Pitches that give Fortune’s Allie Garfinkle the ick

Plus we're sharing early-stage PR fundraising templates

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Shoutout to VMG who published this interview with Fortune’s Allie Garfinkle with amazing intel. Allie happens to be on our favorite writers to work with and follow and took over the Term Sheet from Jessica Mathews. Here’s a few tidbits we loved:

• Call out the relevance: “I really think it’s helpful when people clearly articulate to me what makes something a fit for the Term Sheet audience.”

• Pitching funding: “I won’t take a fund or funding announcement if it’s not exclusive, full stop. I take a finite number of exclusives, because the ones I do, I want to devote my energy to thoughtfully understanding them.”

• Pitches that give her the ick:  “A pitch is overly prescriptive or too long. Make it clear right up top why you came to me specifically for this story and delineate what the value to Term Sheet readers will be, and then I’ll get back to you as soon as I can (which often might not be right away). “

• Go all in on the pitch: “I’ve had a few experiences where someone’s come to me in a panic, worried about the angle a story might take. I have absolutely no patience for that whatsoever. I’m naturally warm and sometimes that’s mistaken for pliability. Don’t make that mistake, please. Trust me to do my job thoughtfully and fairly — that’s why you came to me.”

Some tangential and helpful intel we’ve compiled on the topic of pitching Fortune’s Term Sheet: