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Show that you share goals, values, concerns, and attitudes with your readers

May 21, 2013 in Copywriting, Green marketing, Nonprofits, Social responsibility with 0 Comments

[Dalya's Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

People are reading your material because they feel that your organization’s core beliefs and aims are aligned with theirs. Your job is to consistently show them that they are right. Connecting with your readers on this plane—appealing to both their hearts and their heads—gets the best results.

Ask yourself: What is the very soul of your message?

Your organization’s mission embodies its passion, sincerity and spirit. It energizes your brand and should shine through in every piece of writing you create. You are conveying not only literal subject matter, but also your organization’s attitude and stance. By the words and methods you choose, you are saying a lot about who you are and why you do what you do.

EXAMPLE:

Say you are writing a brochure that explains the importance of a specific aspect of your work. Your organization promotes child health and safety, and your brochure will explain why and how lead paint should be removed from homes with young children. You understand the urgency, you are clear on what needs to be done, and you want to motivate parents to protect their children from the toxin.

The brochure you write will advance your organization’s brand in that it will reflect:

(1)   Your knowledge about the issue and how to handle it

(2)   Your caring attitude about the pressing nature of the issue

(3)   Your interest in making homes safer for youngsters

(4)   Your unique ability to help parents in your community take positive action

People who read your brochure and can identify with your basic messages will then want to engage with you. And you’re ready to partner with them.

Webinar on 5/22: Can Your Board Tell Your Story? (FREE)

May 17, 2013 in Copywriting, Fundraising, Nonprofits, Writing Training with 0 Comments

fundraising via people

 

 

 

 

 

Nonprofit board members often don’t want to ask for funds, but when it comes to raising friends for your organization, most of them are eager. But, do they know how to tell your story? Here are some things board members can do:

  • Develop their own 30-second elevator speech about your organization
  • Present “just the facts, ma’am” fact sheet to a local business person
  • Speak with passion about your organization to potential donors

Takeaways:

  • Understand the various constituents of your organization
  • Develop appropriate messages for each constituency
  • Develop a comfort level in presenting your story

Join us Wednesday, May 22, 2013 from 12-1pm PST! Sign up HERE. This webinar is co-presented with Linda Lysakowski, in conjunction with NonprofitWebinars (offering free training on a wide range of topics every week).

5/15 FREE Writing Wednesdays: Strategic Communication Research (with a Special Guest)

May 14, 2013 in Copywriting, Green marketing, Nonprofits, Social change, Writing Wednesdays with 0 Comments

writing_wednesdays_jpeg

You may THINK you know who you’re trying to reach, but have you done thorough research on who they are and what they’re looking for? We can’t effectively engage them if we don’t know the answers to these fundamental questions.

If you called into Writing Wednesdays, you learned how to improve your strategic communications research skills!

Our Special Guest, Forrest Anderson, took the perspective of an outsider who is “consulting” with your organization to help you improve your communications with your stakeholders (donors, community members, etc.). He spoke about Using Research to Drive Client Communications Projects, and outlined the three main research topics to consider when approaching such projects:

  1. The client
  2. The target stakeholder
  3. The business environment

In addition, he discussed what is usually worthwhile to know about each and offered some techniques for gathering that information.

Recording is now available: HERE

About Forrest Anderson:

Forrest W. Anderson is an independent consultant in PR research, insight and strategy development. He has practiced public relations for more than 30 years and has been involved in public relations research and measurement for more than 25 years. He has headed the research functions at GolinHarris International, Applied Communications and Text 100. His clients have included both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. He is a founding member of the Institute for Public Relations’ Commission on PR Measurement and Evaluation and sits on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, providing pro bono research and measurement support. He provides similar pro bono support to the San Francisco chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and is the author of the Blog Reputation, Research, Relationships and Messages at http://forrestwanderson.blogspot.com.

 

Forrest’s Recommended Links:

  1. Forrest Anderson’s presentation
  2. Forrest’s website
  3. Forrest’s blog  and its most popular post

 

 

Emphasize your uniqueness

May 14, 2013 in Copywriting, Green marketing with 0 Comments

[Dalya's Note: This is an excerpt from my award-winning book, Writing to Make a Difference: 25 Powerful Techniques to Boost Your Community Impact.]

Ask yourself: What is amazing, special, inspiring, stimulating, and unique about your organization’s work?

 You probably know more than most people do about the many outstanding public-benefit organizations improving your community. In this way, you are truly blessed and inspired. However, all of those organizations inevitably encounter competition for all kinds of resources. Everyone needs financial backing, people-power, public attention, market share, etc.

To make your organization stand out, you need to highlight what distinguishes it from similar groups. You must show how your organization is uniquely positioned to address a specific need that your community has expressed.

For instance: Does your organization deal with a particular aspect of an issue that no one else focuses on? Do you have a breakthrough approach or method? Do you work with a severely underserved community? Do you offer a product or service that solves a compelling social problem but is not readily available anywhere else? Do you have a history that has positioned you as the ‘go-to’ organization in your community for years?

Those distinguishing characteristics are key parts of your brand and bear repeating (over and over again).

EXAMPLE:

“‘When ‘Get Well Soon’ seems a bit out of place, Kimo Kards™ are cancer recovery greeting cards that have just the right words to help a friend or loved one through the difficult journey of chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.

Our messages are positive: designed to encourage and inspire men, women and children in different ways, including humor, scripture, and empowering words. Every card is ‘Created by Survivors for Survivors.’”

Your uniqueness must be so clear — and so relevant to your readers’ individual or community lives — that it gets noticed and gets people talking about you. This defining quality of your organization makes you the best choice for your readers to support or work with.

