FIA Outreach

Updated Oct 14, 1:46 PM

What works

From 779 FIA pitches in the past year

See the full numbers

779 emails sent

89 replied 11.4%

28 deals won 3.6%

$13,744

committed value

$6,650

of it cash

pitches per win

What gets replies

Named person vs generic inbox

No real difference yet.

Named person11%

58 of 523 replied · 6 won

Generic inbox12%

31 of 256 replied · 2 won

Generic = info@, press@, partnerships@ and similar shared addresses.

Mass template vs one-off

One-off gets 2.0x the reply rate of mass template.

One-off16%

52 of 323 replied · 6 won

Mass template8%

37 of 456 replied · 2 won

Mass template = the same subject and opening sent to 5+ brands. A templated email can still have a personal line further down.

Follow-ups

8 replies came only after a follow-up. Follow-ups go to brands that ignored the first email, so their rate will always look lower; they still win extra replies.

No follow-up12%

81 of 694 replied · 7 won

1 follow-up8%

6 of 80 replied · 1 won

2+ follow-ups50%

2 of 4 replied · small sample

9% of replies (8 of 89) came only after a follow-up. Rows count follow-ups sent before the brand replied, or in total if they never did.

Warm vs cold

Not enough pitches on both sides to compare yet.

Warm20%

5 of 25 replied · small sample

Cold11%

84 of 754 replied · 8 won

Warm = alum or FIA connection, past sponsor, someone you met, a referral, or a brand that replied in an earlier season. Fix any row by hand in its details.

Team and pipeline

By board member

SentRepliedReply rate

Maddie Cheng Best

32/168

19%1 won

Jasmine Pradhana

22/152

14%1 won

Gemma Miller

10/130

8%1 won

Tatjana Castelein

4/100

4%1 won

Gabrielle Desdune

5/57

Lucas Damasco

3/55

5%1 won

Evan Ji

1/33

Jasmine Khuu

4/19

21%

Emily Chang

3/16

19%3 won

Gabriela Franklin

1/15

Kensington Ono

2/11

18%

Fendi Yu

2/10

20%

Sean Walker

0/8

Unattributed

0/5

Pipeline

Prospect

111

Contacted

455

In conversation

Committed

$7,094

Delivered

$6,650

Lost

$1,000

Committed value by owner

Maddie Cheng

6 deals

$5,050

Gemma

4 deals

$2,139

Jasmine Pradhana

2 deals

$2,012

Pola

2 deals

$1,550

Tatjana Castelein

1 deal

$1,000

Juri

1 deal

$1,000

Abriana

2 deals

$500

Emily Chang

5 deals

$300

Evan Ji

1 deal

$193

Mitchell

1 deal

—

Shahir

1 deal

—

Talia

1 deal

—

Sarah

1 deal

—

Value only counts once you enter it on a deal.

By outreach type

SentRepliedReply rate

Sponsorship Best

53/457

12%3 won

VIP invite

21/175

12%4 won

Recruiter Reception

7/77

9%1 won

Panel / speaker

8/70

11%

By season

SentRepliedReply rate

Fall 2026

6/67

Spring 2026 Best

79/624

13%7 won

Fall 2025

4/87

5%1 won

Spring 2025

0/1

Gray means fewer than 30 pitches, too few to call a pattern. "Best" and the takeaways weigh reply rate by volume, so a high rate on a handful of emails doesn't win. Won counts only after you confirm it.