Communications (50 points)
Communication is an essential part of any fundraising strategy. I have posted a couple resources in module 7 to Help you with better understanding the importance of communication strategies and how they apply to fundraising campaigns.
To develop this portion of your fundraising campaign research and reflect on the following:
1. Soft launch – Decide when and how you will contact your superstar supporters. Schedule any personalized phone calls or tailored emails. These individuals should be contacted before the official launch of your campaign, so they can help drum up support on Day 0.
2. Communication channels – Determine which channels you will use, and how. Is your campaign email-based? If so, when will you send your emails? What about social media engagement? Will you be making any phone calls? Are you using your nonprofit blog?
3. Communication calendar – Create schedules for your email and social media campaigns
4. Assets – Decide what content and materials you will need to tell your story (eg. visuals, infographics, impact stories, photos, videos, etc.)
5. Campaign milestones – Plan how you will create a sense of urgency, so people feel the need to donate. For instance, will you broadcast any deadlines down the road? (eg. match campaign announcements, campaign end date, etc.)
To support enhance your knowledge on the above review the following four LinkedIn Learning videos and use them to help build your project this week.
1. Nonprofit Fundraising: A Beginner’s Guide
2. Developing a Fundraising Video for Nonprofits
3. Cause Selling: The Secret to Nonprofit Donations
4. Organization Communication
Once you have reviewed each of the above four videos develop a fundraising pitch deck.
A pitch deck is given to a prospective investor after they have expressed interest in learning more about your company. Any sophisticated investor will want to understand four key elements of the business opportunity, which should form the outline of your deck: 1) Product; 2) Market; 3) People; and 4) Money.
For this project you will build a seven slide powerpoint fundraising pitch deck which contains the following:
Slide 1 – Title slide (5 points)
The title slide of your pitch deck provides the first impression of your Startup to your potential Investor. Statistics say that you only have about 7 seconds for this first impression. Therefore, the title slides must be eye-catching and memorable. Keep the design simple and make sure it includes your logo.
Slide 2 – The summary slide (5 points) has the purpose of making investors curious about who you are and why you are devoted to raising money for this project. Therefore, share details about the athletic booster club and why they are raising money for this project. The title slide of your pitch deck gives potential investors their first impression of your startup. According to statistics, you only have about 7 seconds to make a good first impression. As a result, the title slides must be appealing and memorable. Maintain a simple design while including your logo.
Slide 2 – The summary slide (5 points) is designed to pique investors’ interest in who you are and why you are committed to raising funds for this project. As a result, provide information about the athletic booster club and why they are raising funds for this project.
Slide 3 – The problem (5 points)
This is one of the most important slides in your deck. The problem is the foundation of your funding project and explain why you are seeking funds for this project.
Slide 4 – The solution (5 points)
By now, your investors should have understood the point of the problem. They should be invested in the idea of helping you fix it, so the solution you present must be innovative, exciting, and memorable. In this slide share how the investor’s donation will solve the problem presented in the previous slide.
Slide 5 – The Business model slide (10 points) This slide doesn’t need to include detailed data and financial forecasts. Yet, it should provide a glimpse into the future impact of the investor’s financial donation on the organization as whole. The previous slide “The solution” should focus on the athletes.
Slide 6 – The Market slide (10 points) Every investor that is in the room is waiting for the market slide. Be sure to know that the only reason why investors listen to your pitch is that they want you to take their money and make more money out of it. Therefore, it is a logical consequence that you have to present a market slide that impresses. For this project use this slide to discuss economic and financial challenges the athletic organization is currently facing and what the athletic boosters are currently working on (other projects) to help alleviate these challenges. This slide may help to open the doors for more funding on other projects.
Slide 7 – Customer Acquisition slide (10 points) Think of this slide as a description of your ‘go-to’ market. A go-to-market strategy is a tactical plan that includes and summarizes all your moves in order to hit the mark in a new market when you’re launching a new product or company. This is where you explain who your customers are and how well you know them. Describe your market, advertising channels, and location. Don’t forget to show investors how many potential customers you are targeting.
The components of a go-to-market strategy are simple: market intelligence, market segmentation and product messaging. For the last slide we will focus on product messaging.
When creating your product messaging ask yourself:
1. How does your offer address the need in the market?
2. What supports your claim that your solution will fulfill their need?
3. Why should your target market believe you?
On the last slide state, the following:
1. How does this fundraising campaign benefit future athletes in the organization?
2. Provide proof through researched citations that your fundraising campaign will successfully help the athletes. Focus on other athletic campaigns that have been successful.
3. Why should the investors trust the athletic booster club to help this athletic organization. Focus on ethics, values, and morals.

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