Category Archives: Copywriting

Six Steps to Success in Collaborative Writing Projects

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[Dalya’s note: Deborah Pruitt will be featured on Writing Wednesdays 4/3/13 and has written this guest blog post. She’s the author of “Group Alchemy: The Six Elements of Highly Successful Collaboration.” In addition to heading up Group Alchemy Consulting, she serves as a faculty adviser at the Western Institute for Social Research.]

 

Embarking on a collaborative writing project can be fun and interesting. You will be able to share the burden and get the benefits of different perspectives on your final product. And, as with all joint ventures, there are potential risks. Breakdowns can easily happen due to confusion, lack of agreement and differences in work styles. To keep that from happening and ensure a successful result I recommend the following six steps to success.

1)   Identify the unique pieces of the project.

Break the project into discrete segments and decide on their logical order for what you want to accomplish. This is your outline plus notes about what each segment is intended to accomplish and how it fits together with the others. Don’t be afraid to spend some time on this together – your time spent in front of the project will save you lots of revision later.

2)   Identify everyone’s strengths and specialties and take advantage of them.

Create unique assignments for each of the segments of the final work.The more clearly you break the project into discrete segments the better you can identify the key components and decide who can best meet them. For instance, you’ll be most successful if you assign a budget section to someone with that experience. Or a section that focuses on program content would be best written by someone on your team who is closely involved in that program.

3)   Agree on a project schedule and benchmarks for completion along the way.

Everyone needs to have a clearly defined plan so that all the pieces are ready at the right time. If one person needs information from another to complete their portion, you want to make sure that is clearly identified and a timeline agreed to.

4)   Assign a project coordinator.

You can think of this person like a general contractor on a building project. You need one central person to hold all the pieces together in the big picture and keep things moving along. She or he can collect materials, answer questions, provide updates and manage deadlines. She might also determine whether a meeting is needed to clear up questions or develop the ideas to keep the project moving.

5)   Assign a final editor.

Identify one or two people who will assemble all of the pieces and edit for voice, tense and general proofing. This could be the project coordinator but doesn’t need to be. Think about your strengths and choose the best editor among you for smoothing the final version into a unified and well-written piece.

6)   Disseminate the final draft to all involved for review and feedback.

Once you have a complete draft ready to go, get everyone on the project to read it as a whole piece and provide feedback. This is where the benefit of multiple people can really shine. Each one of you has a particular expertise and perspective so when you read the piece you can look for the continuity and coherence around your area throughout the piece.

At the heart of each of these steps are agreements that structure and support each person doing what is needed for the project. I will be discussing the art of strong agreements that create successful collaborative projects on the April 3 Writing Wednesdays call. Please join us! If you haven’t already signed up please do so at: http://writingtomakeadifference.com/community.

When Silence is Undone

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Undoing the Silence, writing coach guide

 [Dalya’s note] This guest post originally appeared on February 25, 2013 on  writer and ecologist Hannah Miller’s blog, Hannah Miller. The book featured here was written by my friend and colleague, Louise Dunlap. Louise used to be  a member of the National Writers’  Union alongside me. Her work complements mine very well.


Whatever it is you have to say is still within you. It never goes away. It sits inside of you, enclosed in a black box, a flight data recorder that will be read only if you are cracked open utterly.

Conditions we fail to notice at all shut down our observation, our criticism of the conditions of life, and even our acts to change it. It still, all, always, starts with words. Whatever’s there in the black box deep inside of you. For the writers gathered in the Temescal Branch of the Oakland Public Library last Saturday (I think dissidents would be the proper word, that’s a great one), the question was, what keeps the words in?

Writer-of-writers Louise Dunlap, clad in a U.S. Social Forum t-shirt and a bike-titanium sense of humor, coaxed words, tears, laughter, squirming discomfort, and murmurs of Namaste out of a roomful of Bay Area writers. Undoing the Silences was the title of the seminar, and going around the room for introductions, Louise asked us to tell our names, what we would write, our strength, our weakness, and what keeps us from doing this. The cloud of ideas and thought that emerged from the room was world-toppling as nuclei are: children’s books, naturalism, peace, harmony. I said I wanted to invent a new language, a statement which surprised even me.

