Ideal Funders, LLC

Step 5: Build and Equip Your Execution Team

In Step 4, you developed a robust fundraising and sales strategy for your Value Offer, Impact Offer, and Double-Impact Fundraising Offer™ (Value-Led and Impact-Led). Now, Step 5 focuses on building and equipping your execution team to bring these strategies to life. This step ensures you have the right people—staff, volunteers, and board members—and the necessary materials to execute your sales and fundraising process effectively. You’ll also learn how to leverage your board’s influence, find and onboard volunteers, and create execution materials using AI, all while keeping costs low and implementation fast. By the end, you’ll have a ready team and resources to launch your offers in 7 days or less.

Assessing Your Team

To execute your fundraising and sales strategies, start by evaluating your current resources:

  • Board Members: Often well-connected, they can open doors to corporate donors, promote offers, or provide oversight.
  • Staff: Program leads can create offer content (e.g., guides, workshops), while fundraising or marketing staff handle pitches and outreach.
  • Volunteers: Ideal for promotion, customer service, or fulfillment tasks (e.g., sending thank-you emails).
  • Gaps: Identify missing skills (e.g., social media expertise, sales experience) or capacity (e.g., not enough hands for outreach).

Why? A clear assessment ensures you assign tasks to the right people and fill gaps with volunteers, avoiding bottlenecks. Use a simple spreadsheet to list current team members, their skills, and availability.

Roles and Responsibilities

Assign clear roles to execute the four strategies (Value Offer, Impact Offer, Double-Impact Value-Led, Double-Impact Impact-Led):

  • Offer Creation: Program staff or volunteers with expertise develop content (e.g., STEM guide, impact reports).
  • Promotion: Marketing-savvy staff or volunteers manage social media, emails, and events.
  • Sales/Fundraising: Fundraisers or board members pitch to individuals/corporates, handle objections.
  • Fulfillment: Volunteers or staff manage delivery (e.g., emailing guides, sending thank-you certificates).
  • Tracking: A detail-oriented team member monitors metrics (e.g., sales in Google Sheets).
  • Board Role: Advocate for offers at events, connect with high-value donors, approve budgets, or share pitches in their networks.

Why? Clear roles prevent confusion, leverage strengths, and ensure accountability.

Training Essentials

Equip your team with the mindset and skills to execute confidently:

  • Mindset Shift: Move from “begging for donations” to “offering value and impact.” Emphasize the win-win of the Double-Impact Offer™ (e.g., buyers get a guide, kids get backpacks).
  • Skills:Pitching: Teach how to deliver Value-Led and Impact-Led pitches (e.g., “Buy a $50 guide, help a child”).
  • Promotion: Train on creating social posts, emails, or event scripts using storytelling.
  • Customer Service: Handle inquiries, objections (e.g., “It’s worth $75 for both value and impact”), and follow-ups.
  • Tools: Use free resources like Google Workspace (Docs for scripts, Sheets for tracking), Canva (graphics), and Mailchimp (emails).

Why? Training builds confidence and consistency, ensuring your team sells and fundraises effectively.

Building Buy-In

To align your team and board:

  • Workshops: Host a 1–2-hour session to explain the Double-Impact Offer™ and strategies. Share success stories (e.g., “One $50 sale funds a backpack”).
  • Board Engagement: Present the offer as a strategic revenue driver, emphasizing their role in networking or pitching to high-value donors.
  • Volunteer Motivation: Highlight how their work creates impact (e.g., “Your emails help kids get supplies”).
    Regular Updates: Share early wins (e.g., “10 sales this week!”) to maintain momentum.

Why? Buy-in ensures everyone is committed, reducing resistance and boosting execution.

Finding and Onboarding Volunteers

Nonprofits often rely on volunteers to scale efforts. To build a volunteer execution team:

Where to Find Volunteers:

  • Existing Networks: Ask current supporters, donors, or program participants (e.g., parents, alumni).
  • Local Communities: Post on community boards, churches, or schools (e.g., Nextdoor, local Facebook groups).
  • Volunteer Platforms: Use free sites like VolunteerMatch.org, Catchafire, LinkedIn, or Idealist.org to post roles.
  • Universities/Colleges: Reach out to student groups or service organizations for enthusiastic helpers.

