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- Unpopular Causes : how
to break
out of the ghetto and make your cause attractive to Funders It is easy for us to develop the mentality where we make excuses for failure – we can look at our failed applications and consider that we have lost out because our cause is unpopular. I would like us to consider that there is no such thing as an unpopular cause. All of us get out of bed on a Monday morning to serve our cause, because we believe that our work is important – our clients need us – we make a difference. Are we really so unique that no-one else can understand our cause? We need to concentrate on those things that make us excited, that feed the fire in our bellies, and we need to communicate that to potential funders. We also need to learn from the world of sales that we should not waste time trying to communicate to people who don’t want to listen to our message. Every rejection is one step nearer the next positive response. We should focus our energies on finding those who are receptive to our message. We need to be able to distil the important elements of our message in brief. In our discussion we looked at “Elevator Statements”. These come from a leading Life Insurance Salesman in We also looked at an exercise where a Social Policy campaign on a very complex subject was expected to attract a great deal of media interest. Approximately 50 practitioners were asked to consider what they could say to a Media interviewer in 30 seconds to encapsulate the message. They came up with 3 succinct bullet points, which, in the event, were featured in most of the regional media during the campaign. If we have a clear, succinct and hard-hitting message with which to capture initial attention, we improve our chances of developing a positive relationship.Trustees
have an important role in the process.
They, presumably, share an enthusiasm for the cause, and understand
what
you are trying to achieve. They must use
their own networks to spread the message, and be your advocates with
potential
funders and partners. Passive Trustees
should be encouraged to resign – they discourage good people from
joining your
Governing Body, and may be putting their own resources at risk if they
do not
take their responsibilities seriously. |
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