1. Not asking

2. Not being with the right prospects

3. Not having the right message (which usually makes number 1 much easier and makes number 2 much more apparent).

Message should be simple, fit on a napkin, clear, concise, compelling. That being said, I’m not sure I (Nick) have my own crystal clear napkin definition of MESSAGE is. In fact, when someone says they need help with their message I first ask them to define what they mean.

For the past year I’ve been referring to message as:

That, and only that, which a prospect needs to UNDERSTAND in order to say, “I totally get it!”

*And, if a qualified prospect, to also say, “I’m IN!”

Think about it. UNDERSTAND. Not:

• What you SAY
• What you PRINT
• What you put in a 10 page case statement.

If you can work with that definition then 99.9999% of those reading this can resolve their message (ultimately) to one of the following:

CHANGE LIVES
SAVE LIVES
IMPACT LIVES

If I, as your potential investor, could understand that I can SAVE LIVES then it’s game over. No longer about ‘fundraising’, no longer about ‘cultivation’, no longer about ‘asking for money’.

Common response from those too close to the issue: “It can’t be that simple.”

Yes it can.

Sometimes the ‘message derivative’ could be:

- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- TRANSFORMING EDUCATION
- ENDING CANCER

Again… all SIMPLE. These are all applications of SAVE LIVES. CHANGE LIVES. IMPACTING LIVES.

I don’t want to lose a very important word in the definition – UNDERSTAND.

So how do you make me UNDERSTAND?

1. Be simple and don’t make me work to UNDERSTAND why your program is awesome.

Don’t use big, complex words. Don’t be an academician. Concept everything up to its highest purpose. “Ultimately the reason we’re doing this is because it SAVES LIVES.”

How many times do we read someone’s case statement only to SEARCH for the WHY.

We’re not a fan of case statements – largely for this reason. However, if you HAVE to do one, don’t fall for pretty prose. Bold your message, then put a lot of white space around it to make it stand out from all the other stuff.

2. Repetition.

Just because the idea that you’re CHANGING THE WORLD didn’t sink in the first time you said it does not mean you should change your message.

a. Listen to any GOOD politician. She will repeat her message over and over.

b. Listen to any Zig Ziglar audio (random reference). Zig often says, “I’m going to repeat this three times to emphasize that it’s really important.”

Key is that you don’t move OFF message just because you hit on it once.

3. Conviction

I think repetition must be coupled with conviction.

4. Show – don’t tell.


Sometimes it’s not about finding the WORDS to help me understand. Sometimes you just need to SHOW – either because there are no words or because you/I/we can’t find words to do any justice.

This could be visual. Better than 50% of us are VISUAL. Use PRESENTATION TOOLS or VISUAL concepts to communicate concepts.

For some, pictures and visuals may be just a start but an EXPERIENCE could be even better.

Last year was working with a start-up school taking a very novel approach to learning. I probably visit 15 schools each year and I’ve never seen anything like this – kids in 7th and 8th grade would’ve outperformed most of my peers at Notre Dame. Everyone that walked the halls of the school felt/saw/understood the magic… We made it our strategy to get people to the school. We used words AFTER the visit to have a dialogue about the impact.

5. Start with ME – not you.

This is about ME understanding. Not you. You know everything about the project and the org and I know nothing. Of the 632 things you could say TO me, I probably only need the right THREE to help ME understand. This is why LISTENING is so important.

At our trainings we do an exercise where we pair up two people that have never met. They have five minutes in which person A is to communicate everything she needs to communicate to get the other person to say, “I get it. I understand what you do. I could share that with others.”

In some groups person A will talk – fast, nonstop for five minutes. In those cases person B looks worn out and lost after five mins.

In other groups person A will introduce a talking point then ask a question – allowing person B to give feedback… Person A listens and uses that feedback to share even more targeted and relevant message points… and on and on. After three minutes person B usually says, “Got it! Really cool!”

The point? Helping someone understand is not about talking at them.

After the SIMPLE definition I think there is room for deeper conversation/definition. A great message (APPLIED to FUNDING) must answer the three questions of EVERY investor:

1. WHY
2. WHERE is the MONEY GOING
3. HOW WILL YOU GET THERE
a. What is the plan? AND/OR
b. What do you need from me? AND/OR
c. Why are you asking me for XYZ? (Rationale)

See Also:

Google Steve Jobs keynote. The dude puts up slides with one word and or one visual – very good at making SIMPLE message points. While most of my thoughts come from the vantage point of the 1:1 or small group setting this shows how it applies to a large group.

