writing

Find Ways To Engage With Your Donors

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, writing

This post was featured in the February 2013 Blog Carnival

Have you heard the dismal news about donor retention?  It doesn’t need to be that way.  One solution to keeping your donors is better engagement.

Try to engage with your donors by email once a week.  If you use social media, you can communicate more often  –  generally once a day on Facebook and a couple of times a day on Twitter.

Quality counts
Whatever you send out, make it donor-centric.  Focus on success stories.  Show how the donor was part of that success.  And always show gratitude. 

Be welcoming
If you are not are already doing this, send a welcome message to your new email subscribers. Personalize it, say thank you, and give a brief summary of what types of information they will receive.

What about my newsletter?
Perhaps you send out an email newsletter once a month or every two weeks, and that’s fine.  While it’s generally recommended that nonprofits communicate with their supporters anywhere between once a week and once a month, I would aim for closer to once a week.

One issue with e-newsletters is that they are too long.  If you are sending out a monthly newsletter, keep it to a few articles.  People have short attention spans.

Testing time
Here is a good opportunity to test.  Measure to see how people respond to short weekly updates as opposed to your longer monthly newsletter.

You can still send out newsletters, and supplement them with short messages in between. 

What should I send out?
Remember to keep your audience in mind.  Also, keep your messages short.  Make them easy to read and scan.  Besides providing updates, here are a few other ways to keep your supporters engaged.

Surveys
Send out short surveys.  You can ask people their opinion on an issue or something else relevant to your work.  Make people feel included.  One nonprofit I know of that sells holiday cards asks folks to vote on their favorite designs.
If people respond well to your short surveys, perhaps you could do one a month.

Here is more information about creating surveys and other ways to get feedback from your supporters. HOW TO GET FEEDBACK FROM YOUR SUPPORTERS

Advocacy alerts
Send out an advocacy alert on a piece of legislation that affects the people you serve.

You’ll have more success if you make it easy to take action.  Provide a sample phone script, letter, or email template.  You could send out an existing advocacy email from another organization, if it’s too hard to create your own.  Be sure to credit that organization.

Another way to engage is to report back results on that legislation.

Say thank you
Why not make a point to send a thank you message to your donors each month.  Share a success story and let them know that you couldn’t have accomplished that without their support.

Always find ways to say thank you.

Invite people to join you on social media
Send an invitation via email to join you on Facebook and Twitter.  But don’t stop there.  Show your supporters what they will get out of it.

Remember that social media is social, so ask questions to engage folks.  Start a conversation.

Here some ways to build a community on Facebook. 7 reasons your nonprofit Facebook page has no fans 

Share photos and videos
Share photos of the people you serve.  Not all email providers display photos, so you’ll want to include a link to link to your website. Facebook is great for sharing photos.

You might not have the capacity to create a video, but if you do, make it high quality and short.  Share videos of the people you serve participating in activities or better yet saying thank you to your donors!

Other ideas include sharing testimonials and quotes.  I favor stories over statistics, but you could share some interesting statistics with a link to a story.  Phrase it, Did you know…..?

Get organized
If you use an editorial calendar, you shouldn’t have a problem coming up with and organizing your content.  Make it cross channel and include email, social media, website, and print.  Figure out what to send out and when.  Here is more information on creating editorial calendars.  Your Most Powerful Social Media Tool for 2013 

Keep measuring how people respond to your messages.  If you are not getting much of a response from your surveys, either do them differently or find another way to engage.

All roads lead to your website
While I’ve been emphasizing email communication, and to a certain extent, social media, often these messages include links to your website.
Keep your entire website up-to-date and engaging.  You never know if your supporters will travel from your web link to another page on your website.

It’s very important for you to communicate with your donors regularly and keep them interested and engaged in your work. 

Let’s hope next year at this time we won’t be reading all these dismal statistics about donor retention.

Your Audience Isn’t Everyone

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, marketing, writing

Have you or someone in your organization ever said “We want everyone to know about us.” Everyone, really?  I hate to break it to you, but EVERYONE is not interested in your organization, even though you may be doing great work.

Kivi Leroux Miller of Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com points out there is no general public, and when you try to reach out to everyone, you reach out to no one.