But Louise was not there to coach us through our chicken-scratches – she had come to Temescal with New Village Press to address the blocked arteries.

“Fear and despair,” she said. “That’s what I am hearing.” Pixie cuts, curls, shorn heads all bobbed. I just sighed. (see The Rest of this Blog, by Hannah Miller.)

Apparently, there is a sort of judo you can do on these things, that Louise knows and practiced on us. They seemed rather innocuous, free writes with prompts like: Write about a time you last teared up. Write about a time you ate chocolate. Seven minutes each, for the express purpose of “removing the editor.” I wrote about my boyfriend and my work, and I learned a lot, but what really bowled me over was this magic being practiced on us.

Here’s the secret: what we often think is external – fear and despair created by the conditions of the world, or the futility of journalism, or the futility of organizing – is actually just our internal editor clocking in for their horrible, bloody, imagination-slaughtering shift.

The exercises Louise had us do really shut down the butcher; her book is a judo textbook for this sort of thing. It’s not completely obvious – why would shutting down your internal editor really work, if the world is burning up and everybody is still at each others’ throats etc etc? It works because of something very special that I was so grateful to learn: that creation has a buoyancy of its own, a self-contained power source, an explosive magic like a tiny seed in soil.

And it grows as you do it. Words create hope as they push forward, and hope does its own photosynthesis. Hope is its own power. Love is its own power. It is so mysterious, sharing the same undefinable properties as life itself.

“The goal,” said Louise, “is to find a channel where the words can come from your heart.”
May my heart never be blocked again.

Not Getting Enough Funder Love? Try These Grantwriting Tips

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 [Dalya’s note] This guest post originally appeared on Valentine’s Day on PhilanTech’s blog, Rants About Grants. It’s by Dahna Goldstein, Founder and CEO of PhilanTech, provider of the PhilanTrack online grants management system.

I’ve written before about grant dating (here, and here, among other places).  As strange as it seems, the grantseeking process does bear some resemblance to dating, so revisiting it on Valentine’s Day seemed apropos.

So if things are not working out in your pursuit of a funder marriage, it may be because your dating approach needs to be adjusted.  Here are a few tips to help you get to that long-term funder relationship:

