Inspiring Your Audience to Join You in the WHY of Your Organization

We spend a lot of time with our clients developing their Special Appeal video. It’s your largest fundraising opportunity on the night of your event. But it’s most effective when you’ve taken time at your event, before the Special Appeal, to educate your audience about who you are and what you believe.

This does not mean standing at the microphone listing all of your many programs. This does not mean talking about your staff. This does not mean patting yourself on the back. It means outlining your organization’s vision of the future and what you are in the business of making happen every day through the work that you do. It means streamlining the story of your work into a narrative that a guest—who has quite possibly come to your event with no idea of your mission—can repeat on the elevator the next day.

It means influencing your audience to align with your commitment to make the world a better place. This work will help them want to give you money later during the Special Appeal.

The Anti-Defamation League has been around for 100 years. They are a civil rights/human relations agency fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defending democratic ideals and protecting civil rights for all. That is the WHAT of their work. They have a ton of educational programs. They have legislative and advocacy programs. Those are the HOWs of their work. But all of that work is driven by a vision. It’s driven by a WHY. And in a one-minute and twenty-second video they communicate that mission in a way that is both impactful and specific.

One minute, twenty seconds. Simple. Beautiful. And quite memorable. That’s what you want your organization to be isn’t it? When you start with WHY, you connect to your audience emotionally and bring them on board. The WHAT and the HOW come in time. You are telling your story to an audience with limited attention spans, make the most of them.