Developing a Message to Win Supporters for Your Cause

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• Mal Warwick, Mal Warwick & Associates
• Link to Presentation

Vision & Mission

The cornerstones of nonprofit success

1. Vision & mission
2. Staff & volunteers
3. Programs
4. Funding

• People respond to vision and mission
• Vision: How will the world be different if you receive all the resources you need to fulfill your vision?
• Mission: What is the essence of your work to advance toward your vision?

Research

• Formal market research - Quantitative, Qualitative
  • Phone or mail surveys
  • Online surveys
  • Focus groups
  • Mall intercepts
  • One-on-one interviews

• Informal research
  • Random surveys
  • Questionnaires
  • Random calls to donors
  • Donor consultation groups

SWOT Analysis

• Internal
  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses

• External
  • Opportunities
  • Threats

Organizational identity

• Your identity starts with your name
  • What does your name mean?
  • How long is your name?
  • Is a short form possible?
  • Do you use initials – and are they "IBM?"
  • What do you really call your organization?
  • Do outsiders call it that, too?

• More about organizational identity
  • Your "look"
    • Logo
    • Typeface
    • Imagery
  • Your tagline or slogan
  • Your "story"

Unique Competitive Advantage
Who are you, and what do you do?

• How do you describe your organization?
• What service or product do you provide?
• Who are the beneficiaries of your work?
• How long have you been in business?
• What is your track record?
• What is special about your organization?

Now, how does your organization stack up against your competition?

• Unique Competitive Advantage Unique Competitive Advantage - What does your organization do better than every other organization in the world?
  • As defined by something you do?
  • Where you do it?
  • For whom you do it?
  • How much of it you do?
  • How you do it?
  • How well you do it?

Positioning

• We’re #2. We try harder.
• The quicker picker-upper
• When it absolutely, positively has to get there overnight.
• The good neighbor people.
• You’re in good hands with Allstate.
• When you care enough to send the very best.

Positioning – nonprofit style

• A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
• Family is our middle name.
• Only you can prevent forest fires.
• Explore, enjoy and protect the planet.
• Finding the ways that work.

The "elevator rap"
What do you say on an elevator?

• How can you describe your organization in less than 30 seconds?
• How can you motivate a stranger to take interest in your organization?
• How can you touch the heart, the head, and the spirit?

Practice

• Practice with colleagues
• Practice with family members
• Practice with strangers
• Organize a game of it, with prizes

Special Offer

• Monthly online fundraising newsletter free
• Just hand me your business card
• Or write your email address and details on a slip of paper

Resource
Ben Cohen and Mal Warwick (2006). Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World, Make Money, and Have Fun. JBerrett-Koehler Publishers. ISBN 1576753581.