It’s Time for an Update to the Minute Message Model™
When we created and launched the Minute Message Model into the public sector nearly 20 years ago, it changed forever how nonprofits, independent schools, and foundations communicate their importance to attract more money, enrollment, and support (of every kind).
We’ve seen and heard about the impact our messaging framework has had on our sector, maybe even on you and your mission. Take the college access organization that secured a $500,000 sponsorship by applying the framework: “I didn’t change a thing about my program! I just changed the way I talked about it.” And they’re not alone. Together, our clients have raised over a billion dollars in the last five years using our Minute Message Model.
What If Your Message Met Today’s Realities?
We were proud of our impact then, and we’re proud of it today. But one of our values at Mission Minded is to always ask, “What if?” to disrupt complacency and embrace bold ideas. That’s why we continually challenge and improve our methods, our words, and how we work with our clients and each other.
So we asked ourselves, “What if we made our Minute Message Model—especially the beloved Belief Message—better by updating it for today’s realities?”
Those realities include:
- Shorter reading attention spans
- A need to get to the point faster
- A more competitive landscape that requires you to stand out
- An urgent need to raise money and support
What a Headline Is (and Isn’t)
Today you need a headline. Your headline is not an elevator pitch. It’s not your mission statement. It’s not your tagline. It’s not your Belief Message.
Your headline is a short one-sentence description of your organization that:
- Anyone can understand
- Is colloquial
- Teases out the why of your work
- Isn’t boring
- Can’t be copied
In short, your headline should tell people what you do without boring them to death.
Crafting a Strong Headline
Here’s what you need for a strong headline:
(Name of Organization) is a _______ that does ______ so that _______happens (or doesn’t happen.)
Our Headline: Mission Minded is a strategy and creative firm that helps good causes have greater impact.
We avoided this being boring by teasing out the why of our work. The inference? Nonprofits and schools can’t attract what they need if they aren’t bold enough, and most aren’t (or we wouldn’t be in business.)
Here are some other examples of strong headlines:
- Season of Sharing Fund raises money to distribute to people facing a short-term financial crisis so they avoid spiraling downward.
- JVS Bay Area helps people launch high-quality careers so they can thrive — and the economy grows stronger.
- Santa Barbara Foundation brings people together from around the county to make all our lives better in this place all love.
- Julia Morgan School for Girls is a girls middle school where students learn to believe in themselves by age 13, not 30.
Try it Yourself
Now that you’ve seen a few examples, it’s your turn. Write a headline for your organization as if it were the headline of a newspaper article reporting on how awesome and unique your work is. Have fun with this, even if your mission is serious (and aren’t they all?).
In Part 2 of this series, we’ll cover the difference between your organization’s headline and your mission, tagline, and Belief Message (and why you need them all).
In the meantime, if you’d like to dig deeper, join us for our upcoming webinar where you’ll learn to write a Headline that gets people to stop, listen, and lean in.
Mission Minded is a strategy and creative firm that helps good causes have greater impact.
Through elevated strategic plans, brand and messaging strategies, and fundraising campaigns, we’ve helped our clients raise over a billion dollars in the last five years by being unapologetically bold about what makes them unique.
If you’re ready to refresh your messages or gearing up for a major donor campaign, we’d love to help you craft the strategy and tools that inspire generosity and get you across the finish line (and beyond).
For more inspiration, take a look at these case studies from organizations who turned bold messaging into big results.