Sometimes, it can be easy to lose yourself in the minutiae of chapter leadership (running meetings, following up with members that have not completed their tasks, posting on social media, etc.). In the midst of this, we often forget why we are doing this in the first place; to raise real dollars to support people who are living in extreme poverty.

Ultimately, pledges (and therefore money donated to this cause) will not come from eboard meetings, social media posts or even speaker events. The amount of pledges your chapter recruits in a given semester will be a direct result of how many individuals you ask to take the pledge. 1:1 outreach is a vital mechanism for producing these conversations that lead to the ask, which leads to another pledge.

For example, our chapter leader at Harvard Law raised $40k in annual pledges solely through 1:1 outreach. Here's what Mackenzie said about this experience:

• "One-on-one outreach was by far the most rewarding part of my experience with OFTW... I still remember several of these conversations now and actually made several friends out of the process – and I mean that seriously, one person who I had never met before invited me to their graduation party in another state... I had some of the most enjoyable, genuine conversations with classmates about this and I left most conversations feeling a deep sense of 'we really understand each other better now.' That’s pretty rare"

Contents:

What is 1:1 outreach?

1:1 outreach checklist

Key resources and related pages

What is 1:1 Outreach

One-on-one outreach can take a few different forms, including coffee chats with people who have previously attended one of your events, cold emailing or texting, casual (unstructured) conversations with people in your network, and phone calls or video chats with friends and family.

1:1 outreach can be used as a follow up strategy for people that have already engaged with your chapter in some other capacity, or 1:1 outreach could form the core content of your semester. For example, you could run a 'Pledge drive' which begins with mass outreach to schedule as many coffee chats as possible.

Generally, 1:1 outreach consists of:

• Reaching out to someone and inviting them to learn more about OFTW.
• Giving them more information about OFTW, effective giving, our charities, and the 1% pledge.
•  Asking them questions about their relationship to giving, and helping them to put OFTW's values in conversation with their own values
  • "What was the last organization that you donated to?"
  • "How do you decide where to give, or what factors do you think are important in this decision?"
• Asking them to take the pledge.
  • Review 'Step 7: Make the ask' on the Pitching 101 page
• Inviting pushback / feedback from them 
  • You can prepare for this by reviewing some common objections to the pledge.
• If they are ready to take the pledge, walk them through the sign up process during your chat. If they are still unsure, follow up with them.

1:1 Outreach Checklist

1. Create an outreach tracker and decide who you would like to reach out to.
   1. If you are using 1:1 outreach as a follow up strategy after other events, you may already be using a lead tracker. If you are planning to run a 'Pledge drive' or focus mainly on 1:1 conversations this semester, you will need a more detailed tracker such as this one from HLS 2021. 
2. Prepare any materials you will need for these chats
   1. Two pager
   2. Intro deck
   3. Your own agenda for a call
   4. Practice your pitch beforehand
3. Start inviting people to chat with you. 
   1. Depending on who you are reaching out to, you may choose to contact them via email, texting, DMing, or asking to be introduced by a friend you have in common. 
      1. See this document for some example outreach messages
   2. Make it clear how they can schedule a chat with you. If virtual, you could use calendly for folks to book calls directly. If in person, offer them a few times that you are available. 
4. Have the conversation.
   1. The most important thing to do in these conversations is to make the ask. If you do not ask directly for people to take the pledge, no one will sign up. 
      1. If they are ready to pledge, walk through the sign up process with them on the call/ in person. This will save you so much time having to follow up and remind them to take the pledge. This also allows you to set the tone for how they sign up (i.e. that the start date is not too late after their graduation, and that they pledge a reasonable amount). 
      2. If they are interested but not quite ready to pledge, make sure that you follow up with them after the chat. 
5. Follow up.
   1. If they have taken the pledge, follow up to thank them and invite them to get more involved with your chapter. They can apply to join your team or be invited to your end of year celebration.
   2. If they have not taken the pledge, send them a detailed follow up. This may include sending some further learning materials like this two-pager, charity overview, or other resources about effective giving. Importantly, offer them the opportunity to stay involved by attending your next event or having another coffee chat. 

Key resources and related pages

Key resources:

• HLS chapter pledge drive materials
• Pledge two-pager
• St Andrews outreach message templates
• Lead tracker template
• UNC brief pitch deck
• Intro deck
• 'Menu' of follow up resources

Related pages:

• Pledge Conversations 101
• How to follow up
• Approaching friends and family about OFTW
• Common objections to the pledge
• Effective Giving, Our charities, The 1% pledge
• How to use Donational