Creative

Jeff Brooks, creative director at TrueSense Marketing, explained why the old rules you learned in school are probably leading you astray in your fundraising copy in his June 2008 column, "In Fundraising, Your English Teacher Gets an 'F.'"

A fundraising letter passes through a lot of hands before it reaches its intended audience. And everyone in the approval process has the opportunity to express an opinion. Here are a few tips that might be helpful as you review fundraising copy.

There’s no better way to build interest, increase engagement and get gifts than letting your supporters, beneficiaries and partners do the talking via testimonials.

If donors and prospects don’t read your nonprofit e-mails and direct-mail letters, then you certainly won’t raise money. Although that’s stating the obvious … sometimes it’s worth repeating. So what’s a big reason they aren’t reading your appeals? Answer: Because the content doesn’t trigger the brain to read. Therefore you have to pull the correct trigger. What’s that? It doesn’t “trigger the brain” to read? What is this trigger? One of the most effective triggers is to begin by sharing a problem.

One challenge that nonprofit organizations face is that people aren't responding to their messages. When creating content, remember the four C's — clear, concise, conversational and compelling. Besides being well-written, your messages need to be easy to read and navigate. Use short paragraphs with lots of white space and at least a 12-point font. If your e-mail message or Web page is a cluttered mess with tiny type, your supporters are less likely to read it. Here is more on creating good content.

In his October 2009 Easier Said Than Done column, Jeff Brooks taught us "The Magic Words of Fundraising" and provided what could be the single most effective fundraising letter template ever written.

What do high-performing appeals and Harry Potter have in common? And, in both cases, what makes donors give and readers buy even when they’re going through a rough financial patch? The answer? Creative writing principles that will grab your readers’ attention and keep them reading. The principles that make novels like Harry Potter phenomenally successful and that sell millions apply to fundraising appeals as well.

Effective fundraisers are storytellers, no matter what the platform. And fundraisers should "leave the story better than you found it." What a high calling for us as fundraising professionals and the donors and volunteers we are privileged to work with.

Here’s a curious little study — Post-it Note Persuasion: A Sticky Influence — forwarded to The Agitator by reader Tina Cincotti. In this research project, participants were sent a survey packet and asked to complete the survey. Some packets included an affixed personalized Post-it note. Some packets had no note or other variations. Those receiving the personalized Post-it note on their packet had significantly higher return rates, and returned their surveys more promptly with higher quality responses.

Repurposing is an essential part of a manageable communications plan, because it allows you to get more mileage out of your writing, while reinforcing your key messages with your readers. Here are seven easy ways to repurpose your content: 1. make short pieces longer; 2. make long pieces shorter; 3. change the lead; 4. round it up; 5. integrate the comments; 6. add your opinion; 7. recast it.