Explain leverage in your pitch
Explain leverage in your pitch so that your donor sees their money double, tripled, or even quadrupled
All too often the nonprofits I hear from forget to explain how the money a donor contributes will encourage additional donors to also fund the cause. Including leverage is an effective pitch strategy because it shows a donor that their money can be matched and make even more of a difference for the cause you all care about.
Use this plug and play template to make your case:
Your support is necessary at this time because it will leverage _______ [X dollars from public and private sources]
We have a track record of success at leveraging funds. For example, our programs recently elveraged ____ [dollar amount] of public and private funds to support our cause in ____ [describe the cause].
Four key strategies to use to explain leverage:
Crowdfunding: These are programs that already exist to connect many donors to your cause. Examples are Giving Tuesday or the Give Guide!
Match announcements: This is when a major donor offers to give to your cause only if you get other donors to match the amount that they promise at a certain raio, such as 1:1. This can entice additional donors to give money to the cause because they see a direct doubling, tripling or more of their funding.
Match public dollars: This is when public funding is available but only if you are able to match it with private funding. You can let the private donor know that their funding will help you to access funds that otehrwise you’d never be able to receive from public soruces.
In Kind: Explain how you also have volunteers who offer in kind services to your organization. This means that a donation will leverage these volunteer hours by purchasing the supplies and resources they need to help you succeed.
Avoid this mistake
Don’t forget to include the leverage opportunity all-together. Most of the clients I work for ask how their money is leveraged. If you fail to include this in your pitch you may lose a donor who otherwise would want to give to your organization,