  • Make sure you’re dating the right foundations.  A good relationship starts with meeting the right foundations.  If you have nothing in common, the chances are not good that a relationship will work out.  You can start by doing thorough research on the foundations you’re approaching.  Study their mission statements and their guidelines.  See which organizations they’ve funded in the past, and which organizations they’re currently funding.  Do your programs seem like a good fit?  Trying to fit square pegs into round holes by tweaking your program descriptions to meet funding requirements that you don’t naturally fit is not a recipe for a lasting relationship.
  • Make sure you’re speaking their language.  Many foundations have specific requirements for grant applications – everything from the specific information that they want to receive (specific questions to answer, issues to address, documents to provide) to when and how they want to receive it.  Be sure that the request you’re putting together meets those requirements, whatever they are.  (And we’ll be happy to show you how PhilanTrack can help you manage multiple proposals to multiple foundations.)
  • It’s not all about you.  Many nonprofits take an “it’s not you, it’s me” approach to writing grant proposals.  They talk extensively about their programs, their constituents, their successes, their plans.  While grant applications should absolutely include those things, they also need to position your programs in terms of the foundation’s priorities and its mission.  One of the things Marty Teitel talks about in his book “The Ultimate Insider’s Guide to Winning Foundation Grants” is the importance of aligning the proposal with what the foundation – and the people in the foundation, including both the program officer and the directors – is trying to accomplish.  Part of the grantwriter’s job is to make it easy for the proposal reader to see how the program in question will help the foundation further its own goals.
  • Presentation matters.  Think about how you’re coming across.  Just as you would probably choose your outfit carefully for your first date, think about how you’re presenting yourself to a funder.  Is your proposal well written?  Is it persuasive?  Your organization can be doing great work, but if you don’t convey it clearly, you’ll have a hard time getting it funded.  Program officers and trustees generally read many more proposals than they are able to fund.  Think about it from their perspective – it’s so much better to read a proposal that is well written!  Have someone else proof-read your submission to make sure there aren’t any mistakes and that the prose is clear, and supported by relevant quantitative information.  First impressions matter!
  • Once you’re in a relationship, don’t neglect your funder.  Funder relationships, like all relationships, take time and care.  Don’t take your funder for granted.  If the funder asks for updates, provide them in a timely manner, and with the information requested.  Don’t overwhelm the funder with communications (they don’t need to be copied on every email that you send to your supporters), but keep them up to date on key developments that relate to the grant they’ve given you, even if there isn’t a report due for a few months.  Of course, if a funder makes it clear that they don’t want to hear from you aside from reports, then respect that (some funders need their space).
  • If it doesn’t work out, ask for feedback to help your next relationship.  Sometimes funders will break up with you for no reason – or what seems to be no reason.  Maybe you’ve been in a relationship for several years and the board decides to change priorities in a way that no longer includes your organization’s mission and programs.  It can be heartbreaking, but it happens, and there isn’t much you can do about it.  But sometimes, funders will break up with you for a clear and explainable reason.  While they may be inclined to spare your feelings by not coming right out and telling you the reason for the breakup, it’s frequently worth asking the question.  The truth may hurt, but it might help position you for greater success as you pursue your next funder relationship.

How to Appeal to Younger Donors: What Do YOU Think?

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I recently came across this interesting article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy: “5 Things Charities Do That Turn Off Young Donors Like Me.” It was written by a 20-something in the fundraising field, and offers some fairly controversial advice. The article inspired a robust exchange of opinions from readers, ranging from full concurrence to push-back.

The author  discusses several differences between traditional fundraising approaches and those she believes deliver a more tailored, appropriate message to her generation. I agree that due to such stark generational differences among our various audiences, it’s CRUCIAL to know and speak to the expectations, needs, interests, and preferences of each audience “segment.” That may mean more upfront work for us, but it may result in more effective appeals in both the short- and long-term.

In this season of asking, giving, and receiving, I would love to know what YOU think! What is your experience? If you’re a Millennial, working with Millennials, or just trying to figure out Millennials, take a moment to check out the article and the comments from readers. Feel free to have your say, as well (either on that site or right HERE.)

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

 

 

Fonts That Make a Difference

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I just read an interesting article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy about different fonts and how they can make a BIG difference when it comes to how your reader engages with your material. Are you using fonts that draw your readers in or drive them away?

If you’ve worked hard on your writing, it probably has gone through several rounds of painstaking writing and editing (well, at least two). The process may have even involved some late nights and unhealthy doses of caffeine. I am quite certain that you would agree: Such a fine specimen deserves a great visual presentation!

Ask yourself: When was the last time someone said, “Yes, I can see what you’re saying”?

People need to be able to picture your message, both figuratively and literally. Our culture is extremely visual; it behooves you as a writer to not only notice this, but to also let that knowledge help you find more readers.

A clean, consistent, and provocative design is an essential ingredient of any well-produced message. Visual appeal grabs your readers’ attention and keeps them
around long enough for your words to inform, inspire, and activate. Without the right look, your carefully crafted piece can end up like an overlooked flower
lost in a field of weeds. If a reader happens to stumble upon your beautiful words, a poor design could mark it as not worth the hassle to untangle. Your forget-me-not
becomes a “remember-me-not.”

Solid graphic design techniques make readers take words more seriously. Why not enhance your strategy of “writing to make a difference”?

A good place to start is the font(s) you’re using. Check out this article and feel free to leave comments!