This is not scientific but it’s far from arbitrary. This is my own little way of thinking about potential based on what I’ve seen at many organizations (start-ups to colleges). It’s a way of thinking about

1. The potential of your current relationships.

2. The potential of new relationships (if we visit!)
3. Why we need to be visiting

Everybody says they need more prospects. Instead of trying to get more people to give 1x think about how you can get more people to give 50x!

• 1x is clearly emotional. I’ve seen a lot of people cry at events – but the giving is still impersonal and ‘charitable’ in nature.

• Sitting with someone one-one-one (or 2-1 / 2-2) allows you to listen and respond. It makes the ask personal and seems to trigger another level of discernment in giving – increasing a commitment to an organization ten-fold (10x).

• But to really get the big big gifts (50x) we need to do a better job of walking our prospects through a funding plan and going back and forth, having a dialogue about the ask… giving context and providing the FULL case-for-support. These conversations are much more strategic.

At my seminars I share a story of a school that met with parents and supporters. They asked everyone to “prayerfully consider giving at a level that was significant”. Those that had previously contributed $2000 through the auction responded with $20,000 gifts. The school was still frustrated. They had $1M prospects giving $100K and $100K prospects giving $20K.

As much as the prospects liked the school they had no context for how much money to consider. They had no way of guessing that $1M might be the linchpin for the campaign… there was no discussion that gave the committed families and supporters a framework to think bigger.

This school went back to each supporter with a complete funding plan. For a $1Million dollar ask, for example, they would ask for the $1Million (a specific number). More than that they would have a discussion around WHY the $1Million and what it would enable the school to do (leverage, leadership, timing, etc). The prospects had a broad context in which to consider the ask and many of them increased their gifts by five times and some by 20 or 30 times!

I’ve met with billionaires and many many millionaires. Trust me, nobody has disposable income. Nobody is going to guess that a $1Million will help. $10K or $50K is a lot to anyone! It’s not until we show up that we can get 10X. It’s not until we dialogue about 50X that we can get 50X.

A rhetorical question: Is it easier for you to visit with every current funder and ASK (10X) or to get ten more prospects to give? From there, is it easier to get your best prospects to 50X or to get 5-10 more visits?

Every business in and sector lives and breaths by fundamentals, first.

• A clear vision/direction (illustrated a clear MESSAGE).
• A clear revenue MODEL.
• A clear PLAN including an understanding of the MATH (impact math and income math) to get there (e.g. goals, levels, etc.)

As I’m writing this to compare and contrast trends and fundamentals I realize most of the trends (that get discussed) are really fads because too often they’re ‘the next big thing’ and don’t have staying power. These could include:

• Earned Income (Social Enterprise)
• Lance Armstrong’s bracelets
• 5K races
• Social Networking Funding (The Obama effect)

Maybe if they were backed on a case-by-case basis with fundamentals they would be true trends and not fads.

Example – Earned Income: I went to a Social Enterprise Alliance gathering four years ago. What I witnessed were some orgs starting earned income ventures without attention to fundamentals, no clear plan and no willingness to do the math to see that they were losing $50 on every widget they produced. On top of that, one speaker cautioned, “It’s hard enough to start a business with people that have their lives together let alone those that don’t.” Four years later 16 out of 17 orgs I interviewed abandoned the earned income stream – each for the lack the fundamentals outlined above.

The reason most small businesses fail is because they don’t have a grasp on fundamentals. Nonprofits often don’t ‘fail’ in the same sense that for-profit businesses do [running out of money]. Instead, they limp along for years longer, subsidized by passion, volunteerism and employees on the fast-track to burnout (human capital model)… this unique resource model is often a masking agent for a lack of fundamentals.

If you’re a board member, a senior staff person or development officer you can do a great service to your organization, your team and your cause by leading a discussion on the fundamentals… by leading a discussion to clarify the direction or purpose of the organization, by clarifying the model and by working through the math. This discussion is simple, not easy.

Here are the 3 big lessons on SIMPLICITY that were reaffirmed in so many ways.

1. Build a SIMPLE MESSAGE… around your CORE SOLUTION.

2. Build a SIMPLE CASE… around your SIMPLE MATH.

3. Build a SIMPLE PLAN… around your CASE and MATH.

The ‘SIMPLE MESSAGE’ was reinforced with two incredible social entrepreneurs whose entire message can be captured in those magic 6 WORDS… that were already part of their organization NAME and their organization TAGLINE!

