The following suggestions are here to help you develop your pitch should your nomination be selected at our event. Three (3) nominations will be selected at random at the event and you (or a designee) must be in attendance to present on the nominated organization. We hope these suggestions are helpful, but they are by no means required. Feel free to prepare a 3 minute pitch that includes whatever is important to you about the organization – your fellow members can’t wait to hear about the good work being done and how our donations will impact the Whatcom community!

You’ve got 3 minutes to MAKE YOUR PITCH so make it COUNT!:

Whether you are the founder, a volunteer, or simply interested in the organization, if you are going to be the representative to pitch the group for funding, you need to know what it does and how it does it. Come prepared!  Making your case for support in the short time allowed takes some planning. Your presentation should be simple and not overly formal, but should give members enough information to make a decision.

In a brief 3 minutes you’ll share what your nominated organization does, what kind of impact they make, and what specifically they might do with the award money (if you know this). Your fellow members have come and are committed to 100+ Women of Whatcom BECAUSE of the simplicity, the camaraderie, and the potential huge impact. Even if your nomination isn’t selected by members, you have had the audience of change makers in Whatcom…..use it wisely.

1) Know the facts!

Practice your elevator speech. You need to be able to tell the story of the work your nominated organization does. Drawn out explanations lose people easily. Write down what they do, how they do it, and who is affected. Then wrap that around a few sentences and voila! You’ve got your pitch. If your nomination is randomly selected and you don’t feel confident to be able to clearly and concisely convey the message, pass this time and brush up for our next meeting so you can make a solid pitch.

2) Tell the HEART story!  

It can be helpful tie in a personal story of your nominated organization’s impact so that the group has a very clear understanding and then connection to that work. As you prepare, write down WHY you have nominated the organization? Why does it matter to you? What change/impact has the organization made that matters 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 an impact/change and time it…get it under one minute and PRACTICE it. If you are employed by the organization you nominated, please include that in your pitch.

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. To the extent you are able, it can be helpful to define where the folks’ hard earned money will go once they write that check. Detailed financial statements are not needed, but a general description of what the funds may support is great. 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 program’s 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.

Information you may want to gather to include in your presentation might include the following:

• Mission Statement
• Date Founded
• Population(s) served (children, women, elderly, pets, etc.)
• Primary events, services, or work done
• Current sources of funding for the organization
• Current operating budget for organization
• Number of paid employees
• Number of volunteers
• Percent of funds going to administrative costs