The quickest way to improve your donor newsletters is to start seeing your world in story form. Behind every person there is a story. And behind every story there is a person. Your job is to uncover both. Your donors want to read about people, not projects. So write about people. Show photographs of people. Let me give you an example of what to avoid.
In the May 2006 issue of its donor newsletter, a non-profit retirement home gives an update on its building project. The headline for the article is, you guessed it: “Building Update.”
The first sentence reads: “Everything on site is proceeding well.”
The story is accompanied by eight full-color photos. One shows a half-built wall. One shows the inside of the building, under construction, with building supplies and debris everywhere, and some scaffolding in the foreground. Another is an aerial shot showing a dumpster covered with a tarpaulin. Only one photo has a person in it. And he has his back to the camera (and the donor reading the article).
There is not a single photo caption anywhere on the page to describe what the reader is seeing. Which is probably just as well. What can you say about a stack of drywall to inspire your donors?
The second paragraph of the article says, “There are many players involved in managing a project of this magnitude: the Board of Directors, Building Committee, Design Committee, Finance Committee, Administration, Consultants, MOH, MOL and the Town of ______.”
The article doesn’t get any better after that, I am sorry to report.
Your donors will not read an article like that. They have no interest in committees. They are not motivated by photographs of excavations or insulation contractors. Your donors want to read about people. To publish a successful newsletter, one that cultivates your donors and gets them enthusiastic about your cause and the people you help, you must give your donors what they want. Behind every story, even a story about a building project under way, there are people. Tell their story and you will inspire your donors to fund your cause and tell others about you. Here’s what I mean.
On my desk is the summer 2007 issue of a non-profit organization’s donor newsletter. It features a story about a young man attending Queen’s University. Nothing unusual about that, right? David is taking engineering. Big deal, right? Except that behind this young man is a story. David has autism.
The headline reads: “Following His Dream: David’s pursuit of an engineering degree despite his autism.” I would have phrased that: “Following His Dream: David pursues an engineering degree despite his autism.” But never mind . . .
The opening is riveting: “There was never any question that our son would go to university. The question was how.” The story goes on to say: “David has no difficulty understanding complex scientific theories, but he couldn’t cross a busy street on his own.”
Compelling stuff! How can a young man with autism possibly take a full course load and end his year with an 82 average? You have to read the story to find out. I did.
Behind David there is a story. The editors found it and told it. It moved me. Behind the story of the building update there are people. The editors didn’t hunt for them. Can you guess which organization would get my next donation?
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The Fundraisers’ Book of Quotations.
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