In addition, just saying you want people to know about you (e.g. raising awareness) is a vague goal.  You need a call to action, such as donating, volunteering, contacting your legislator, or attending an event. With a clear call to action,you will also raise awareness.

Who is your audience?
Take some time to put together audience profiles or personas.  You can survey or interview your supporters, or just put together a profile to the best of your knowledge.  The more accurate you can make it, the better.

Here is more information on putting together audience personas.
Create Personas to Bridge the Gap with Target Audiences 

How to Develop Donor Personas for Your Nonprofit
Make a point to get to know your audience.  Listen to what they have to say about you.  Social media is a great platform for that.  

Communicating with your audience
Once you figure out who your audience is, visualize yourself communicating with them, or better yet, with one person.  Your messages should meet their needs and interests.

Remember that one size doesn’t fit all. Messages to donors will be different from messages to volunteers.  Come up with content which will persuade that group to take action. Create clear, concise, conversational, and compelling messages.  The 4 Cs of Writing Good Content
Your audience is a great resource
As you plan to find new donors, volunteers, and other supporters, you usually don’t have to look very far.

How many people who subscribe to your mailing list and follow you on social media are donors?   If they aren’t, they are great candidates to become ones.  Much more so than people who don’t know you.

Your volunteers are potential donors and your donors are potential volunteers.

Also, social media makes it easy for supporters to share information such as attending events, volunteering, and even donating with their friends.

You often don’t have to go far to find new supporters.

Track your audience
Of course, you will need to expand your audience and your best bet is people who will be most likely to support your cause.

Keep track of how your audience responds.  Who donated to your annual appeal?  Was it current donors, mailing list subscribers, or event attendees?  Who is more likely to volunteer – seniors, people in faith communities or colleges students?

Keep this in mind as you seek to expand your audience.

Finding an audience through media coverage
Getting media coverage is not as essential for publicity as it was in the past.  Now you can also communicate the same information via your website and social media.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek media coverage.  But plan carefully.  Besides coming up with a newsworthy story, choose publications that will be most likely to publish it and ones that have a similar audience.  Sometimes small and local will bring you better results.

Always remember that your audience isn’t everyone.  The more you know who your audience is and can create messages they will respond to, the more successful you will be.

How to Create an Annual Report That’s Not Boring

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, writing

Nonprofit organizations are not required to produce an annual report, but I believe your organization will benefit by having one.  

When I mention an annual report, are you picturing a long, boring document filled with wordy text and statistics?  It doesn’t have to be like that.

The key is to create an annual report that will engage your supporters and not bore them.  Here are a few ways you can do that.

Tell a story
Share a success story about a person you have helped.  Let’s say you run a tutoring program.  Instead of rattling off a bunch of statistics about young people doing poorly in school, tell a story about Jason, a young man who was struggling academically, but started doing better in school after weekly tutoring sessions with Rob, a volunteer tutor.

Make it visual
Find some engaging photos to include in your annual report.  Photos can tell a story in an instant.  Choose photos of people participating in an activity, such as Jason and Rob in a tutoring session. 

Use colorful charts or graphs to highlight your financials. Sprinkle in quotes and short testimonials to help break up the text.  

Keep it short

Your supporters are busy people and are not going to have a lot of time to read your annual report, no matter how great is. The trend now is a four to six page document. If you are a small organization, producing a glossy 20-page annual report would not be a good use of your resources.


Keeping all this in mind, what should you include in your annual report?

Introduction
Start with a brief, friendly introduction by your Executive Director or Board Chair. Make sure it doesn’t contain jargon and it’s filled with gratitude towards your donors for their support in helping you reach your goals.

Accomplishments
The main purpose of an annual report is to highlight your accomplishments.  These accomplishments need to focus on how you are making a difference for the people you serve.  Examples would be kids receiving higher grades in school or low-income families finding affordable housing. 

Be sure to list accomplishments, not activities, and show results.

Your financials. 
Include your revenue and expenses, and break them down by department (program, administration, etc.).  Keep it simple and use a pie chart or bar graph, so it’s easy to understand.

A donor list
You may want to just include donors at a certain level in your annual report and include a list of all your donors on your website.  Whatever you decide, be sure to thank all your donors in this section.

