Presentations

If the organization you nominated is selected for consideration at a meeting, you will be allotted five minutes to make your case and five minutes to answer questions from the membership. Making your case in five minutes will require  a little organizing. The following includes some guidelines and talking points to help you make the best use of your time so each member can make an informed decision on how to vote.

Remember to keep your story friendly, approachable and easy to understand…as if you were talking to your friends as you will be. The good news is that any of the options will make a good choice. They will all provide a positive result for Concord.  

Presentation Guidelines
You only have a handful of minutes so make your pitch count! Be prepared to know about the charity you are presenting to the chapter for funding consideration. It helps to focus on a specific program that needs funding and to talk about the people that particular program will benefit and what it accomplishes in our community. The more specific you are, the more the members will be able to connect their donation with this charity. Don’t speak in generalities or your audience will get lost.
Tug at the hearts of the chapter as much as you inform their heads. Try to leave them with a sense of why you are passionate about this charity, and share at least one story of a real person (or animal) that was impacted by the work of the nonprofit and how it made a difference to them in their life. 
Presentations should be simple and not overly formal.

Talking Points to Consider
Be prepared to speak briefly and potentially answer a few questions from the audience about the following:
Start with an engaging opening line to get their attention. (“Every month, 75 women in our community are involved in a domestic violence dispute.”)

• State your name and the name and location of the organization.
• Confirm that they are a recognized nonprofit organization in your community.
• Describe the service area of the organization and whom they serve.
• State the organization’s mission statement and speak to what they do overall and how their services benefit the community. 
• Be prepared to speak to the organization’s finances, including the size of their annual operating budget and how much they spend on admin/fundraising.
• Describe specifically how our funds will be used, providing some background, if possible, on the following: is this a new or existing program; does the charity have a plan in place to sustain the program after our funds have been used; how many people the funds will impact; whether the program is essential and what our community will miss if it does not get funded; measurements to be used to ensure success of the program and good use of the donation.
• Don’t forget to tell a story of a person/animal positively affected by the organization.
• End with a heartfelt ask and a thank you

A video of your presentation is suggested for practice and sharing with members who cannot attend. You can either present the content live or play the video. Keep in mind that if you are more comfortable playing the recording at the meeting to make arrangements for how the video will be played. We will distribute the video for those unable to attend the meeting. Have fun!