Visual Summary — Full Details in Canva Whiteboard
Funnel &
Messaging
Strategy
Messaging
Strategy
The Problem We're Solving
Top-of-funnel is working. Market shows interest. We are not driving enough sales calls from the middle of the funnel.
Current ImpactCo Funnel
impactco.
Section 02
Demographic Profile
Title
ED, CEO or COO
Budget
$1.2M+ annual
Staff Size
5–50 people
Geography
Any US geography
Org Type
Faith-based or secular
Tenure
2–10+ years
Psychographic
Identity-driven, not fear-driven. Not in crisis. They have board trust and honeymoon halo. What brings them to impactco. is competence frustrated by recurring problems — the same issues surfacing again that they believe they are too good a leader to still be dealing with.
"They don't say 'help me.' They say 'this shouldn't still be happening.'"
They want tools and frameworks, not theory. Once trust is established, they move fast. This is not a slow committee decision.
Who Is NOT Our ICP
✕
Org in active crisis — funding collapse, board fracture, staff exodus
✕
Leader who wants it done for them — ImpactOS is a framework they own and run
✕
Too small — below ~$800K budget, the complexity ImpactOS solves doesn't exist yet
✕
Skeptical committee — no clear champion with authority to say yes and mean it
Drucker's Three Questions
Q1
ED or COO, $1.2M+ budget, 5–50 staff, established board trust, tenure enough to have credibility and room to make bold organizational moves.
Q2
An organization that feels like it is actually working — because a well-run org is a direct reflection of their identity as a leader. Clarity, alignment, and a team that executes.
Q3
A purpose-built operating system that brings order, alignment, and momentum — without asking them to translate a for-profit framework into their language.
Entry Behavior
Comes to impactco. most often through peer referral from someone they respect. Also arrives via content discovery, conference encounter, webinar, LinkedIn outreach, or organic search.
What Moves Them to Book a Call
A peer they respect mentions impactco. by name
Content that reads like someone was in the room with them
A case study from an org at their stage with named before/after metrics
A first call framed as diagnostic — not a sales pitch
Assessment results with personalized follow-up
Section 03
Two sales must be made in order. Sale 1: every nonprofit needs an operating system. Sale 2: ImpactOS is the right one. Each segment starts at a different point — different funnel, content, and timeline to close.
Audience A
EOS-Frustrated
Highest close rate · Sale 1 already made
Tried EOS. Hit a wall — language misalignment, implementation burden, or cultural rejection. Believers who got burned by the wrong system. Walk in at Sale 2.
Key Messages
EOS wasn't built for you. ImpactOS was.
You shouldn't have to translate a for-profit system into your language.
Same rigor. Built for mission-driven complexity.
Qualitative impact + quantitative accountability. Both matter.
Triggers: Left EOS · Googling "EOS for nonprofits" · Webinar · Peer referral
Audience B
System-Curious
Two sales required · Peer referral collapses timeline
Read Traction. Heard peers talk EOS. Never committed — sensed tools weren't built for them. Piecing things together. Has not committed to the belief that a formal OS is the answer.
Key Messages
71% of nonprofits fail to execute. Not because of heart. Because of the how.
The gap between strategy and Tuesday morning is where missions stall.
Structure doesn't kill passion. The right structure protects it.
You have vision. What you need is a system that makes it real.
Triggers: Growth ceiling · Burnout · Staff turnover · Board pressure
Audience C
System-Resistant
Longest path · Belief 1 is the entire battle
Deep in mission execution or holds genuine philosophical resistance. Believes structure and culture are in tension. Watched corporate frameworks get imported into mission orgs and saw people leave. Skepticism is earned.
Key Messages
The mission is too important to keep running on passion alone.
You can love your people and hold them accountable. Not opposites.
Your best people will leave if the system doesn't support them.
ImpactOS is a framework with a heartbeat — built by people who get it.
Entry: Almost always emotional — burnout, then turnover, then a growth moment exposing fragile infrastructure.
Section 04
Every tactic in the funnel serves one or more A.R.T. layers — but not equally. Below is an honest audit of what each tactic actually does, which audiences it reaches, and where the gaps are.
