Nonprofit Communications

I’m working on a new webinar for later this spring currently titled “Nonprofit Writing Sucks - How to Write Like the Smart, Passionate Human Being You Are Instead of the Wonky, Dead-Inside Droid You Sound Like Now. ” Yes, I agree, the title needs some work, but you get the gist.

I’ve been collecting examples of horrible writing by nonprofits for awhile now, but have faith that you, dear blog reader, can come up with even more wonderfully awful stuff for me to include in the exercises. All bad writing is fair game, no matter why it’s bad, as long as it appears in a nonprofit publication either in print or online. In most cases, I will protect the guilty by changing names, etc.

I promise to honor your confidentiality if you send me something from your own organization!

The person who submits the sample that makes me grimace and/or laugh the most will get a free webinar pass to spend on whichever webinar you like or to re-gift to a friend who needs it more than you do.

Contact me via email or snail mail with links, copies, etc. Or leave a comment directing me to copy.
I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Chunking your Web and email text is one of the essential online writing skills I’ll be discussing during “Online Writing: Dos and Don’ts of Writing for the Web and Email,” a webinar on Wednesday, February 20 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Registration is open until 1:30 p.m. and costs just $35.

When people read on paper, they usually start at the beginning and work their way through in a linear fashion from page one to page two to page three, etc. When people read on the Web, however, they start where Google sent them, and that could be anywhere on your website. Once they get there, your website visitors will quickly skim the page, looking for chunks of text and keywords that tell them they are in the right spot.

What is Chunking?

When you chunk text, you break down what may have started as one really long article into smaller, manageable, more easily understood blocks of text.  Your goal should be to create chunks of information that can stand on their own, but that also fit within the larger context of your website.

How Big is the Ideal Chunk?

So how big or small is the perfect chunk of text on a website? You need to find the sweet spot between too little and too much text. If you put too little information on a page, you force your reader to click around for the details, which is annoying. But if your chunks are too big, you make it difficult for your readers to immediately find the key points they are seeking.

For example, you might break down a 2,000 guide into three web pages of 600-700 words each. On each of the web pages, you could then break those 600 words into three blocks of 200 words each, complete with their own subheadings. Many professional online writers would advocate even shorter pages (no more than 500 words) and paragraphs (no more than 100 words).

Adding bulleted lists, writing in short sentences, highlighting keywords, and linking to related articles and details also contribute to successful chunking.

Which Page Has Better Chunking?

What questions would you have if you were interested in adopting a pet? Take a look at these two pages from two humane societies in Colorado and see who answers your questions more quickly.
Adoption Process Page at Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region

Adoption Process Page at the Dumb Friends League/Denver Humane Society

Both pages discuss the pet adoption process, but one does a much better job at chunking the information.

The Pikes Peak page contains over 1,500 words and only seven subheadings. There are no bulleted lists, highlighted keywords, or links to more details to help visitors skim through the page to find the specific answers they are seeking.

In contrast, the Denver Dumb Friends League page contains about 1,000 words and has ten subheadings. The paragraphs are much shorter and you’ll find several bulleted lists and links to details. Think back to those questions you had about adopting a pet and I bet this page answers them more quickly.

The Pikes Peak page also contains the same kind of information, but in buried form that requires actual reading, rather than skimming.

This article written for teachers at Dartmouth who are putting course materials online provides some additional perspectives on chunking.

Using stories in your nonprofit annual report is a great way to bring to life what might otherwise be some stiff writing on your activities and accomplishments. But simply throwing some stories into the text won’t do. You need to be very focused and highly selective about which stories you use and how you tell them in your annual report. Here are my top five tips for using stories in annual reports. For more advice on annual reports, register for my webinar on Thursday, “Writing Your 2007 Nonprofit Annual Report - A Crash Course.”

Make the Story Immediately Relevant. A touching story about a little girl’s struggle to overcome a rare disease is heart-warming, but it’s nothing more than that if I don’t understand how this child is connected to your organization and specifically to the accomplishments. I’m reading your annual report to understand what you achieved last year. That little girl’s story needs to help me understand what your organization did. Ideally by the end of the first paragraph, and definitely by the end of the second, make it clear to me the role your organization played in helping this child. It’s what journalists call the “nut graph.”

