Our elevator pitch is not perfected, a common refrain from those advocating for a cause. Seth Godin reminds us that nobody ever bought anything in an elevator. However, a compelling story entices the listener to ride a few more floors. They have questions and advice. We do no close a deal in the elevator but we can start a conversation.
If you could ask one celebrity or person of notoriety to present your cause to a stadium of philanthropically minded patrons, who would you choose and why?
Could you describe your organization in 30 seconds? Could you do it on YouTube? Could you produce a video and explain how you would use $10,000? Consumer Financial Solutions put together such a contest and received 120 entries. They even increased the awarding pool to include a tier of $5,000 grants. The best part about the contest is that it forced many causes to consider their elevator pitch. In thirty seconds many enterprises were required to condense their message to the most significant facts and images. What would your thirty second YouTube video look like?
What-if-concepts 