Creative

The technique for using concrete numbers effectively is not very concrete. It requires judgment, empathy, euphony, context and experience.

If you want to engage today’s faster-than-a-cheetah-runs readers with content longer than a 140-character tweet, here’s what you need to do: create “skimmable” content. Why make it skimmable? Because it’s easy and painless for your fast-paced readers to digest. After you’ve picked a great title to grab attention, here are some ways to keep your readers reading!

1. Keep it (relatively) short.
2. Leave plenty of white space between paragraphs.
3. Break the rules — start a sentence with "and," "but" or "or."
4. Change up the lengths!
5. Highlight key phrases.
6. Mix it up with bulleted or numbered lists.

What I’m about to tell you in this post, my most dearly held fundraising gems, will probably not be new to you at all. So why mention the obvious? Because some things cannot be overemphasized, especially when it comes to fundraising while the clock begins to count down to the year’s end. Double if you’re the committed cause advocate who can’t yet quit the full-time job while nurturing a nonprofit that’s just started. Read on …

Here’s a radical thought. You shouldn’t be asking or thanking donors at all. Forget about asking. Think instead about offering — offering the opportunity to people to do something amazing for others. And forget about thanking. Think instead about congratulating people for the difference they are making, what they have achieved. Don’t be grateful; be humble. Your job as a charity is to help people do their good in the world. Not the other way around.

The sad fact is that the direct-mail highway is littered with packages that failed to live up to their initial test results.

Whether you love, hate or have never seen "Breaking Bad," there’s a lot to learn from its emotionally intense, can’t-stop-watching storytelling. Pay special attention to these to-dos for your nonprofit storytelling: Remain flexible, i.e., stay relevant. Show and tell. Distribution is everything.  Here’s how to break out of bad nonprofit stories …

An effective year-end fundraising campaign plan requires a lot of thoughtful planning. One question to throw into the mix is — who’s asking? Take some time to think not just about what you are saying to donors, but who is delivering the message. This includes whose signature is at the end of your direct-mail letter, what name is in the “from” field in your e-mails and who (if anyone) is calling up past donors to remind them to give.

Taking a break from television to dip in to a little high-quality fiction will make you a better writer. It might even make you a better person.

Kivi Leroux Miller talks with FundRaising Success about her book, "Content Marketing for Nonprofits," and what the concept of content marketing means for fundraisers.

This Lighthouse Counsel podcast features an interview with Del Martin of DEL-ux Consulting Group.