A guide to the strategies, structures and approaches needed to present a successful fundraising pitch for your nonprofit campaign.
As well as showing an understanding of the problem and offering an effective solution, a successful pitch needs to engage emotions, include stories of people, use visuals and be clear about what it’s asking for.
Engage emotions
Facts and statistics can provide context, but it’s emotions that drive people’s decisions. Your pitch should create an emotional connection between the people, animals or places your campaign seeks to help and those who can help them.
Negative emotions, such as shock and anger, can gain attention. But to inspire action, empathy, compassion and hope can be more effective and perhaps more ethical.
Show people
Tell the stories of individuals who are facing the problem your campaign is tackling. Show how people can get involved and experience the solution you’re proposing. Use case studies or personas to illustrate the benefits.
Share testimonials from individuals who’ve benefited from your work. Focus on the individuals and communities you serve. Sharing their challenges and triumphs creates empathy and connection to your cause.
Be visual
Illustrate your story with visuals such as photos and videos. Visual storytelling can provoke emotions more effectively than words alone and are more likely to be remembered.
5-step presentation structure
A well-structured presentation ensures clarity and keeps your audience engaged. Consider the following framework:
- Introduction
- A compelling fact or question to grab attention.
- Your organisation or campaign’s purpose, vision and mission
- The problem
- Background information (a few key facts)
- An individual’s story that shows the human impact
- Your solution
- How your project tackles the issue
- How people will experience it
- The benefits
- How your solution will be good for people, community, nature, planet etc
- Positive stories that show the impact
- Call-to-action
- What you’re asking for from the donor
- How this will lead to the desired impact, and ultimately to the campaign vision
Presentation Tips
Passion: Show you care about the problem and enthuse about your solution
Confidence: Believe in your idea and that it will make a positive difference
Concise: Keep your slides, and your presentation, clear and tight
Engage: Ask for questions, have a conversation
Rehearse: Try not to rely on notes. Focus on rehearsing your key messages
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