually started in 1965 but our founders had a pretty tough time getting the fundraising up and running. See they relied really heavily on grants but they kept getting beat out by other nonprofits so even

tually they hired an entire team of grant writers you know what that's great but I gotta go! And finally don't forget to make your ask! So that's who we are, it's what we do and it's been awesome talking with you today. It was awesome thanks for talking with me. Sure Okay I gotta go. Have a great day! thanks, you too. I'll talk to you later Oh wait I forgot to tell you where you can donate Now that you've seen what not to do, here's how I would make an elevator pitch. Hi I'm will. Nice to meet y

ou. I'm the executive director at the Good Society. Did you know that about 62% of the schools in our city have to use textbooks that are grossly outdated and inaccurate? Well my team and I work really hard to fix that because we believe every student deserves access to a quality education with the best possible resources. Right now we've got about 1,500 supporters who donate their time and their money to ensure we can get these textbooks to the schools and the students. Uncracked bindings, bril

liantly glossed pages, and that new book smell everybody loves so much. And you can't imagine the look on these kids faces when they get the books! The smiles! Because it's theirs to keep. Anyway I want you to take my card. It's got my personal phone and my email on it. If you'd ever like to join our family don't hesitate to reach out directly. Also you can go to our fundraising pages with the link there. You can donate or sign up as a peer-to-peer fundraiser. I hope you have a wonderful rest of

your day we'll talk to you soon. Thank you Will. A great elevator pitch consists of three structural pillars. The hook, the body, and the wrap-up. Check out my blog post where I go into all the details behind the structure and how you can craft or improve your pitch today. Thanks for watching!