Strategic Messaging
We're devoting some time to a tested process that any non-profit organization should take time to do before they fundraise. Not a non-profit? That's OK. These ideas apply to anyone looking to revamp their fundraising efforts. If you're raising funds on your own as a missionary, then gather 2-3 people around you (online or in-person) and ask them to help you go through these questions. Or call us...our coaches would be more than willing to help!
All in one room, for a day or more, to take the assessment to the next level. Does it sound daunting? That’s a natural response. And so are the thoughts of, “I’m so excited about this!” Sometimes, the two lie in tension with one another. And that’s the perfect spot for a Strategy Day when it’s time to set concentrated time apart to examine the learning from assessment (link) and begin to formulate a path forward. So gather the reflections, spreadsheets, a whiteboard, and the troops, and dedicate the time it takes to start a plan for a maximized fundraising program. It’s so easy to want to start here: getting that tagline down or that mission statement in writing. But if you haven’t done the hard work of strategic alignment, you’ll spin your wheels a bit. So start there, and then get to the wording spot. That’s what we’ll talk about here.
Disclaimer: it may help to not have the best wordsmith in the room running this session. He or she should be present and active, but unless they can control the urge to make every word exactly right in the room, they need to be a contributor...because messaging on strategy day is about brainstorming and outlines. It’s not about the exact word to use.
Devote no more than an hour and a half of your day to messaging. You will have touched on it in strategic alignment, and you’ll get exhausted if you spend too much concentrated time on it. Here’s how to use that 1.5 hours:
Core Message Development: We’ll devote an entire post to these later, but for now, you need to understand that core messages are like your messaging playbook. It’s a step you can’t and won’t want to skip. Very literally, core messages are a set of 5-7 bullet points that take up roughly a page. In each bullet, you very clearly answer your 5 W’s starting with why. It’s not a linear argument. It’s a journey through your organization’s purpose that a donor can understand. Get the basics down while in the room together. Wordsmith later. And read the next post…
Differentiators: As you’re working on core messages, stop for 15 minutes to talk specifically about differentiators. What are the words, efforts, feelings that you do differently than anyone else? To your donor, these are the things that will make choosing your ministry over another when it comes to a year-end gift. Yes, there’s some competition in this space. But think about it as very clearly communicating what makes you, you! It helps the donor steward their finances.
Story: This might be the most fun part. Choose a story that illustrates the most critical aspects of your impact. It could be a growth story of programs or a story of a single person’s transformation. Be sure to include elements of the problem faced, and the solution and measurable impact your organization offered among the beautiful story of impact. You have to get a little meaty to motivate.
All of this can be done on those large white sticky-note papers. Put them up on the wall and elect a scribe or allow everyone in the room to contribute. The goal is to winnow all the ideas down into an outline of core messages that feature differentiators and are supported by a story. Don’t forget to include the Inputs, Outputs, Outcomes, and Impact that you developed in strategic alignment, and you’re golden!
Once you clean up the language, use elements of it in your web copy, your mission statement, your donor proposals, scripts, speeches...anything! It’s a springboard to make the rest of donor communications easy, consistent and repeated over and over.