How did Mia and David nail their five minute live fundraising pitch?

What would you say if you had exactly five minutes in which to pitch to an audience of potential donors, many of whom have never heard of you or your charity? It's a daunting prospect, but Mia and David absolutely nailed it earlier this month, pitching to a virtual audience at The Funding Network Hertfordshire event for the St Albans-based charity Youth Talk. How do we know they were so successful? Well, they more than doubled their fundraising target, for starters! Trust me, this clip is worth five minutes of your time. Watch Mia and David do their stuff, and I'll meet you back here to say why I thought it went so well. Brilliant, wasn't it? "Hey, everyone! My name is Mia." Give a platform to people with lived experience First up, how good was Mia? Don't forget that this was live, and she could not even see her audience. Nevertheless she spoke powerfully, authentically, and indisputably from her own perspective. She talks openly and clearly about her own mental health battles. Now, while Youth Talk is lucky to have an advocate as eloquent as Mia, my first key point is about giving a voice to people with lived experience. If you're a fundraiser, get out of the way, and support them to tell their story. What is the need and why is it urgent? In only 2 minutes and 20 seconds, Mia paints a vivid picture of what life was like for her as a young person needing mental health support. She had to be in crisis and would have had to stay in crisis to get