Whether you are the founder, a volunteer or a donor that is hands off, if you are going to be the representative to pitch the group for funding your nominated non-profit; you will need to know what they do and how they do it.

In just 5 minutes you need to be able to tell what the non-profit does, what impact you make on the Mat-Su community and specifically what the non-profit will do with the money that is donated by this group of women.

The women sitting the the room are committed to the 100 Plus Women Who Care because of the SIMPLICITY, the quick decisiveness and the camaraderie of seeing all of the great work in the Mat-Su community… Use the time to make a huge impact. Even if your non-profit isn’t chosen as the benefactor for the night, you have had the audience of change makers in our Mat-Su community…use this time wisely.

Know the Facts

Practice your elevator speech. You need to be able to tell the story of the work your organization does in less than 1 minute. People get easily lost by long drawn out explanations. Write down what your non-profit does, how they do it and who benefits. Then wrap that around a few sentences and Voila! You have got your pitch.

2) Tell the HEART story!

Be sure to think of a way to tie in a personal story of those you impact with the work you do so that the group has a very clear understanding and then connection to that work. As you prepare, write down WHY you are involved? Why does it matter to you and who/what have you seen change in the times you have been involved that have mattered to you? If it matters to you, it will probably matter to someone else. Write down a short story of how the work of the organization directly made a change and time it…get it under one minute and PRACTICE it.

3) Show them the MONEY!

Where will the money go! The people in the room are ready to make a wise choice about where they donate. Those that struggle to define where the folks hard earned money will go once they write that check will find they struggle to get those checks written at all. We are not talking about detailed financial statements here, what we are talking about is a strong description of what the funds will be supporting. It could be general operating budget to help grow a new local organization, it could be for materials to distribute as a part of the programs work. Taking the time to find out where the money will go pays off in the long run and will give you the confidence to stand up and make your pitch to the group. If you don’t explain in your allotted time to give your pitch, they will ask in the Q & A, you will still have to have an answer .

Be prepared or say “No thanks, I’ll do it next time” if you aren’t ready to speak, and INSPIRE YOUR AUDIENCE WITH YOUR CAUSE!

Talking points to include in your presentation:

Making your case for support in the 5 minutes that you are allowed takes some planning. Following are some talking points you might want to incorporate into your presentation.

• State your name and the name of the organization you would like to receive the funding.
• Start with an engaging opening line, e.g., “75 women in our community are involved in a domestic violence dispute every month…”
• Share what the mission of the organization is.
• Describe the program that you would like to be funded. Provide some background information, if possible.
• Identify how many people and who the funds will impact.
• Tell how essential this program is and what our community will miss if this program does not get funded.
• Explain the measurements that will be used to ensure the success of this program and good use of the donation.
• Share what this donation will “buy” for our community.
• End with a heartfelt ask and a thank you.

Remember that you must be a member of 100+ Women Who Care in order to make a presentation at a meeting.

Get Started

To join 100 Plus Women Who Care Mat-Su Chapter, complete an online Membership form or print this form and bring it to the next meeting. To nominate a charity for consideration, complete a Nomination Form and email it to: 100pluswwcmatsu@gmail.com at least two days before the next meeting. You must be at the meeting to put your name in the hat to be eligible to be drawn as one of the three selected members to speak about the organization you would like to promote.