Put Stories in Context. Stories about a single person are great for many reasons, but we also need to understand the larger context. How many other children have been helped by your support program, beyond the one you are telling us about in detail?

Cut the Fluffy Details. If you spend an hour interviewing someone, it can be really tough to hone in on which details matter most. But you need to include only the details that support why you are telling this particular story in the first place. We do not need a life history. We don’t need to know about all the other players in the story. Look at every detail and quote you provide and ask yourself if it reinforces or detracts from that nut graph.

Keep It Short. Let’s face it — people are more likely to skim your report than to read it, which means short, tight writing is much better than long essays. It’s also very unlikely that each story you tell is going to connect with all of your readers in the same way. That’s why I would rather spend 200 words on one person, 200 on another, and 100 words pulling it all together in a 500-word section than spending the whole 500 words talking about one person.

Let the Subject Approve the Copy. You are telling someone’s personal story as a way to promote your organization’s accomplishments. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as the person agrees that you played the role you say you did. By allowing the story’s subject to approve the final copy, you ensure that both your organization and the individual will stand behind the claims you are making about your successes.

I’ll keep my eyes open for good storytelling in annual reports and let you know when I see some strong examples. If you find some, please share by leaving a comment on this post.

One the biggest challenges organizations face when trying to improve their nonprofit marketing programs is to stop thinking about themselves and to focus on their audience instead.

One analogy I use in my nonprofit training courses is gift giving. With the holidays still in our short-term memories, you’ll recognize some of the five types of “gifters” here – but will you recognize your own organization? Think back to when you were a kid – whose gifts did you want to tear open and which ones were guaranteed to be lame?

Cranky Old Grandpa. He doesn’t care what you want, because you probably don’t deserve anything anyway. Kids have it so easy these days and they’re all spoiled brats who have no idea what the real world is like.

These are the nonprofit staff who are bitter that they have to ask for donations and help at all. If people don’t understand their issues and support their work, it’s not the nonprofit’s fault – it’s because the audience is full of selfish idiots. In other words, nonprofit marketing is a waste of precious time they need to spend on real work, so why bother?

Cranky Old Grandma. Unlike Grandpa, she does think you deserve a gift, but like Grandpa, she really doesn’t care what you want, because she knows better. You are going to get an electric toothbrush if you are lucky, and a scarf she kitted if you aren’t. Either way, that present is going to be good for you, and you better like it.

“Cranky Old Grandma” nonprofits write newsletters that are full of articles about the organization, its activities, and its issues, with little regard for who actually reads the newsletter. In fact, they aren’t even sure who’s on the newsletter list, and it really doesn’t matter. They believe that they alone should decide the content of the newsletter, regardless of what the readers may be interested in, and that’s what they are going to provide.

Your Older Brother. He knows he is supposed to get you something, but he doesn’t want to put any thought or effort into it, so he is going to regift something he got for his birthday.

These are the nonprofit communicators who fill their publications with articles from other sources, with little original content, because it’s quick and easy and they want to check the newsletter off of the to-do list. Some of it may be helpful, but it’s a toss-up most of the time.

Mom and Dad. They know what you really want and also what you need. They give you a mix. You’ll get that hot new game you wanted, because they want you to be happy, but you’ll also get something you need, like socks and underwear.

“Mom and Dad” nonprofits are those who are sincerely interested in understanding their audience and try to speak to their interests and values in most of their communications, but they can’t quite let go of all of the organization-centered information – the typical “message from the executive director” column, for example, is still at the front of the newsletter.

The Cool Aunt. She asks what’s on your wish list, or asks others what you are into these days, and she gets it right every time.

These nonprofits know who are they communicating with and are constantly checking in with their audience, whether by talking to them directly or staying on top of larger trends. They regularly adjust the content of their communications to be relevant to their audience and what those people are interested in or concerned about at any given time. Their donors and supporters can tell that the nonprofit cares what they think and is grateful for their participation. And the donors and supporters love the nonprofit in return.

