donor relations

Show Appreciation by Holding an Open House

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising
Nonprofit organizations need to find ways to thank donors all year round. One special way to show appreciation is to hold an open house at your organization. If you can’t hold it on site, have it at a restaurant or other venue.  You may be able to find someone to donate space.
Not for donors only
You could just have an event for donors, but why not invite your email subscribers and your social media followers? This could be a great way to convert these supporters into donors. Also, encourage donors to bring a friend. 
Coordinate it with your annual appeal
Depending on your resources, you may only be able to hold one open house a year.  If you can hold more, that’s great.  A good time to have one is before you launch your annual appeal.  Most organizations do a fall appeal, so think about holding one in October or early November.
Another option is the spring, if you have an appeal then, or you could make it a thank you event.  Winter is tricky, unless you are fortunate to live in a part of the country where it doesn’t snow.  Summer is also problematic since it’s vacation time.
Whenever you decide to hold your open house, don’t ask for money at this event. 
Make it informal
Hold a gathering where your supporters can drop in after work.  Serve refreshments. You may be able to get food and beverages donated or find a sponsor. 
Have a brief program.  You could show a video and/or let a client share his or her story.  Your executive director or board chair should thank the attendees and share some accomplishments and plans for the future.  Again, keep it brief; don’t bore people.
Create some photo displays and have literature available. You could also show a video on a laptop. Offer tours, if that makes sense.
Let your donors and other supporters see the heart and soul of your organization.
Get your board involved
You want a good turnout from your board. Encourage board members to invite friends and other potential prospects.
Brush up on those talking points
Make sure staff and board mingle with your supporters and make them feel welcome.  You may need to go over your organization’s talking points and elevator pitches with everyone, so they can be prepared to talk about what you do and answer questions. The 4 Cornerstones of Your Nonprofit Message Platform 
Don’t let them get away
Anyone who has taken time out of his/her busy schedule to attend your open house deserves a ton of attention.
Collect names and addresses of people who attended and send a thank you note right away. Don’t ask for money (that comes later).
When you do send your annual appeal, make a reference in the letter or handwritten note that it was great to see them at your open house.

Not all your donors will attend, but they will appreciate the invitation.  Donors and other supporters who do come are showing you they are interested in your organization.  Keep cultivating them.  This will help ensure they will continue to support you. 

Summer Project Time – Put Together a Collection of Stories and Photos

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, marketing, writing
Another project you can do this summer is to gather stories and photos.  You’ll need them for your annual appeal, and can also use them in an annual report, on your website, and in your newsletters.

You want to have a collection of engaging stories and photos to use throughout the year. 

Show don’t tell
Many nonprofits try to explain their “programs and services” by using abstract and impersonal language. Tell a story instead. A story can show how your organization is making a difference in a concrete and personal way. Stories are a great way to introduce your organization to potential donors and show current donors the impact of their support.

Don’t just say you have opened a clinic in an underserved community.  Share Mary’s story.  Mary, a 68-year-old woman with diabetes, used to have to take two busses to see the doctor. Now she can visit the new clinic that’s a five minute walk from her house.  Include some quotes from Mary, or better yet have her tell a story in the first person.

Imagine you are a donor.  Wouldn’t you rather read a story than a bunch of facts and statistics?

Read on for more information to help you tell your stories.

You Have 6 Nonprofit Story Types to Tell (Part One)

5 Steps to Collecting Stories Now for Year-End Fundraising

Do You Have Good Stories To Tell?

Why Telling One Person’s Story Moves Your Constituents to Action

Tell a visual story
You’ve probably heard the expression a picture is worth a 1000 words.  Yes, it’s a cliché, but it’s relevant in this day of information overload.  Your donors don’t have a lot of time to read your messages, but you can capture their attention in an instant with a great photo. Engage Prospects With Visual Content 

Use photos that show your work in action – photos that tell a story. I love this photo from the Fresh Air Fund.  It really caught my attention the first time I saw it. FreshAirFundPrintPSA-Fundraising-BigSplashes.
Here is more information to help you create and use photos.
5 Ways To Make Your Visual Content More Stunning

How Nonprofits Can Use Images and Video to Engage: A Case Study 
Work with your program staff
If you are making a difference, then you have good stories to tell.  Most likely you’ll need to work with your program staff to gather stories and photos.  They will either provide you with stories or give you access to clients that you can interview or photograph.  They’ll also help you get any permissions, if you want to talk with or photograph children.

