What’s On Your Wall?

Yes, I actually mean your physical office walls, not your Facebook wall.   Look around.  What do your walls say about your organization? 

Think about the last time you were at Strong Hospital.  The walls on most floors are plain, neutral in color and very sterile looking.  Now, think about the children’s floor (the Golisano Children’s Hospital).  The elevator doors open to reveal vibrantly painted murals on the walls that are child-like and welcoming.  For a moment, you almost forget that you are in a hospital.  These walls are designed for the children staying on the floor, but I would argue that they also make a positive impact on all that see them – from the children and families to the nurse and doctors to donors and prospective donors.  The walls express hope and passion for their cause.

What do your organization’s walls say about your cause?  When you meet with prospective clients or funders at your office, what do they see? Imagine if while waiting for a meeting, they read a quote from a child or family you helped stenciled on the wall.  Or they saw a photo of a child and his mentor (that you connected) framed prominently in your conference room?  This type of wall art is not only a conversation starter, but also will create the right setting for your meeting, be it one to assist a client or to ask for financial support.

 Similarly, on a day when you, as a nonprofit professional, are feeling a bit defeated and overworked, reading a quote from someone your organization has impacted positively can provide the motivation you need to keep going strong. 

For more ideas on how to make your walls work for you, take a look at fundraising consultant, Ken Burnett’s How Inspirational Are Your Walls?  You may be able to pick up few ideas from the nonprofit, ActionAid, who transformed their walls from drab to inspirational.

 Create an environment in your office that inspires, motivates, informs, and delights your hard-working staff, volunteers, clients, and funders. This is an inexpensive way to tell your story and increase team morale.  Walls are prime real estate – put yours to work for you.

-Shannon Struzik
Director of the Movement from Drab to Inspirational

99 times out of 100

Do you know the one thing missing from an organization’s elevator speech 99 times out of 100?  You should.

You only have 30 seconds to make a memorable impression for your organization – be it at a cocktail party, at a networking event, or, as the common name for this type of speech hints at, in an elevator.  Do you know what to say?  Do your Board Members and volunteers? 

If you answered no, you are not alone.  Many passionate ambassadors for an organization could talk for hours about the great work that their nonprofit is doing in the community.  But 30 seconds?  What can you really accomplish in 30 seconds?

Plenty.  You can say the name of your organization, highlight your mission (or at least one important aspect of your mission), and ask if the person is willing to learn more.  And there’s one more important element, one that even those with the most succinct and engaging elevator speech leave out 99 times out of 100 – the donors.  While it is important to build awareness about your organization, one of the primary goals of an elevator speech, especially for fundraisers, should be to maximize donor contributions.

In his blog post, Make an Elevator Speech that Works, Tom Ahern provides a great example of how to approach a stranger in an elevator (or in any situation that allows for a quick conversation).

“I see you carrying a newspaper in your bag.  Our organization works to make sure people are literate so that they can read the newspaper and become informed citizens like you.  But here’s the thing, nothing we do happens without the commitment of our wonderful and selfless donors.  They make it all possible.  And without them, this good work simply would not happen.  Would you be willing to learn more?”

In my opinion, you can add a bit more about your mission (and definitely your organization’s name!) to this quick speech, and still stay within your 30 second time limit.  I’d also like the speech to feel a little less sales-pitchy. So I decided to give it a try for the Ad Council while grabbing an iced tea from the café here at Village Gate (halfway through writing this blog post).  As I waited with a young professional for our beverages, I said,

“Do you work in the building?  I work for the Ad Council of Rochester – our offices are right upstairs.  We help nonprofits to more effectively reach and serve their community so that people can access the services they need.  We also create public service campaigns with nonprofit collaborations like the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning.  None of our work would be possible without our expert marketing volunteers or our amazing corporate and individual supporters. No matter what a donor cares about, we’ve worked on it right here in our community.  Stop by sometime and I’ll show you our space.”

Now I talk fast, but that’s 30 seconds on the spot.  She smiled, said yes, and shared a little bit about where she worked.  That may be where it ends, but she now knows a little bit more about the Ad Council than she did before, so to me, that’s a win.

Give it a try for your organization, and practice on anyone you feel comfortable with – your family, friends, co-workers, or if you’re like me, any random person that happens to look willing to listen.  Once you are confident in your speech, put it on a business or index card and give a copy to everyone on your staff, Board and in your volunteer corps.  Encourage them to strike up this type of conversation.  And let me know how it goes!  I’d love to hear some of the reactions of your unsuspecting targets.

-Shannon Struzik
Elevator speech giver & iced tea drinker

Hey there, Pie Face!

For those of you who were able to attend the 16th Annual Pro Ad Golf Tournament’s dinner reception, you were there to witness a moment in history. And if you weren’t, don’t worry…that’s what cameras are for.

Our “always willing to take one for the team” CEO, Todd Butler, (stupidly) agreed to let me smash a pie in his face if we were able to sell out the raffle.  With the help of 100 loyal (and eager to win) supporters who bought raffle tickets for their chance to win a Kodak All-In-One Printer, an overnight trip to Toronto, and brace yourself, an Apple iPad, we officially sold out the raffle by 2pm. And a lemon meringue pie was purchased from Wegmans at approximately 2:01.

This really is a must-see.

On a more serious note, a huge thank you to our 168 golfers, 200 dinner guests and over 50 sponsors and contributors for making this year’s golf tournament a day to remember. The Ad Council exists only in Rochester, only for Rochester. And you all make that possible.

Now excuse me while I head over to YouTube to relive one of the best moments of my life. Hey, how many of you have ever got to put a pie in your boss’s face?

We’ll see you again next year!

-Katelin Ryan
Community Outreach Manager/ Pie Thrower Extraordinaire