The SIMPLE CASE and SIMPLE MATH applied to both organizations. Turn a ‘Master Plan’ into a very Simple 3-Point Case with 3 Specific Phases. Look at the ‘MATH’ and pick a number ($100M in this case) and the required gifts to achieve this goal. Use the MATH of $13 a day per child from the public sector and the $10 per day per child ‘Need’/’GAP’ to build a SPONSOR MODEL around $3,650 per year (sponsors a child) and $10,000 a year (sponsors a family).

Finally, turn the Message, the Case, and the Math into a SIMPLE ACTIONABLE PLAN! We’re going out to test the Case with five or six of our very best prospect. We’re going to get 3 champions to get 3 other sponsors who will get 3 sponsors. We’re going to meet with the Mayor who is one of our current partners and super champions. And on and on and on.

***Special, Special, Special Note: As this incredible former Marine and Social entrepreneur said, “I just didn’t realize it could be this SIMPLE.”

It is.

To me, the funding plan is the HOW behind the big picture dollar goal and the big picture dollar goal is what you need to deliver on your vision. So, in essence, this is HOW you will deliver on your vision. Is that important? You bet!

I’ve found that most organizations don’t have a funding plan.

Three simple action steps here:

• Determine the dollar amount you need for both operations and projects. What is the lump sum? Do the math! 80% of organizations can’t answer this question.
• How many investments would you need – and at what amounts to achieve this goal?
• When? (One year? Three years? Five years?)

The funding plan does a few things as it relates to your case:

• It makes it believable
• It shows a potential investor how she/he would fit into the funding vision.
• It also illustrates that you’re not just picking a number out of the air – there is logic.

Extra bonus: There are times when you can actually ask the potential investor, “Where do you see yourself in this plan?” Then, you let them select a dollar level.

“SUSTAINABILITY” is a function of IMPACT! (Not INCOME.)

It seems like every “nonprofit” in the world is looking for “ENDOWMENTS” for “SUSTAINABILITY”.

Rather, if you FOCUS on your IMPACT… and your DELIVER on your IMPACT… there will always be INVESTORS who will help you FUND YOUR VISION.

He called it ‘DOLLARS IN THE BUCKET’.

[Getting the AREA OF INTEREST is the BUCKET; the DOLLARS reflect a realistic investment amount.]

Then, it was pretty easy for us to move from:

‘DOLLARS IN THE BUCKET’ … to … ‘DOLLARS IN THE BANK’

Here’s my SIMPLE 1, 2, 3 for moving prospects at the top of your MASTER PROSPECT LIST to a COMMITMENT … AT THIS GIVEN MOMENT!

1. ‘IN PLAY’
   • Take ACTION!
   • PRE-DISPOSE!!
   • Get VISIT Scheduled!
   • Do DISCOVERY (maybe even on the VISIT)
2. ‘PRESENT THE OPPORTUNITY’
   • Get $$$ in the BUCKET!
   • Get a ‘NUMBER on the TABLE’ … in a SPECIFIC AREA of INTEREST
   • No ‘FUZZINESS’ about WHY you are with them!!!
   • Create SENSE OF URGENCY
3. ‘COMMITTED’
   • Get the COMMITMENT!
   • $$$ in the BANK!
   • Put it in WRITING! (You to them; them to you.)

As always, JUST ASK!!!

You can download some other visuals to help you with this concept this download includes:

Visit flow: how to get to the presentation How to get your best, most qualified prospects, ‘IN PLAY’ The ‘Sales Funnel’

THAT GRAB YOUR ATTENTION!!!

(Everyone gets 3,000 marketing ‘messages’ a day; 1,000,000 a year!)
“STAY ON MESSAGE!!!”

(One, and only? Lesson from world of politics!)

In our world, that means someone can say, “not now” or “not a priority” for legitimate reasons, but never because they didn’t UNDERSTAND the VISION/MISSION/ MESSAGE!!!

“WE CAN’T POSSIBLY DO WHAT YOU’RE SUGGESTING, TOM. WE ARE JUST ‘TOO BIG’, ‘TOO IMPORTANT, TOO COMPLEX’.”
“OH, YEAH?”

*It takes us 3 pages just to “introduce” our organization as a preface to a 30-page proposal or grant request!!! (for $10,000!!!)
TAGLINES . BATTLE CRIES . AHA!!!
“We’ll put a man on the moon before THE end of decade.”
“I have a dream.”
“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
“He’s not heavy, he’s my brother.”
“1,000 Points of Light.”
“Just Do It.”
“Like a Rock.”
“Live to Ride. Ride to Live.”
Bottom line: WHAT’S your MESSAGE???
P.S. There are 130 words since Simplicity, Brevity, Clarity.
Note: Please send me more messages, taglines, battle cries that MOVE you or your organization.