Tactic
Authority — earns the right to be heard
Relevance — makes the right leader feel seen
Trust — collapses "interesting" to "I'll talk"
EOS vs ImpactOS Series
★ Primary. Signals deep insider understanding of the EOS-frustrated moment. Strongest authority driver for Audience A.
High for Audience A — specific EOS language lands immediately. Weak for B & C who haven't lived the EOS experience.
Low alone. Sets context but does not prove delivery. Needs a case study paired with it.
Pain Point Articles / SEO
Strong. Demonstrates insider knowledge of recurring nonprofit pain across all 3 audiences.
Medium. Relevance depends on headline specificity — the closer it matches their exact moment, the higher it lands.
Low. Informational content builds authority, not trust.
Amazing 8 eBook
Strong for Audience B — positions impactco. as the framework holder.
Medium. Framework is compelling but generic enough to feel like it's for any nonprofit leader.
Low. Educational content, not proof-based.
Video & Written Case Studies
Medium. Establishes that impactco. has done this before at scale.
Medium-High. Jumps to high when the org in the story matches the reader's stage and budget.
★ Primary trust driver. Before/after metrics + leader voice = the most powerful Trust asset in the funnel.
LinkedIn Outreach
Low alone. Outreach doesn't establish authority — it opens a door.
★ Primary for Audience A. Targeted messaging referencing specific EOS pain or org stage is the most relevant first touch available.
Low at first touch. Trust must be built through subsequent content and conversation.
Free Digital Assessment
Medium. Shows impactco. has a diagnostic framework, not just opinions.
★ Highest relevance moment in the funnel. "This is describing my org" is the peak of Relevance. The questions create recognition before any conversation happens.
Medium → High if results are personalized and followed up with specificity. Currently underperforming this potential.
Digital Workshop
High. Live delivery demonstrates real-time expertise — harder to fake than written content.
Medium. Relevant to leaders already searching for a system. Less relevant to Audience C.
Highest Trust ceiling in the funnel. Live interaction, peer presence, real-time Q&A. Only converts if it ends with a clear, low-friction next step to a call.
Peer / Affiliate Referral
High. A trusted peer has already vouched for credibility before the lead arrives.
★ Primary. Referral context means the lead already believes this is for orgs like theirs — no explanation needed.
★ Highest Trust in the funnel. Collapses all three A.R.T. layers simultaneously. Currently a happy accident — not a deliberate strategy.
GHL Nurture Sequence
Medium. Reinforces authority over time through consistent expert delivery.
Medium. Relevance lives or dies by segmentation. Generic sequences lose relevance fast.
Medium. Trust builds only when every email delivers genuine value before asking for anything. Currently unknown if this is happening consistently.
Gap Audit — Missing or Underbuilt
No EOS-to-ImpactOS case study
Audience A's primary Trust signal is a story from an org that came from EOS and found ImpactOS delivered without the translation burden. This story doesn't exist in the funnel yet.
Missing: Trust — Audience A
Step 1 call is unframed
No "what happens on the call" explainer exists. Leaders don't book calls they can't predict. A simple one-pager or short video describing the diagnostic conversation would reduce friction significantly.
Missing: Trust → Consider Bridge
No Audience C trust signal
System-Resistant leaders need a peer testimonial from someone who held the same resistance and converted. No video or story currently speaks to this specific identity.
Missing: Trust — Audience C
Assessment follow-up is generic
The free assessment is the highest-relevance moment in the funnel. If the follow-up is generic, that moment is wasted. Personalized results + a specific next step based on score would convert at a meaningfully higher rate.
Underbuilt: Relevance → Trust
No "Godfather offer" mid-funnel
The whiteboard asks "what is our Godfather offer?" — and the funnel still doesn't have one. There is no irresistible, low-risk, high-value mid-funnel offer that collapses the gap between interested and ready to talk.
Missing: Consider Stage Activation
Referral is passive, not a strategy
Peer referral collapses all three A.R.T. layers simultaneously and is the highest-converting source — yet it operates as a happy accident. A structured referral ask or connector program would amplify the funnel's best asset.
Underbuilt: All Three Layers — Highest ROI
Section 05
The Seven Elements
Hero
Nonprofit leaders who are stuck and trying to grow their impact.
