Creative

Like everything else in life there are only two attributes that all successful writers share: 1) a little talent and 2) a lot of hard work. And the talent is really just a bonus.

It can be all too easy to take the readers of our nonprofit’s newsletters and blog posts for granted, and to write for them the same way that we do for our professional partners, readers of grant proposals, etc.

The truth is, supporters of nonprofit organizations are a very different audience than those “in the business,” so to speak. As such, they have different needs and expectations that writers should be conscious of. Here are a few things to keep in mind when writing for your nonprofit audience.

Messaging is one of the first and most important tools nonprofit communicators need in their tool kits. Whether you're out to drive donations, inspire actions, attract volunteers or recruit participants, it all starts with a clear understanding of what story you need to tell and how to tell it.

But it can be almost impossible to boil all of your nonprofit's information down to get your message across. Here’s a little trick that might help you see the forest in spite of all those trees: Focus on the "musts."

I get it. Sometimes it’s really, really hard to come up with an attention-grabbing e-mail subject line or headline. That’s why we came up with a list of 50 fill-in-the-blanks to get you started, most of which are inspired by sensational headlines on consumer magazines. You can make that selling power work for your cause too!

You aren't offering anything tangible, so your case has to be pretty powerful.

As much as we writers love and depend on our own rituals, we love reading about those of other writers even more.

Sharing success is important, but make sure it is a shared success because of you and the donor. Otherwise you may only be talking to yourself as your donors move on to where they feel part of the solution.

Stories are fundamental to how we communicate as human beings. Tell the right story and you can capture attention, entertain, enlighten and persuade … all in the course of just a few minutes.So we can all agree that stories matter … but how do you tell them? What, specifically, makes for a good marketing story? Here are five critical components and talk about how they fit into your marketing: 1. You need a hero. 2. You need a goal. 3. You need an obstacle. 4. You need a mentor. 5. You need a moral.

Getting personal in your fundraising communications is key to strong relationships with prospects and supporters. Here are five techniques that are doable for you no matter what’s on your to-do list.

Is your nonprofit outreach falling flat? It may not be your message, but rather who is delivering it that is the problem. Think about who might be a more relatable, believable messenger for your nonprofit's outreach. It might not be who you think. So who are messengers that wield more influence than you when it comes to your organization? Whom should you tap to talk about you?