Women giving as one is not a responsibility but a privilege

Pitching Your Favorite Charity

Each member has the opportunity to nominate a local, recognized 501(c)(3) charity to receive the donation by putting their name in the hat at our biannual meetings. For this purpose, “local” means the charity serves Greater Sarasota, including Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties. One of the huge benefits of our extraordinary group is the knowledge we gain about incredible organizations, often in our backyards, which are improving the lives of our neighbors. YOUR presentation can lead to a huge financial impact and ultimately steer more support towards the mission of your favorite charity.

The nominating member has the choice of pitching the charity herself, or having a representative of the charity make the pitch. If a charity representative is to make the pitch, he/she must be in attendance at the meeting and ready to present even though their charity may not be selected. The nominating member will be given the opportunity to introduce the charity and say why she supports it. If the member chooses to make the pitch herself, she may still have a representative from the chairty available to answer questions.

Presentations should be simple and not overly formal. Speaking from the heart and sharing personal examples regarding your connection engages the members.

In addition to the members’ donations, we also have the potential to receive a matching donation grant of up to $5,000 from The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation. This Foundation was started by the founder of Best Buy and they have identified 100 Women Who Care as an organization with which they want to partner to give back to local communities. Our chapter can submit an application to the Foundation each time we identify a charity to receive our donation, at which time they will review the application, hopefully approve it, and notify us of the amount of the matching grant.

Important Required Step

Notify the Committee of your intent to pitch your charity one day in advance of the meeting. Send an email to [email protected] containing your name, the legal name and address of the charity, along with the charity’s EIN (tax number). In the event you and your charity are chosen to receive the donation please be prepared to provide a short paragraph about the charity. This will be used in our notification to those members not in attendance.

Presentation Information

Although it is not required to address all of the following in your presentation, we encourage you or your charity representative to know the answers to these questions in the event someone asks you to provide this information during the Q&A.

Your name and the name of the organization you would like to receive funding.
Where is the organization located?
What is the mission of the organization?
What purpose does the organization serve? (Who? What do they do? How do they do it?)
How would they benefit from receiving the donation? How will the funds be used?
How many people do they serve on a monthly/annual basis?
Describe the program that you would like funded. Would the funds be specifically earmarked for a certain program? Provide some background information for the program. Who will it impact? How many will it impact? How essential is this program – what will our community be missing if this program does not get funded?
What percentage of funds goes directly to their mission? What percentage goes towards overhead and marketing?
What is the organization’s operating budget? How does the organization sustain its budget (i.e., grant support, individual contributions, etc.)?
Remember, you have the opportunity to get $10,000 or more for your charity.
End with a heartfelt ask and a thank you.

Presenters are given five minutes, followed by a five-minute Q&A.

Good luck!!