Some final words about annual reports
You should also include a list of your staff and board, and your mailing address.

Here is a helpful resource created by Kivi Leroux Miller.  It’s an annual report wiki that includes many great examples.

Annual Reports Wiki
You don’t need to mail your annual report to all your supporters.  You may want to mail only to your major donors.  Put your annual report on your website, and let your supporters know it’s there.  You could send out a special email announcement or include something about your annual report in your newsletter.  Of course, you should make a hard copy available to anyone who wants one.  You should also have hard copies available for potential funders and other interested parties.

If you choose not to produce an annual report, you should still have a list of accomplishments readily available.  You often need these for grant proposals, anyway.  I recommend keeping a running list, so you are not scrambling to put something together when it’s time to do your annual report or a grant proposal.  This can also help you get your annual report out earlier in the New Year.

Remember your goal is to create an annual report that will capture your supporters’ attention right away and not bore them.

How to Create an Editorial Calendar

Ann Green Communications, marketing, writing

Nonprofit organizations need to communicate with donors and other supporters all year round. Does the idea of finding content to share on a regular basis stress you out?  Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to.  Not if you create an editorial calendar.  Start thinking now about creating one for 2013. 

You have many communication channels to work with. Sending out a newsletter is one way. It’s up to your organization whether to use a print or email newsletter. Other methods include email updates, your website, social media, and mailings.

As you put together your editorial calendar, think about how you will use each channel. You may only send out direct mail a few times a year, but send out a newsletter once a month and communicate by social media several times a week.

Remember, the information you share should be audience-centered and emphasize how you are making a difference for the people you serve and in the community.

Here are some categories for your editorial calendar. Some items will be time sensitive and others won’t be.

Events
Does your organization hold any events?  Besides your events, are there other events in your community that would be of interest to your supporters?  This is a great thing to share on social media.

Legislation
Advocacy alerts are a wonderful way to engage with your supporters. Be on the lookout for any federal or state legislation that’s relevant to your organization.  Encourage people to contact their legislators about an issue or a bill. Report back to them with any updates, and thank them for getting involved.   

Time of year
Is there something going on during a particular month that is pertinent to your organization?  Perhaps it’s homelessness or foster care awareness month.

Thanksgiving, the holidays, and winter can be a difficult time for some people.  How can you weave that into your work?

News stories
You won’t be able to predict news stories in advance.  However, as something newsworthy comes up, see if that is something you could share.
Fundraising and recruitment
Be sure to add your annual appeal and other fundraising drives to your editorial calendar.  You want to promote these, and at the same time not inundate your supporters with a lot of other information at that time.

If your organization has specific times it needs to recruit volunteers, add that to your editorial calendar, as well.  

Ongoing content
If you are making a difference, you have stories to tell.  Share your clients’ success stories. You could also profile a board member or volunteer.

Put together a collection of stories and profiles to use in your newsletter or website throughout the year. If you are profiling board members or volunteers, highlight what motivated them to serve on your board or volunteer with your organization.  Keep it focused on your mission.

Keep it up
As you hear about other relevant information, add it to your calendar, so you will always have good content to share with your supporters.

Here is more information to help you create an editorial calendar.
Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s Editorial Calendar Links

LightBox Collaborative’s 2013 Editorial Calendar

Elements Of A Good Annual Appeal Letter

Ann Green fundraising, writing

You want to create an annual appeal letter that captures your donor’s attention right away and convinces them to donate.  Sounds simple, but it’s not.  Here are some ways to ensure a successful letter.

First impressions count
First, you need to get your donor to open your letter.  Give some thought to the outside envelope. Include a teaser, if possible.  

You want to be both personal and professional.  Hand addressing the envelopes may not be feasible, but make sure your mailing labels look clean and are affixed with care.  Use stamps if you can.

Create an inviting piece of mail.

Start with a story
Start your letter with a compelling story.  Focus on a person or family and not on your organization.  Use emotion and don’t bore your donor with a lot of statistics. 

Use a photo
Include an engaging photo in your letter or on your pledge form.  Photos can tell a story in an instant.

Here is more information on creating stories and photos.

Do You Have Good Stories To Tell?

You gotta ask
Ask for a donation at the beginning of the next paragraph (after the story).