How to Onboard:

  • Create a clear role description (e.g., “2 hours/week sending emails”).
  • Host a 30-minute virtual orientation via Zoom to explain the offer and tasks.
  • Provide simple guides (e.g., a Google Doc with email templates).
  • Pair volunteers with staff for mentorship.

Why? Volunteers expand capacity at no cost, and clear onboarding ensures they’re effective from day one.

Creating Execution Materials Using AI

Use AI to generate materials quickly:

  • Pitch Scripts: AI crafts Value-Led and Impact-Led pitches tailored to your offers.
  • Social Media Posts: AI generates engaging posts or captions for Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.
  • Email Templates: AI creates personalized email sequences for outreach.
  • Graphics: Use AI tools like Canva’s text-to-image (with AI prompts) for visuals.
  • Training Guides: AI produces role-specific guides (e.g., “How to Pitch the Offer”).

Why? AI saves time and ensures professional-quality materials, even for small teams.

Scaling Tips

  • Start Small: Test with 1–2 team members and 5–10 volunteers to refine processes.
  • Delegate: Assign repetitive tasks (e.g., social posts) to volunteers, freeing staff for high-value pitches.
  • Leverage Board Networks: Ask board members to pitch to one corporate contact each.
  • Automate: Use free tools like Mailchimp for email automation or Zapier for task workflows.

Why? Starting small reduces risk, while delegation and automation scale impact without burnout.

Creating Execution Materials Using AI

Use AI to generate materials quickly:

  • Pitch Scripts: AI crafts Value-Led and Impact-Led pitches tailored to your offers.
  • Social Media Posts: AI generates engaging posts or captions for Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.
  • Email Templates: AI creates personalized email sequences for outreach.
  • Graphics: Use AI tools like Canva’s text-to-image (with AI prompts) for visuals.
  • Training Guides: AI produces role-specific guides (e.g., “How to Pitch the Offer”).

Why? AI saves time and ensures professional-quality materials, even for small teams.

Scaling Tips

  • Start Small: Test with 1–2 team members and 5–10 volunteers to refine processes.
  • Delegate: Assign repetitive tasks (e.g., social posts) to volunteers, freeing staff for high-value pitches.
  • Leverage Board Networks: Ask board members to pitch to one corporate contact each.
  • Automate: Use free tools like Mailchimp for email automation or Zapier for task workflows.

Why? Starting small reduces risk, while delegation and automation scale impact without burnout.

The 6-Step Process Overview

Step 5 integrates with the broader framework, building on prior steps:

  • Brainstorm Value Offer Ideas: Created a sellable product/service (Step 1).
  • Brainstorm Impact Offer Ideas: Crafted a donation-based transformation (Step 2).
  • Fuse into Double-Impact Offer: Combined both into one package (Step 3).
  • Develop Fundraising/Sales Strategy: Created promotion plans for all offer types (Step 4).
  • Build and Equip Execution Team: Assemble people and materials to execute (today!).
  • Promote and Sell: Drive individual sales/donations for quick wins.

Each step uses AI prompts, feeding outputs forward to maintain context.

Action Items

  • Team Role Assignment Chart: Create a Google Sheet with columns: Name, Role (e.g., promotion, fulfillment), Skills, Hours/Week.
  • Training Agenda Template: Draft a 1-hour workshop plan (e.g., 15 min on mindset, 30 min on pitching, 15 min on tools).
  • Volunteer Recruitment Plan: List 2–3 places to post roles and a sample role description.
  • AI-Generated Materials: Use the prompt below to create scripts, posts, and guides.
  • Next Steps: Run the prompt, assign roles, train the team, and launch within 7 days.

AI Prompt for Building and Equipping the Execution Team

Below is the AI prompt to identify the people and materials needed, provide instructions for finding volunteers, and generate execution materials. It builds on Step 4’s outputs to ensure alignment with your fundraising and sales strategies.