If any of your clients are reluctant to share their stories, remember you can change their names to protect their privacy.

You do need to respect the program staff’s time and not approach them at the last minute because you need a story for your annual appeal.

Successful nonprofit organizations have good staff relationships where everyone works together for the people you serve.  Don’t get territorial and create silos. 

Here is more information on how you can all work together to share your stories.  Let’s Work Together – The Importance of a Good Relationship with the Program Department
Being organized pays off
I recommend gathering stories and photos at least once or twice year.  It’s okay to use the same photos and stories in different materials.  Often a familiar photograph can help with your brand identity.

By having this collection of stories and photos, you can easily find one for your annual appeal, thank you letters, or newsletters.

Photo by UNE Photos via Flickr

Summer Project Time – Clean Up and Organize Your Mailing Lists

Ann Green donor relations, fundraising
It’s summer!  You might not be thinking about your fall annual appeal when it’s 90+ degrees, but you should be.  Fall will be here before you know it.

Over the next several weeks, I’m going to give you some ideas of ways to get ready for your annual appeal and other projects you can do over the summer when it may not be as busy.

A good project to start with is to clean up and organize your mailing lists (regular mail and email).

Add, edit, and delete
Do you have a bunch of address change requests or bounced email addresses?  Now is a good time to take care of those.

Also, check for misspelled or incorrect names and addresses.  I’m often addressed as Anne rather than Ann.  You won’t make a good first impression if you get your donor’s name wrong or there is a typo in the address.

Handle with care
Data entry is boring, but is something you need to take seriously, and make sure it’s done with care to avoid any misspellings,etc.  Often the person who does your data entry (volunteers?) may not know your donors as well.  If that’s the case, have your development director, executive director, or any board members who interact with donors look over your lists.  Tedious, yes, but important.

If a donor ever lets you know his or her name is incorrect, apologize and fix it right away.

Get personal
Add any personal bits of information about your donors to your database.  This could include attending an event or meeting with a board member.  You’ll need this when you personalize your letters (see below) and add a short handwritten note on each one.

Segment your lists
Divide your lists by current donors, monthly donors, lapsed donors, other supporters (e.g. people who subscribe to your email list but aren’t donors), event attendees, volunteers, etc.  

You want to personalize your letters according to donor group.  You are going to have the most success with current donors, provided that you have been showing gratitude and sharing accomplishments throughout the year.

Donor retention rates have been pretty dismal lately, and the biggest attrition comes between the first and second donation.  You may also want to create a list of first time donors.  I’m going to write a separate post about doing something special for your first time donors, such as sending a thank you postcard or email to help ensure they will donate again.

Here is some more information on segmenting your lists. Are you ready to segment?
You’ll also want to invest in a good database and email service provider to make this easier for you. Remember, Excel Is Not A Donor Database 

Go multi-channel
You’ll have more success in your annual appeal campaign if you can communicate with your donors through more than one channel.

When going through your lists, you may discover you have mailing addresses for some donors, but no email addresses or vice versa.  Here you need write or email your donors to get that information.  They may not give it to you, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

You can also email your donors to invite them to follow you on social media and post something on social media inviting folks to sign up for your email list.

Personalization makes a difference
Yes, all of this will take time, which is why you should start thinking about it now and not at the end of October.

You want to get your donors’ names right and make sure there aren’t any typos in their addresses.  Also, the more you are able to personalize their annual appeal letters, the more successful you will be.

Photo by U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv via Flickr

Do You Really Talk Like That?

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, marketing, writing
Imagine that you are donor and you receive a newsletter from a nonprofit organization that you support.  As you read it, you come across phrases like generate social capital and culture-focused projects.  Does it make you want to read more, or put it aside and go on to your next piece of mail?

One of the keys to good writing is to be conversational.  Many nonprofit communications (newsletters, fundraising letters, etc) are not conversational and tend to be impersonal and abstract.

Don’t worry. it’s easy to fix this.  Here are a few ways to make your writing more conversational.

Write in the second person
Refer to your reader as you and your organization as we.  Since you want to be donor-focused, use you more than we.