It’s all about the donor
Show how are you are making a difference and how much you appreciate your donor’s role in that.  Make the donor feel good about supporting your organization.

Be positive
Emphasize solutions and not problems.  Highlight a few accomplishments, but also show you plan to continue your good work with your donor’s help.  

Make it personal
Send separate letters to people who have donated before and thank them for supporting you.  You can also tailor letters to other groups such as people on your mailing list who haven’t donated yet, event attendees, volunteers, and friends of board members. 

Your letter should have a personal salutation and not be addressed to Dear Friend.

Make it easy to give 
Include a return envelope with amounts to check off or an envelope and a pledge form.  Show what each amount will fund.  For example, $50 will provide X amount of meals at the food pantry.  In addition, include a link to your website that will take someone to your user-friendly donation page.  Even if donors receive a letter, they will often donate online.

Offer a monthly giving option
Monthly gifts can generate more revenue.  Encourage your donors to give $10 or $20 a month.   If they do, you are getting gifts over $100 each!

Make it easy to read
Use short paragraphs and bulleted lists.  Bold or use color for key words, but keep it tasteful.  Make it easy to read and scan.  Use a simple font that’s at least 12 point.

It’s fine to go over a page, especially if you are breaking up the text with a photo and short paragraphs.  But don’t make it four pages.  You can also add a quote or short testimonial. These can be powerful and it helps break up the narrative.

Use a conversational style and leave out jargon such as capacity building, direct services, and evidence-based.  Refer to your reader as you and write as if you are communicating with that one donor. Keep it personal.

Too many editors spoil the appeal
Your entire staff shouldn’t need to be involved in creating the letter.  Your best writer should craft it and then turn it over to your best editor.  Whoever signs the letter (your Executive Director?) can take a quick look at it, but don’t go overboard.  Not only does involving more people take extra time, it usually weakens the content.

All’s well that ends well
Repeat your ask at the end of the letter.  Don’t forget to say please and thank you.

Add a PS
People often gravitate to the PS as they scan the letter.  Here you could emphasize monthly giving or use another creative way to ask for support. 

Get your pens out
Include a short handwritten note.  Make it relevant to each donor, such as thanking them for a previous donation or letting them know it was nice to see them at a recent event.

Hand sign the letters in blue ink.

Are you ready?
Send out an annual appeal letter that will get noticed and will bring you the donations you need. Good luck!

Here are some examples of sample fundraising letters, along with one you shouldn’t use.

Sample Fundraising Letters
The power of boring fundraising to not raise funds

More information on creating your annual appeal,
Stop the presses! Does your annual appeal have what it takes to be successful?

153 Tips to Raise More Money By Mail
Image by r8r via Flickr

Invest In Thanking Your Donors

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, writing

As I was figuring out blog posts for the fall, the usual topics came to mind – annual appeals, thanking your donors.  I decided to write about thanking donors first because this is just as important as the appeal letter, and many nonprofits don’t invest enough time in it.  A great thank you is the first step towards a good long-term relationship with your donors.

Two ways to go the extra mile when thanking your donors are to send a handwritten note and make a phone call.  Both of these will take a little planning up front.  Why not start now so you are ready to go as soon as your donations come in.

Remember, you need to thank your donors no later than 48 hours after you receive their donations.  

Send a handwritten note
A few handwritten sentences on a nice card is going to make much more of an impact than a printed thank you letter. It’s much more personal. Think about creating a thank you card or postcard with an engaging photo on the front. 

Since you will only be able to write a few sentences – make them count.  Use a warm, conversational tone. Try something like this.

Dear Susan,

You are amazing!  Your generous  contribution of $50 will help us buy two new coats for the kids at our family shelter.  Just in time, too.  The cold weather is coming.                

We really appreciate your support.

This shouldn’t take you that much time and it is time well spent.  You can put together a team of staff, board members, and other volunteers to write the notes.  Here is more information on why a handwritten note is so effective.  Like one of the people commenting on the post below, my mom also stressed the importance of writing thank you notes.

The Power of a Handwritten Note
Call your donors
Calling your donors to say thank you is an easy, yet effective way, to show appreciation.

