Scaling Global Change

8Fundraising: Defining and Selling the Value Proposition

The room grows quiet. The lights dim. We have 15 precious minutes to motivate this crowd of more than 250 people gathered at the City Club in the Financial District of San Francisco on this warm April evening to become Room to Read supporters. Most people have come from directly from work. Approximately half the people in the room have already invested in Room to Read and are eager for an update on our progress. Many have brought friends and colleagues along to introduce them to Room to Read. The anticipation is high that this will be another successful evening raising much-needed funds for our work, which means that pressure is also high for Erin to deliver an inspirational presentation.

She starts with the need: Approximately one out of every seven people on this planet cannot read or write. Two-thirds are women and girls. More than 60 million children woke up this morning and didn’t go to school. The world is not set up to be fair to children, and many lose opportunities at very early ages as they do not have access to quality education in their local communities. Erin drives home the point that at Room to Read we believe education is a basic human right. There is no way to reach one’s full potential in life without it. There is no way for a community to break the cycle of poverty without ensuring that the next generation is educated. Many in the crowd vigorously nod in agreement.

After we get the audience fired up ...