Write as if you are talking to a friend. You may want to create donor personas to help you with that. How to Develop Donor Personas for Your Nonprofit

Ditch the jargon
Most industries have some type of insider language.  I think people like to use it because it makes them feel like they are “in the know.”

The problem is when this language starts creeping into your fundraising letters and newsletter articles.  Terms like capacity building and direct service don’t mean anything to most of your donors. Personally, I’d like to see nonprofit folks stop using jargon so much among themselves.

I found the examples cited above in a nonprofit newsletter I recently received.  I’m not sure what this organization is trying to convey when they say generate social capital. Are they talking about economic benefits or community building?

Donors want specific examples of how you are making a difference by helping homeless families find affordable housing or showing how your tutoring program boosts kids’ reading skills.

The culture-focused project referred to students creating a flag from their “country of origin.”  Why not tell a story about Sarah and Maria’s experience working on this project and include some quotes from the girls?

If you are not sure you are using jargon, this might help. Jargon Finder 

Don’t use the passive voice 
I’m not a fan of the passive voice. It weakens your writing, and if you use it in a conversation, you sound pretentious.

Instead of saying 200,000 meals were served at the Riverside Community Food Bank, say thanks to you (remember your donor) we served 200,000 meals….. 

Use strong, active verbs and limit passive verbs (is, was) as much as possible.

Back to school
Many major newspapers write at a sixth to eighth grade level  and so should you.  This is not dumbing down; you are making your stories easy to read and understand.  When you use big words, you are confusing and alienating your readers.

The Flesch Kinkaid tool in the review section of Word can be helpful.  It gives you readability statistics, number of passive sentences, and grade level.

Make this a priority
Your writing needs to be conversational so you can create clear and engaging messages.

You might want to read your letter/article out loud, or have someone outside your organization look at it.  I don’t always like to recommend multiple editors, and perhaps this is one of the reasons for flat writing, but what may be clear to you might not make sense to others.

Keep all this is mind as you start to craft your fall annual appeal letters and thank you letters. 

Your donors are busy and receive messages from a variety of sources besides yours.  Make your letter, email message, or social media post something they will take the time to read. 

Read below for more information to help you make your writing clear and specific.
Instead of Help, Support, Resources and Services
Crafting Fundraising Letters: What To Say Instead of “Programs and Services”

Resolutions Revisited

Ann Green donor relations, fundraising, marketing
We are already halfway through the year (hard to believe isn’t it?). Remember back at the beginning of the year when you made resolutions (or plans) for your nonprofit organization?Resolutions Nonprofits Need to Make

You may have long since given up on your personal resolutions, but you need to keep going with your nonprofit resolutions.

Let’s check in and see how you are doing.

Stick with your plan
How are you doing with your fundraising and marketing plans?  Please tell me you did create written plans for 2013.

Are you meeting your goals so far?  If you are not where you want to be right now, figure what’s not working and make any adjustments you need. 

Maybe you are coming up short in your fundraising goals because you are reaching out to the wrong potential donors or not engaging your current donors enough.

You should be monitoring your progress at least once a quarter, so schedule a time to do this again before October.

Be realistic
I’ve been writing a lot about dealing with limited resources and setting priorities so you can work successfully within your means. Take a good hard look at what you want to accomplish.

Perhaps your spring fundraising event isn’t worth the effort you put into it.

Make room for growth
Are you looking into new opportunities for your organization?  Don’t cast a wide net.  Analyze your audience and reach out to those who will be receptive to your cause.

Summer is also great time for your staff to learn new skills.  Look into professional development opportunities.

Do your best
Make a point to do your best whether it’s writing a thank you note or sharing accomplishments.  Be sure everything you do is high quality.  Give your donors what they want, such as photos and stories showing how you are making a difference.

Be nice
Keep being nice to the people who support you.  If you haven’t sent out a special thank you message to your donors this summer,Time To Thank Your Donors make a point to do that soon.  Be donor-centered and always show appreciation.  Create an attitude of gratitude.

Don’t give up right away
Again, if something isn’t working, figure out why.  If people aren’t responding to your messages, maybe your messages aren’t clear, you are reaching out to the wrong audience, or you need to send your message through a different channel.   Make the adjustments you need.    

Sometimes you do need to give up what you are doing and do something else that will give you better results.

Relax
Remember you don’t have to work 24/7.  Take care of yourself, especially if you are feeling really stressed.  Hopefully, you have a vacation planned this summer.