This is also something your board members can take on.  The executive director or other staff can make calls, too.  Make sure you find people who are comfortable making phone calls and want to engage in a conversation with donors.

Start planning this now.  Come up with script and a spreadsheet to record notes.  You may want to conduct a little mini-orientation to get your callers pumped up and give them an opportunity to practice.  Here is a sample script.
                
Hi, this is  ________ and I’m a board member at X nonprofit.  I’m calling to thank you for your generous donation of $50. Thanks to you, we will be able to buy two new coats for the kids at our family shelter. Just in time for the cold weather, too.  We really appreciate your support.

It’s fine to leave a message, but be sure to provide a call back number in case the donor wants to talk with someone.

Not only is calling your donors an effective way to say thank you, it can help you raise more money in the future.

Speechless
A simple strategy that increases donations by 35%
How Your Board Can Increase Donations by 39%
Invest a little time and energy in showing gratitude to your donors.  Say thank you in a way that shows you mean it and not as if you are just going through the motions.
Photo by Jon Ashcroft via Flickr

Get Organized This Summer – Prepare for your Annual Report

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, writing
Photo by Eric (aka Herve) via Flickr

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been offering tips to help you get organized during your summer “downtime” and prepare for a busy fall. 

You may not be thinking about your annual report during these lazy, hazy days of summer, but you should be. Putting together an annual report can take awhile.  However, if you start preparing ahead of time, you should be able to get it done by the beginning of next year.

While you won’t be able to do everything, such as financials, there is a lot you can do now.  Some of the components listed below are not exclusive to your annual report.

Your annual report doesn’t need to be a glossy 20 page document.  If you are a small organization, that would not be a good use of your resources. The trend now is about four to six pages.  All annual reports – short or long – should be visual and not filled with long-winded text and statistics.

Remember that the focus of your annual report is showing gratitude to your donors and demonstrating how their support has made a difference.

What can you work on ahead of time?

Stories
Gather stories about the people you serve.  It’s a good idea to have a set of stories available to use in a variety of materials besides your annual report.  These include your annual appeal, website, and newsletter.  Stories are much more captivating than explanatory text.

Quotes
Work with your program staff to interview clients and find interesting quotes.  You can also use quotes in your other materials.  Put together a quote bank for future use.

Pictures
Invest time in creating some great photographs. Your supporters are not going to spend much time reading your annual report, but if you can engage them with photos, you should be able to tell a story instantly.  

Choose photos of people participating in an activity, such as kids in an afterschool program.  You’ll save time in the future if you have a collection of photos to use in all your fundraising and marketing materials.

This link will give you more information about creating stories and photographs.

Do You Have Good Stories To Tell?
Accomplishments
Last year I wrote a post about annual reports and suggested keeping a running list of accomplishments.  Does your Organization Need an Annual Report?  

If you have been doing that, great. If not, start thinking about what you want to include.  Have you met or exceeded certain goals?  Be sure to list accomplishments and not activities.  Show results and how you have made a difference.

Donor list
Depending on what type of donor database you have, it may or may not be easy for you to quickly compile a list of donors by giving level.  If it isn’t, why not start on this now and save time later.

These are a just few areas where you can get a head start.  I’ll revisit this subject again in the fall with more information on creating a great annual report.

Get Organized This Summer- Make Your Messages Clear and Consistent

Ann Green brand identity, Communications, marketing, writing
Image by Thiago Esser via Flickr

Over the course of the summer, I am offering tips to help you get organized during what may be a slower time, and prepare for a busy fall.  

All nonprofit organizations need a clear set of consistent messages to use in their fundraising and marketing materials, but many do not have these.  According to a recent survey by Nancy Schwartz from Getting Attention.org, only 24% of respondents said their messages connect with their target audiences. It makes you wonder how much time nonprofits invest in messaging. Marketing Consultant Chuck English wonders the same thing. Nonprofits don’t care about marketing
Create a message platform
Does your organization need a message makeover?  Putting together a set of clear, consistent messages, also known as a message platform, may take some time up front, but it will be time well spent.  Now whenever you create a fundraising letter or content for your website, you can draw material from this set of messages.  Having a consistent set of messages is essential when you have more than one person writing for your organization and as new staff or volunteers join you.  All your materials need continuity and a single voice.