Villain
The gap between vision and execution that never closes.
Problem
External: Team works hard but the org isn't moving forward.
Internal: Quietly wondering if the org will ever run the way they know it can.
Philosophical: Leaders shouldn't have to choose between heart and execution.
Internal: Quietly wondering if the org will ever run the way they know it can.
Philosophical: Leaders shouldn't have to choose between heart and execution.
Guide
Empathy: We know what it feels like to watch a great mission plateau.
Authority: 1,300+ nonprofits. We've seen what separates the ones that break through.
Authority: 1,300+ nonprofits. We've seen what separates the ones that break through.
Plan
Step 1: Get a clear picture of where your org is losing momentum.
Step 2: Build a custom operating system for your mission.
Step 3: Lead with confidence and watch your impact grow.
Step 2: Build a custom operating system for your mission.
Step 3: Lead with confidence and watch your impact grow.
CTA
Direct: Schedule an Intro Call.
Transitional: Join the Digital Workshop with 25 leaders actively figuring it out.
Transitional: Join the Digital Workshop with 25 leaders actively figuring it out.
Stakes
Success: Team executes consistently. Mission advancing. Leader sees the impact they always knew was possible.
Failure: Staying stuck while the window to make a real difference closes.
Failure: Staying stuck while the window to make a real difference closes.
Transform
A leader whose organization finally runs at the level they always believed it could.
Direct vs. Transitional CTA
Direct
Schedule an Intro Call
Transitional
Join the Digital Workshop
The Transformation Arc
The hero is not impactco. The hero is the nonprofit leader. impactco. is the guide.
Every piece of messaging positions the leader as the one doing something courageous — not as someone being rescued. Authority shows up in the specificity of understanding, not the volume of credentials.
What This Means for Mid-Funnel
The Plan and CTA work when the leader already trusts the guide. When they're warm but haven't booked the call, it means A.R.T. hasn't fully landed. The StoryBrand architecture is sound. The question is whether mid-funnel content is doing enough Trust work before asking for the call.
Value Proposition
We help nonprofits get unstuck and grow their impact by giving them a purpose-built operating system that brings order, alignment, and momentum — without asking them to translate a for-profit framework into their language.
Section 06
What the Data Tells Us
Top-of-funnel is generating traffic and engagement. Market research confirms interest. Leads who engage with the product consistently express that they love it. The funnel is producing warm leads. They are not converting to Step 1 calls at the rate the data says they should.
The interest is real. The product is validated. The calls aren't getting booked. Something in the middle is not closing the gap.
This is not a brand awareness problem. Not a product problem. It is a Trust and Consider stage conversion problem — specifically the step from "I'm interested" to "I'm scheduling a conversation."
Signals from the Data
✓
Top-of-Funnel Working
Paid ads, content, EOS comparison series, and LinkedIn outreach are driving awareness at expected volume.
✓
Product Love Confirmed
Market research and funnel data both indicate leads who engage with the product concept respond positively.
✓
Post-Sale Performance Strong
Clients who engage are satisfied. Retention and referral quality are not the issue.
!
Trust/Consider Stage Not Converting
Warm leads not moving from engagement to a booked Step 1 call at the predicted rate.
Working Hypothesis
The content is building interest but not enough trust to trigger action. Warm leads are not yet confident that the conversation will be worth their time.
Questions for This Session
1
Where specifically in the Trust and Consider stages are leads dropping? What does GHL data show about which touchpoints precede disengagement?
2
Is the Step 1 call framed clearly enough as a diagnostic — not a sales pitch? Does the lead know what they'll get from the call before they book?
3
Which audience segment (A, B, or C) has the highest drop rate at this stage? The fix may need to be segment-specific.
4
Is the Digital Workshop doing enough trust work, or is it attracting the wrong stage of buyer?
5
What is the friction point — the CTA itself, the landing page, the email sequence, or the content leading into it?
6
Are there mid-funnel trust signals — segment-specific case study, retargeting sequence, assessment follow-up — that could be added or optimized?
Session Goal
Leave with one specific, testable mid-funnel hypothesis and at least one concrete tactic to execute within 30 days.