Most nonprofits are very busy in the fall, so fit in some relaxation time over the summer.

Keep up your resolutions this summer and throughout the fall. 

How are you doing with your resolutions?

Photo by Roberto Ventre via Flickr

Make An Investment To Keep Your Donors Happy

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, marketing

In my last post, I wrote about figuring out the best ways for you to reach out to your donors.  I suggested sending out short surveys with questions such as do your donors prefer print or electronic communication and which types of communication are they most likely to read.


What happens if what your donors want is difficult for you to do because of limited resources?  Let’s say a majority of your donors tell you they prefer print newsletters.

Many organizations send electronic newsletters because it’s easier and less expensive, but if your donors want print, you are doing a huge disservice to the people who support you.

Don’t panic.  I have some suggestions on how you can produce a print newsletter with limited resources.  If you run into other conflicts such as donors wanting more photos and stories, you can apply some of these as well.

Prioritize
If you have limited resources (budget, time, staff), you need to prioritize.  Being donor-centered and keeping your donors happy is a priority. 

Make an investment
Nonprofit organizations often skimp on their fundraising and marketing budgets, and want to pour all their resources into programming.  There’s been a lot of buzz about overhead costs lately. The Overhead Myth 

My take on this is your entire budget is program related. If your donors want a print newsletter, then this is a legitimate expense.  You need to spend money to make money.  It might sound simplistic, but if you keep your donors happy, they will continue to donate money to keep your programs running.

Can you allocate more of your budget towards printing, mailing, staff, equipment etc?  If not, find additional funding sources that will cover general operating expenses. 

DIY
You don’t need to spend a lot of money on a fancy newsletter, but it should look professional.  You could print it yourself.  Invest in a high-quality color printer and newsletter software.  Also, look into bulk mailing options.

Don’t leave anyone out
Ideally a print newsletter should be no longer than four pages and go out at least once a quarter.  If you are really strapped, you could send one twice a year.  But if your donors want print or don’t use email or social media, they need to hear from you more often than that.  

If they aren’t getting updates from you, and the only communication they receive are fundraising appeals, that’s not good. You need to reach out to these donors by mail.  

The fact is some donors prefer print newsletters. This Fundchat transcript explores that further and offers other insights on newsletters. Do Traditional Newsletters Still Work For Nonprofits?

Other options
You could figure out which donors want a print newsletter and which want an electronic one.  Some organizations do this. This may also be hard to pull off if you have limited resources. Be careful not to short change one group. Give everyone equal quality.

You may decide you just can’t do a print newsletter.  If that’s the case, consider sending out postcards or other short pieces updating your donors on your success.

Keep your donors happy
Again your priority should be to keep your donors happy.  If you don’t reach out to these donors by mail, you are ignoring and alienating them.

On the other hand, if your donors say they want you to save trees and not communicate by mail, don’t spend the extra resources.

Do the best you can, but also do what’s best for your donors.

What’s The Best Way To Reach Out To Your Donors?

Ann Green Communications, donor relations
Making connections with your donors is one of the most important things a nonprofit organization needs to do.  What’s the best way to go about it? It’s going to be different for each organization and you’ll need to figure out what works best for you. Your decision will be based primarily on what your donors want, but also on what your organization is capable of doing.

What other organizations are doing may not work for you. In my last post, I asked if annual reports still make sense, and they do for some organizations, but not for others.

We live in multichannel world
Today we have many ways to communicate – everything from brochures to Pinterest.  Print materials aren’t necessarily prehistoric, but you can often go electronic, with the exception of annual appeal letters, thank you letters, and event invitations, which should still be done in print.

It seems as if every day you hear about some new type of social media.  Just because it’s brand new doesn’t mean you need to run out and embrace it, nor does it mean you should reject it as the latest passing fad.  Figure out what’s best.

What do your donors want? 
You want to use the same types of communication (newsletters, annual reports, etc.) and channels (email, print, etc) your donors like. You can track response rates with measurement, but that’s only part of the picture.  The best way to find out is to ask. 

Send a short survey about your communication materials or a series of very short surveys (one or two questions) throughout the year focusing on one type of communication or channel, such as annual reports, newsletters, website, or social media. 

Short surveys are also great way to stay engaged throughout the year.  The easiest way to do a survey is through email, on your website, or social media, but if your donors aren’t connected electronically, you’ll need to reach out by mail or phone.  Just knowing that should give you an idea of the best ways to communicate.