The links below will help you create a message platform. Everyone in your organization – staff, board, volunteers –  is a message ambassador, and needs to be involved.  Although, that doesn’t mean they should be involved in every step of the process.

You may want to get some initial input from the staff and board.  Ask everyone a few key questions, such as:

  • What do we do?
  • Who do we serve?
  • Why are we important?
  • How are we unique?
  • What impact do we make?

If their answers are all across the board, then you have a lot of work to do.
A small group – marketing staff and board members with marketing experience – should put together the message platform and then introduce it to everyone else.  You may not be able to finish this in the summer due to people’s vacation schedules, but at least you can get started.
How To Get Everyone In Your Organization To Be Consistent In Messaging

The 4 Cornerstones of an Engaging Message Platform


Build Your Message Team
Create a style guide
Continuing on the theme of consistency, I strongly recommend putting together a style guide.  A style guide can cover both elements of your written material (editorial) and the look of your materials (design). You can put your parts of your message platform in here, too, once you complete it.
It shouldn’t take you a lot of time to put together a style guide and it doesn’t need to be long document.  However, it will save you a lot of time in the end.  It’s a huge help if you don’t know whether or not to use a serial comma, or what fonts you should use in your materials.  Again, this is important if you have more than one person writing for your organization, or if you use volunteers who aren’t there full-time.   

Overall, it ensures that your materials will have a consistent message and look.
Create a Style Guide for Your Organization
Take some time this summer to make sure that your messages and materials are clear and consistent.

A Website Checklist

Ann Green Communications, marketing, website, writing

This post was featured in the September 2012 Nonprofit Blog Carnival

Ten posts to take your website to the next level

Even in the age of social media, websites are still one of the first places people go to in order to get information. That’s why your nonprofit organization needs one that’s welcoming and audience-centered.   

Does your website pass that test?  Use the checklist below to find out. 

Home page
Your home page is often the first place a newcomer will visit.  Make it an entryway to the rest of your website.  
  • Is it free of clutter and easy to navigate and read? 
  • Does it include an engaging photo and a small amount of text, such as a tagline or position statement?
  • If you are highlighting something such as an event, is the information up-to-date, and is it the most newsworthy item you can feature?
  • Does it include a Donate Now button that’s prominent without being tacky?
  • Does it include a newsletter sign up box and social media icons?
  • Is the navigation bar easy to use?
  • Does it include a search feature?


More information on creating a great home page.

How You Can Create A Welcoming Website – Part One – Your Home Page
Donation page
More people are donating online and this trend will continue.  If you are planning to do a fundraising appeal soon, now is a good time to make sure your donation page is up to speed.
  • Is it easy to use?
  • Does it include a strong call to action with the same messages as all your other fundraising appeals? 
  • Does it show how the donation will be used and what different amounts will fund?
  • Does it include an option for recurring gifts?
  • Does it have a compelling photo?  
  • After someone donates, does it take the person to a thank you landing page and generate a thank you email? 


More information on creating a great donation page.

How You Can Create A Welcoming Website – Part Three – Your Donation Page
The rest of your pages
Now take some time to look at the rest of your web pages.
  • Are they easy to read/scan and navigate?  
  • Do all of your pages have a consistent look?
  • Is the content well written in a conversational style (no jargon), and is it free of grammatical errors and typos?
  • Are your pages audience-centered?  Remember that some visitors know you well and others don’t.  A person visiting your volunteer page may not know much about your organization, so you will need to include a compelling description of what you do.
  • Do your pages contain a clear call to action?  For example, your volunteer page should make someone want to volunteer.
  • Does each page have one or two photos related to its subject matter?  Going back to your volunteer page, you could include a photo of volunteers engaging with clients.
  • Is all the content up-to-date?
  • Do all your links work?
  • Do all your pages include a Donate Now button, navigation bar, social media icons, a newsletter sign up box, and a search feature, so your visitors don’t have to go back to the home page?
  • Are you using analytics to see how often people visit your pages?  If you have pages that aren’t generating a lot of interest, assess why that is happening. You may need to make the page more enticing or take it down.
  • Is it mobile friendly?
  • Is there other content you should include?