You are an expert nonprofit strategist helping founders build and equip an execution team to implement their fundraising and sales strategies for their Value Offer, Impact Offer, and Double-Impact Fundraising Offer™ (Value-Led and Impact-Led). Based on the following details:

  • Fundraising/Sales Strategies: [Paste the full outputs from Step 4’s Value, Impact, Value-Led, and Impact-Led Strategy Prompts, e.g., ‘Value Offer: Sell $50 STEM guide via email, Instagram; Impact Offer: Raise $50 for backpacks via Donorbox.’]
  • Audience Map: [Paste the full output from Step 4’s Audience Mapping Prompt, e.g., ‘Parents: Need tools, motivated by child success, on email/Instagram.’]
  • Double-Impact Offer: [Paste the full output from Step 3’s Pitch Prompt, e.g., ‘Buy a $50 guide, fund a backpack.’]
  • Value Offer: [Paste the full output from Step 1’s Framework Prompt.]
  • Impact Offer: [Paste the full output from Step 2’s Framework Prompt.]
  • Mission: [Insert mission, e.g., ‘Empower youth through education.’]
  • Programs: [Insert programs, e.g., ‘Tutoring, workshops.’]
  • Location: [Insert location, e.g., ‘Urban California.’]
  • Unique Values: [Insert unique values, e.g., ‘Culturally relevant resources.’]

Create a comprehensive plan to build and equip the execution team. Include:

Team Assessment:

  • Evaluate current resources (board, staff, volunteers) and identify gaps (e.g., ‘Need social media expert’).
  • Suggest 3–5 roles needed (e.g., content creator, fundraiser, fulfillment lead).
  • Specify board involvement (e.g., pitching to corporates, sharing on LinkedIn).

Roles and Responsibilities:

  • Assign tasks for each role based on Step 4’s strategies (e.g., ‘Promotion Lead: Post on Instagram, send emails’).
  • Include responsibilities for all four offer types (Value, Impact, Value-Led, Impact-Led).

Volunteer Recruitment Plan:

  • List 3–5 free sources to find volunteers (e.g., VolunteerMatch.org, local Facebook groups, universities).
  • Provide a sample role description (e.g., ‘Social Media Volunteer: 2 hours/week posting content’).
  • Outline a 30-minute onboarding process (e.g., Zoom orientation, provide Google Doc guide).

Training Plan:

  • Create a 1-hour training agenda (e.g., 15 min mindset shift, 30 min pitching skills, 15 min tools).
  • Include mindset shift (from begging to offering value) and skills (pitching, promotion, customer service).
  • Suggest free tools (e.g., Google Docs for scripts, Canva for visuals).
    Execution Materials:

Generate sample materials using AI:

  • Two pitch scripts (one Value-Led, one Impact-Led, 100–150 words each).
  • Three social media posts (e.g., Instagram captions for Value Offer, Impact Offer, Double-Impact).
  • One email template for outreach (e.g., pitching Double-Impact to individuals).
  • One training guide outline (e.g., ‘How to Pitch the Double-Impact Offer’).
  • Specify tools for creation (e.g., Canva for graphics, Google Docs for scripts).

Board Engagement Plan:

  • Suggest 2–3 ways the board can help (e.g., pitch to one corporate contact, share on social media).
  • Provide a sample board pitch (e.g., ‘Present the offer at a networking event’).

Timeline:

  • Outline a 7-day plan to assemble the team and create materials (e.g., Day 1: Assign roles, Day 3: Train team).
  • Include time estimates (1–3 hours/day) and milestones (e.g., ‘Team trained by Day 4’).

Make the output actionable, concise, and tailored to the nonprofit’s offers and strategies. Provide a role assignment chart template (e.g., table with Name, Role, Tasks, Hours/Week) and a training agenda template for Google Docs. Ensure all tools are free or low-cost (e.g., Google Workspace, Canva, VolunteerMatch.org). Output in a structured format with clear headings: Team Assessment, Roles and Responsibilities, Volunteer Recruitment, Training Plan, Execution Materials, Board Engagement, Timeline, Role Assignment Chart, Training Agenda Template.

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