Copywriting

It’s no secret that nonprofit marketing trends have shifted within the past few years. Technology has advanced, online fundraising has grown and the way donors like to interact with nonprofits has evolved. As these changes occur, it’s become increasingly important for organizations to be mindful of how supporters want to be engaged. With that said, here’s a roundup of three major nonprofit marketing trends that any savvy organization should keep an eye on: content, mobile and personalization.

There is a proven approach to stopping the fatal donor attrition rates — placing hyperfocus on relationships with existing donors to keep them close. That’s mammoth potential, and your donor newsletter is a vital tool for bringing it to life. Here’s how to put your newsletter into play: 1. Share, don't ask. 2. Connect your content and your people. 3. Keep it all about donors — with an imaginary editorial board. 4. Make it easy to recognize and remember.

I’ve been working with a number of nonprofits recently to help them raise more money through their fundraising letters and annual appeals. Here are four tips you can use to raise more money from your next fundraising mailing: 1. Directly show the impact a donation will make on the world. 2. Focus on both immediate gifts and lifetime donor value. 3. Measure ROI, not cost. 4. Time  your mail drops prudently.

At their core, all fundraising and marketing efforts involve telling stories. Storytelling is the best way to build relationships, cultivate donors and raise money. This is because emotion, not rational analysis, causes people to take action. Make sure your nonprofit is not making these nine common storytelling mistakes: over-reliance on data, no compelling visual, no clear reason, no context, no protagonist, thinking that slick video production equals a great story, "silo-ing" the storytellers, focusing on the tools and thinking it's a one-time deal.

When you write a fundraising appeal, thank-you letter or newsletter article, are you throwing in terms like at-risk youth and underserved communities? The problem with those terms is they're broad and often meaningless.

Here's an example from a thank-you letter I received from a social-services agency. "As you already know, X organization serves individuals who are often the most disenfranchised members of their communities." Yikes! What does that mean?

Email marketers have another tool to grab subscribers' attention: preheader text. Here are nine ways to customize preheader text that will invite readers to open up your email and stay awhile: 1. Tease the content of your email. 2. Provide a strong call to action. 3. Elaborate on the subject line. 4. Write a personal message. 5. Give an incentive to open. 6. Repeating yourself is repetitive. 7. Keep it short. 8. A/B test. 9. Include an emoji.

Imagine for a minute that you’re remodeling your bathroom. You’re looking for something new and different. Something exciting! So you ask your contractor to be really creative. You expand the budget, you extend your timeline and the big day finally arrives. You walk into your gorgeous new bathroom, only to find that there is no toilet.

Sounds ridiculous, right? But in so many ways this is what happens in the direct-response fundraising world every single day. In our quest for new, exciting and creative, we can sometimes lose track of the goal.

As a savvy nonprofit professional, you understand that effective storytelling is one of the most important ways to raise money and grow support for your cause. However, there are certain challenges that some nonprofits face when collecting and disseminating stories about their organizations.

I have detailed the three most common challenges that nonprofits face in storytelling, along with my suggested solutions.

Many nonprofits view the thank-you letter as no more than a tax receipt. Smart nonprofits, however, recognize the donor acknowledgment letter as a critical component of the stewardship phase of the fundraising life cycle. A well-written letter not only expresses gratitude, but can serve as an opportunity to create an even greater affinity and appreciation for your organization’s mission. Here we address the components of a great donor thank-you letter.

Do your donors think rationally when they give a gift? At the start of this video, you’ll be asked a question by Jeff Brooks, creative director at TrueSense Marketing. The question is about making a gift. My guess is, just like your donors, you’ll probably get the answer wrong.

As the rest of the video unfolds, you’ll have a better understanding of what you’ll need to focus on when putting your message or story together.