Helping nonprofits better share what they do and how the community can help is the goal of Fast Pitch Tucson, a two-month training course that ends Thursday with a competition for $40,000 in grants.
Participants have three minutes to pitch their organization to a group of judges who will help decide the winners. Audience members will also get to vote on their favorite.
Fifteen nonprofits were chosen from almost 60 applicants to participate in Fast Pitch, officials said. They were paired with mentors and worked on creating a pitch that captured the spirit of their organizations.
Seven finalists, chosen by the mentor team and a coordinating committee, will make their final pitch on stage Thursday at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Keynote speaker for the event is author and children’s rights activist Craig Kielburger.
Beyond sharing in $40,000 in grants, participating nonprofits have already acquired a talent that will serve them well, said Jennie Grabel, director of community impact at Social Venture Partners Tucson, which puts on the event.
“If you can communicate your story well, if you can tell who you are, what you do, why you do it and who you serve, then you can much more easily garner support from the community,” she said.
The finalists are: Amistad y Salud, Ben’s Bells, CommunityShare, Handi-Dogs, Inc., Make Way for Books, Southern Arizona Research Science and Engineering Foundation, and Teen Outreach Pregnancy Services.
Participating nonprofits were chosen for their innovation and impact, officials said, with special attention given to groups that have come up with unique ways to tackle their respective goals.
Although Social Venture Partners Tucson, an affiliate of a global network of philanthropists, has been in Tucson for 10 years, its work — helping one nonprofit go through a three-year grant program on capacity building — has kept its profile low.
So far the Fast Pitch program has been a great way to increase awareness of its presence in Tucson, Grabel said.
“It’s allowed us to broaden our reach and broaden our impact in the community, which is an absolute joy,” she said.