Chances are most people use a variety of channels, but have their favorites.

Question time
If you are not sure what to ask your donors, here are few suggestions.  Ask if they prefer print, electronic, or have no preference.   Find out if they even read your newsletter or annual report.  Get their feedback on how you can improve your communication. 

Be careful about asking too many questions at once, because you may not get as much of a response.

Don’t assume older donors like print and younger donors want something mobile friendly.  Ask.

You may find that what your donors want is difficult for you to do because of limited resources.  Maybe they want a print newsletter or more photos. This becomes tricky, because you need to do what’s best for your donors without overextending your budget and staff too much. 

In my next post, I’ll write about how to handle this conflict.

How do you reach out to your donors?
Photo by BenSpark via Flickr

Do Annual Reports Still Make Sense?

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising
The answer is, it depends.  They are often not done very well, but they can be useful.  An annual report is a good way to show accomplishments to funders and potential funders.
Here are a few things to consider when deciding whether it makes sense for your organization to produce an annual report.
What do your donors want?
Your annual report is for your donors and it should reflect what they want –  not what your board wants.  Just because you have always done an annual report, doesn’t mean you should.
Send a short survey to your individual donors and get their opinion.  Do they even read your annual report?  Grant and corporate funders will probably be more interested in the nitty gritty, while individual donors will want something short and visual.
It gets old quickly
An annual report can end up being a static document.  One huge problem is that for some organizations,it’s the only time they share accomplishments with their donors. Dear Fundraisers: The Annual Report Is Yesterday’s News 
Ideally, you should be sharing accomplishments regularly – at least once a month.
If you wait until the beginning of the next calendar year to start on your annual report, and then spend a lot of time gathering all the materials, writing, and editing it, your 2013 annual report ends up going out sometime in the middle of 2014. 
It’s putting me to sleep
The traditional annual report was often a 10-20 page document filled with long-winded text. It listed activities rather than accomplishments and focused on the organization and not how the organization was making a difference for the people they served. Fortunately, this seems to be changing,
In short, annual reports tend to be boring.  It’s not just length.  I’ve seen four-page reports that weren’t very engaging either.
It takes a lot of resources
Annual reports can take a lot of time to put together and then you have to factor in printing and mailing, if you choose to go that route.  It may not make sense for a small organization.
We want to produce an annual report.

Okay, you’ve thought it over and decided that an annual report does make sense for your organization.  Here are a few suggestions to help you create a good one.
Who are your donors?
Remember that annual reports are for your donors and different donors have different needs.  You may want to produce different types of annual reports for your grant funders and individual donors, or only produce one for your grant funders.  One size doesn’t fit all.
Start working on it this summer
You want your 2013 annual report done by the beginning of next year.  A lot of it can be done ahead of time. 
Take time this summer to collect stories, testimonials, quotes, accomplishments, and photos.  You could even do a video.  RETHINKING THE ANNUAL REPORT FOR VIDEO 
Everything you include should emphasize how your donors are helping you make a difference for the people you serve. 
Create a plan
Think carefully about what you want to produce for different donor groups.  I’m not trying to create extra work for you by suggesting you make more than one type of annual report.  Once you have the stories, accomplishments, photos, etc, it should be pretty straightforward.   
Do what’s best for your donors.
This link gives you more suggestions about creating annual reports.
Are Annual Reports History?
I’ll write another post in the fall exploring this a little more and help you make your annual report engaging.
  

Time To Thank Your Donors

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, writing
Do you remember the commercial from years back where the Dunkin Donuts baker would rise each morning and declare?  “Time to make the donuts.”  Time to make the Donuts  Well, it’s time for you to thank your donors.
Of course, it’s always time to thank your donors, and you should be showing gratitude on a regular basis, not just after you have received a gift.  But take it up a notch and do something really special this month.
You may be thinking, why now?  It’s not Thanksgiving, the holidays, or Valentine’s Day.  Precisely.  Your donors probably won’t be expecting anything and should be pleasantly surprised. Send something early in the summer before your donors start to go on vacation.
Keep in mind that if your donors don’t feel appreciated, they may not donate again.
Here are a few things to help get you started and some different ways to thank your donors.
Create a good photo
The first thing you should do is find or take some great photos.  Maybe one where you get people together to hold a thank you sign.  Here are a few examples.  The first one is actually a video, but you can do the same thing with a photo.

