This week, I had the pleasure of meeting with nearly a dozen readers at the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) Book Club in San Francisco.I’m proud to say that I have been involved in YNPN since its founding in 1997; the group started here in the Bay Area and has since gone national.

YNPN Book Club meets to discuss "Writing to Make a Difference"

The YNPN Book Club drew people from many positions, all with an interest in writing, books, nonprofits, social entrepreneurship, grantmaking, and/or related topics. I enjoyed hearing about their work and everyday communication struggles—many of which I write about in Writing to Make a Difference! For example, they:

• Understood the importance of everyone in an organization knowing and communicating their mission, often using similar keywords whenever they are representing the organization (speaking or writing)

•  Were interested in the re-branding process when an organization’s mission changes, or is moving from a negative frame to a positive one

•  Realized the importance of writing about benefits to all stakeholders (both clients and supporters), even if those benefits are sometimes assumed or difficult to uncover

•  Recognized the goal of maintaining an organization’s values and ethics during all marketing activities (e.g., upholding the dignity and diversity of clients while engaging supporters’ wish to help)

• Talked about the rise of social media and the importance of ensuring its effectiveness in our fundraising and marketing work

A few challenges people were grappling with included:

• Showing impact in terms of both the head (numbers or facts) and the heart (before-and-after stories with emotional appeal), instead of simply writing about “numbers of people served”

• Debates within their organizations on defining exactly who their audiences are, and the best ways to reach them
  

  Dalya (in white, on the left) speaks with the YNPN Book Club in San Francisco

Book Club participants also told me how they look forward to sharing Writing to Make a Difference—and its many exercises and tools—with their colleagues back at the office. Excellent! I intended for the book to serve as a way to encourage a “writing-positive” organizational culture. One of the best ways to learn is in community, where you can get lots of feedback. I highly recommend using the book in a group: Discuss the various skills you are learning, work together on the “Writing Workouts” at the end of each chapter, and get input from colleagues who are also committed to improving their writing.

Also, you may be interested in working with me and many others in the Writing to Make a Difference Online Community, where we will provide lots of feedback to each other. We are currently building that site; please contact me directly to learn more about it.

All of this focus on feedback reminds me that, unfortunately, the YNPN Book Club did not have the chance to talk about the editing section of the book. Many young professionals have told me that their supervisors often lack the time to offer constructive feedback on their writing. This frequently means that this critical skill goes undeveloped and may hamper professional growth. If YOU have an experience in this area, either as a staff person or as a supervisor, I would love to hear about it!