Ask yourself: What makes your organization different?

EXAMPLE:

International Development Exchange (IDEX) answers the Frequently Asked Question, “How is IDEX different from other international organizations?”:

“Since its inception in 1985, IDEX has made it a priority to support economic development initiatives in a way that is quite different from traditional large-scale philanthropy and prevailing models of global aid that are often top-down, paternalistic, and money-centered. IDEX’s grantmaking model has evolved over the years, but remains focused on:

  •   The value of community-based solutions and the wisdom of local leaders who are grounded in their communities.
  •   Providing multi-year unrestricted grants so that local partner organizations can apply funds where most needed and can plan for the future.
  •   Providing additional resources as opportunities arise. This may include participation in conferences in the U.S. or elsewhere or facilitating connections to fair trade organizations.”

Some ways organizations have traditionally set themselves apart from the pack include:

  • high quality and value
  • superior effectiveness
  • personal service and attention to detail
  • speed or convenience
  • outstanding credentials, experience, or clientele
  • unusual ease of use
  • continuous innovation
  • widespread familiarity

And as a public-benefit organization, you probably can also talk about qualities such as:

  •   community accountability
  •   values-driven decisions
  •   socially responsible sourcing and trading
  •   environmental responsibility
  •   community participation
  •   a leading-edge point of view

Your uniqueness is whatever your ideal readers really want and are concerned about but cannot easily get elsewhere. Once you identify those unique selling points, you can begin to incorporate them in your brand.

You might even take this idea one step further by showing how your work in conjunction or coalition with others in your field sets your organization apart.

cautionCAUTION

If your organization is “too unique” (special in unfamiliar ways) you may generate initial resistance. Try to relate your work to things your intended readers already know and trust.

 

16 Tips for Crafting a Powerful Postcard Campaign – Part 1

May 9, 2013 in Copywriting, Fundraising, Nonprofits, Social change with 0 Comments

JFGP Postcard (front, back)

[Dalya's Note] This guest blog post originally appeared on Michael Rosen’s blog on April 19, 2013. Michael J. Rosen, CFRE is President, ML Innovations (http://mlinnovations.com), and Publisher, Michael Rosen Says… (http://MichaelRosenSays.wordpress.com).

As you might imagine, I regularly receive direct mail appeals from many charities. Most of them are truly “junk mail.” After a quick glance, I quickly deposit the junk appeals into the recycling bin where they will do much more good than their intended purpose.

Occasionally, I’ll receive a mailing that captures my attention, for the right reasons. Even more rarely, I’ll find something in my mailbox that is worthy of sharing with you. Earlier this month, I found just such a piece.

The postcard mailing from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia arrived shortly before the Passover and tied into the holiday. This post contains an image of the front and back of the postcard so you can see it for yourself. Federation did a great job with the piece. So, let me take a few moments to share some tips we all can learn from it:

1. Get rid of the envelope. One of the greatest challenges with direct mail is getting people to open the envelope. They won’t get your message unless they do. If you can get your message across in a way that does not require a full mailing package, you can overcome this challenge by simply doing away with the envelope altogether. Federation’s postcard mailing has done exactly that.

2. Employ a pattern interrupt. Another challenge with direct mail involves figuring out ways to engage the recipient so they spend more than two seconds with the piece before tossing it into the trash. When most folks go through their mail, they quickly look for the fun stuff and bills. People quickly weed-out what appears to be junk.

So, how did Federation disrupt the typical mail-sorting pattern? They did it with two very different photos on the front of an odd-sized postcard. While speedily going through my mail, I noticed an old-fashioned, sepia-tone photo of an older couple on the postcard. Beside it, there was a contemporary color picture of a cute, young child eating matzo. The postcard got me to ask, “Huh, what’s this about?”

In other words, Federation caught my attention by being unusual and by presenting contrasting photographs. They knocked me out of my normal mail-sorting pattern.

3. Make it easy to read. By printing black type on a white background, Federation provides strong contrast that makes reading easier. While reverse type was used – something I normally do not approve of — it was used sparingly and with a larger serif font ensuring easy readability.

4. Keep the message brief but impactful. In about 50 words, I learned that Mr. and Mrs. Schweig had passed away long ago. However, I also learned they had contributed to Federation. Most compellingly, I discovered that their generous support would feed 1,500 community members in need during Passover.

The generosity of the Schweigs impressed me. The depth of the community need surprised me. The organization really had my attention.

5. Engage the reader. I was already engaged with the postcard when the photos caught my attention and I read the pithy message on the front of the card. However, the card engaged me further with a simple question: “What will your legacy be?” By asking the reader a question, you can get them to stop and think.

6. Provide more details. On the address-side of the postcard, the reader is told that Mr. and Mrs. Schweig made their gift through a bequest. Providing additional details and telling people where they can get even more information will satisfy all readers and their individual levels of curiosity.

7. Demonstrate impact. Donors want to make a difference. Whether they give to the annual fund or make a planned gift commitment, people want to know that their support will have a positive impact. They want to know that their donations will be used efficiently to help the organization fulfill its mission.

This postcard shows how the support of past donors is being put to good use. The implied messages are: We wisely use the support from past donors to help the community. We can help you to have a positive, high-impact as well.

8. Show appreciation. By recognizing two deceased donors, Federation sends the message that the organization remembers donors even after they are no longer physically with us. By thanking Mr. and Mrs. Schweig for their impactful support, Federation is letting all donors know their support is valued.

For those considering leaving a legacy gift, these are meaningful messages. While some people may not necessarily want to secure a measure of immortality, all donors will be happy to know that they can continue to have a positive impact on the lives of others after they themselves are gone.

(See Part II of this article HERE.)

 

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