Create a “Thank You” video 
HOW DO I THANK THEE, STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS…
You could also show your work in action.  Whatever you decide, be sure it’s engaging.  
Make a list of accomplishments
Choose a few accomplishments you have achieved so far this year and share those with your donors.  Remember to focus on how your donor is helping you make a difference for the people you serve.
Send a thank you card
Take that great photo and use it to create a note card or postcard.  It’s a good idea to invest in one of these, so you can have them on hand to send to volunteers and board members, as well as donors.  If cost is an issue, you could get a print shop to do it pro bono or find a corporate sponsor.  You could also just buy some thank you cards, but something that references your organization would be better.
Thank you cards are small, so you only need a few sentences.  Get a group together to write them – staff, board members, volunteers, even clients (if feasible).  Here’s a great suggestion of throwing a card shower. MANY, MANY, MANY THANKS 
Think about investing in note cards or a postcard.  Handwritten notes make a difference.
Email works, too
In addition to thank you notes, you can send out an email thank you.  You may also choose email if mailing cards is too hard to pull off.
Just because you are sending email,doesn’t mean you should skimp on quality.  Use an engaging photo and share some of those accomplishments.  Write a really heartfelt message and make it look nice.
Create a video
It’s so much easier to make videos now.  Think about creating a special thank you video.  The example I included above features different people connected with the organization saying thank you. This link includes a few more examples.  Our Favorite Nonprofit Thank You Videos 

Your video doesn’t need to be long, either.  A minute or less is perfect. 
You can use this video in an email message, in social media, and on your website.
These are just a few suggestions of ways to thank your donors right now.  Keep thanking them all year round, too.  Thank Your Donors All Year Round 

How are you thanking your donors?

Conquering Your Communication Challenges – Creating Engaging Content

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, marketing, writing

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been writing about how to conquer some of your communication challenges.  Another challenge many nonprofit organizations face is coming up with engaging content on a regular basis.

Do you find yourself saying any of the following?

We’re having trouble getting organized
Your biggest ally here is an editorial calendar.  How to Create an Editorial Calendar You can do one for the year, but also break it down into smaller components. This doesn’t need to take a lot of time, and it’s a huge time-saver overall. Each month figure out what you will include in your newsletter. Every week decide how you are going to connect with your supporters. Spend 15-20 minutes a day looking for content you can share on social media. 

Your editorial calendar will include time-sensitive content, such as events or that April is national volunteer month, as well as evergreen content – stories you can use at any time.  

We don’t know what to write about
Your content should focus on how you are making a difference for the people/community you serve.  You have good stories to tell.  Work with your program staff to create a story bank to use for your annual appeal, website, newsletter, etc.  You can also include profiles of clients, donors, board members, volunteers, and staff.   

Don’t forget to thank your donors in your newsletter and other updates.  Avoid stories that are more focused on your organization, such as obtaining new computers for your staff, unless you can tie that back to your mission.

Here is more information on creating stories.

How Story Trumps Description
Do You Have Good Stories To Tell?
Use measurement and analytics to see what types of content hit home with your supporters.  Most likely it will be success stories that emphasize how they are helping you make a difference.

We don’t a lot of time to do this
I covered time constraints in my last post, and this is a challenge for many organizations. 

Nonprofits do need to communicate often with their supporters.  Try to reach out once a week.  If that’s impossible, aim for every other week.  It’s not as daunting as you may think. Planning and strategy always helps.

Some consistency is good for your newsletter.  Use a template that you can fill in each month. Maybe you will always include a success story or a profile. Also, keep in mind that your newsletter only needs a few articles.

Your supporters are busy and will appreciate short messages. In addition to your monthly newsletter, you can reach out with a brief update, advocacy alert, or one-question survey.  Another way to connect is to share the outcome of your advocacy alert or the results from your survey.

Use the same content in different channels.  For example include links to your newsletter, as well as updates, advocacy alerts, and surveys on Facebook and Twitter.

Another good way to engage is to post a photo of your program in action on social media.  A great photo can tell a story in an instant. 
Don’t Just Post Photos. Post Stories!
I hope this helps you conquer the some of the challenges of creating engaging content.  How do you handle this challenge?