"Tips for a Great Pitch" by Terry Axelrod

Every bit of your hard work to put on the Ask Event^™ culminates in the pitch. Remember, there is no strong-arming necessary here. In the Benevon Model, asking for money should be nothing more than "nudging the inevitable." By now, the mix of compelling program elements will have done the job of ripening the fruit. The name and rationale for each of the Units of Service^™ will be familiar to your guests. They will have heard about your organization's need to serve more campers or offer a new camp session during the Visionary Leader^™ Talk and in the video. At this point, people will either be ready to give, or not. There is no need to convince them of anything.

The job of the Pitch Person at the Ask Event is to focus on the people who are ready to give—to walk them through the pledge card line by line and help them fill out the form to make their gift that day. The Pitch Person has another critical role, especially at the first Ask Event: to introduce guests to the Multiple-Year Giving Society^™ and tell them what each level of gift would provide for the work of the organization. Finally, the Pitch Person serves as a bit of a traffic cop, directing the flow of pledge cards and envelopes from the Table Captains to the guests and back to the Table Captains again. All of this is set out clearly in the pitch script and done with authentic appreciation for the generosity of the guests.

Choosing the Ideal Pitch Person
Your Pitch Person must be truly tied to your organization's mission, with a direct personal connection to the work of the organization, and they must be willing to follow a script. This person understands that their job is to walk people through the pledge card and help them give, and that this is a very specific and critical job. They are not trying to be a slick salesperson or an entertaining or motivational speaker. They are there because they truly love your organization and would love nothing more than for everyone in the audience to become part of the Multiple-Year Giving Society.

Do not assume that you need a big-name person in your community to be your Pitch Person. In fact, the ideal Pitch Person may be more of a "regular" person than a superstar. A parent or other family member who is a good public speaker can be an excellent Pitch Person. A longstanding, dedicated board member is often ideal. So long as they are truly passionate about your mission, will not deviate from the script, and are comfortable speaking in front of an audience, you will have made a good choice.

Script for the Pitch
You do not want your guests to feel pressured in any way by the pitch. You are not trying to push or prod them to do anything. Rather, they should feel wonderful about making their gift. It should be something they want to do—a natural expression of their commitment to your work. They should actually feel as if your organization is doing their work.

The Benevon Model is about building lifelong relationships with donors who understand and value the work of your organization. We recognize and honor the natural "fruit ripening" process which cannot be rushed. I consider it a real testament to the model that only 40%–50% of the guests make a contribution on the day of the event, because this shows that the others do not feel pressured to give at all. In fact, there is a piece built into the pitch script thanking everyone for coming and being part of this event, whether they have made a gift or not.