By Harvey McKinnon 

Mrs. Steele was called to jury duty but declined to serve, stating, “I don’t believe in capital punishment.”

The judge explained. “Madam, this isn’t a murder trial,” he said. “It’s simply a case in which a woman is suing her husband. He’s accused of taking the $5,000 she gave him to buy a diamond necklace and donating it to charity.”

“I’ll serve,” agreed Mrs. Steele. “I could be wrong about capital punishment.”

How quickly our minds can change when we get more information.

To the question “Why should I be interested in your particular cause?” many have a ready answer. “Because we do good work,” they say. Undoubtedly true, but countless organizations do good work.

As I make clear in my book, The 11 Questions Every Donor Asks, you need to distinguish yourself from the thousands of other great causes.

I often ask people attending my workshops to tell me their unique selling proposition (USP). What is the one thing that sets their respective organizations apart from all the others?

Your USP could be many things: your history, your leadership, your accomplishments, your low administrative costs, even the nature of your appeal (e.g., “Your gift of $25 will save an area of the Amazon Rainforest forever”).

Dig deep enough, and every organization has a distinguishing feature.

Article Compliment of: https://trust.guidestar.org/