More information on creating content for your website.
How You Can Create A Welcoming Website – Part Two – Your Entire Website

How You Can Create A Welcoming Website – Part Four – Writing For The Web
After you have made any necessary changes, have someone who isn’t as familiar with your organization (maybe a friend or family member) look at your website to see if the content is clear and that it is easy to navigate. 

Again, your goal is a website that is welcoming and audience- centered for everyone from first-time visitors to long-time supporters.
Image by Sean MacEntee via Flickr

Do You Have Good Stories To Tell?

Ann Green brand identity, Communications, fundraising, marketing, writing


Photo by UNE Photos via Flickr
If you are making a difference in someone’s life or in the community, you have good stories to tell. The best stories are ones about the people you serve and not about your organization. You can tell your stories in writing, in a video, and in pictures.

Written Stories
When writing a story use classic storytelling devices. Give it a beginning, middle, and end.  Good stories also include conflict or a struggle.

If you are writing about people, use names to make it personal. You can change someone’s name to protect the person’s privacy if needed.   

You need to grab someone’s attention right away. Your stories should also capture emotion. In the words of Maya Angelou – “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Keep your stories short and limit the use of statistics. You can follow up your story with a statistic, if you want to. Try something like this:

Every Wednesday Sarah wakes up at 5:00 a.m. to catch the #45 bus to try to get to the front of the line at the community food bank by the time it opens. Mornings are hectic and she also needs to get her kids ready for school.

If Sarah misses the bus, the next one doesn’t come for another hour. If she arrives at the food bank too late, she finds the shelves contain slim pickings. Sarah is just one of the X number of town residents who rely on the food bank.
Include stories in your fundraising and marketing materials. You could open your fundraising appeal with a story like the one above and then lead into the ask.  Put stories on your website. This is often a place where newcomers visit, and a story is a great way to introduce your organization.  Include a client story/profile in your newsletter. I used to work for a mentoring organization and we would a feature a different mentor/mentee match each month.

Work with your program staff to find these great stories. They can refer you to people to interview and help get any necessary permissions.

Here are some more tips on creating stories.

4 Ways Stories Can Help Build Your Cause

Six Common “Character” Flaws in Nonprofit Storytelling (Part I)

Six Common “Character” Flaws in Nonprofit Storytelling (Part II)

Put Persuasive Storytelling to Work for Your Nonprofit

Video
You can take some of your written stories and transfer them to video. Showing footage with a voiceover is the most compelling. You could film Sarah’s journey and condense it to a few minutes.  Record action footage of the people you serve, such as kids participating in an afterschool program or tutoring sessions.

You can interview clients and have them tell their story. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. Not everyone is a future TV star.  Find compelling subjects who are good on camera to ensure that you have an interesting video. 

If you are going to produce a video, make sure it’s good quality. Find an experienced person to shoot and produce it. If cost is an issue, you may be able to find someone to a produce a video at no cost.

Most importantly, keep it short. Videos on your website or social media should last just a few minutes. You can create longer videos to use at fundraising or recruiting events, but stick to 10 minutes or less.

Video Resources 
8 great examples of nonprofit storytelling

Nonprofit storytelling tips from the pros

Winners From 2011 DoGooder Nonprofit Video Awards
Photos
Photographs can tell a story in an instant. People may not take time to read a story or watch a video, but they shouldn’t be able to miss an engaging photo. 

Every year or two take a set of photos and use them on your website, annual reports, fundraising letters, newsletters, and social media.  It’s okay if you use some of the same ones.  It helps with your brand identity. 

Choose compelling pictures of the people you serve. When using action shots, make sure you can see peoples’ faces and not the backs of their heads. Give some thought to the layout, too. Don’t make it random. 

And make sure they are good quality. Invest in a good camera and photographer. You can often find professional photographers willing to work pro bono, if cost is an issue. 

Here are some tips of what to do and what to avoid.
Photos Rule in Content Marketing for Your Nonprofit
More information on creating good photographs,
Great Nonprofit Design from Save the Children
Two Things You Can Do to Make Your Photos Look Awesome

Nine photo tips for nonprofit storytelling
Again, if you are making a difference, you should have good stories to tell.  Share your stories!

How do you tell your stories?