So which kind of gifter is your organization? Are the print and online publications your produce as part of your nonprofit marketing strategy and communication plan a real gift to your donors and supporters, or are they simply what you think they need or what you want to give them for your own selfish reasons?

Start working your way down on the continuum from Cranky Old Grandpa to the Cool Aunt, and by the time we come back around to this year’s holiday season, you’ll be the favorite nonprofit on everyone’s list. Need some help making that transition? Check out my nonprofit marketing training schedule.

Nonprofit tagline writing can be a tough business. It’s a bit easier for short-term campaigns, but when you are picking the handful of words that will be next to your logo for years on end, it’s a rather daunting task.

Before I spout off about a few nonprofit taglines that grabbed my attention recently, I strongly encourage you to participate in Nancy Schwartz’s three-minute survey on taglines, if you haven’t done so already. I’m really looking forward to Nancy’s report and forthcoming advice. It should make this process a bit easier on all of us.

Now, on to my two cents on some current nonprofit taglines, followed by a few rules of thumb to use when creating your own.

“Doing the Most Good” by the Salvation Army

My five-year-old and I did a one-hour shift as bell ringers this year, in support of the soup kitchen the Salvation Army runs in our little town — in other words, don’t send me ugly mail about Salvation Army bashing, because I do support them. But I really don’t like this tagline.

My first reaction is that it sounds like the Salvation Army is saying that it does more good than anyone else, which is not the way a Christian organization should position itself, IMHO. When I looked into it, I see the tagline is meant to convey that the Salvation Army does the most good that it can with the donations of money and time it receives. In other words, it’s meant to be more of a claim of organizational efficiency and effectiveness than a comparison to other organizations. But, if I have to Google a phrase to understand its intended meaning, that tells me it’s not as clear as it should be.

“Finding Cures. Saving Children.” by St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital

Love this one. I instantly know what they do and all of their marketing materials reinforce this tagline. It’s simple, direct, and memorable. As a donor, I can see how I too can help find cures and save children. I’m slightly less enthusiastic about the “Thanks and Giving” tagline they use for their annual campaign, because it requires a slightly clunky explanation — Give thanks for healthy kids in your life and give to those who are not — but overall, I think it works.

“Bringing Innovations in Health and Learning to the Global Community” by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

This tagline is too heady, but what else can we reasonably expect from a foundation founded by America’s top geek? This is an example of taking part of your mission statement and using it as a tagline, which is not really the best approach. It’s better to come at tagline writing from a conversational perspective, and “innovations in learning” is not chatty or memorable.

“There are No Limits to Caring” by Volunteers of America

Even though it’s in passive voice, I like this one, because it says to me that if I volunteer, there are no limits on the good that I can do with my time, which is a great motivator. It’s more about the volunteers than about the organization itself — another good audience-driven tagline.

“Teachers Ask. You Choose. Students Learn.” by DonorsChoose.org

Another action-oriented, audience-driven tagline. Love it.

A Few Tagline Writing Tips

–Shorter is better. It’s easier to remember that way.

–Action-oriented is better. Verbs are very powerful conveyors of meaning.

–Audience-focused is better. Tell your supporters what happens when they work with you.

Do you know the important differences between how people read on paper and how they read on a computer screen? Do you understand how those differences drastically change the way you should write for your website visitors and email newsletter readers?

If you aren’t sure, I’ll show you how to go from confused to confident in under an hour. Register for my next live webinar happening Thursday, December 13, at 2:00 p.m. ET. (That’s 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. CT, Noon - 1:00 p.m. MT, and 11:00 a.m. - Noon PT).

From the comfort of your own desk, you’ll learn the important differences between reading and writing on paper and online, how to make your writing more appealing to online readers, and simple word choice and formatting tricks that can drastically improve your website’s or email’s performance.

You’ll also learn ways to organize your thoughts and ideas to match the way people use the Web and how to convert your existing print publications for use online.

If you want your website visitors and e-newsletter subscribers to actually read what you write, instead of quickly navigating away from your web pages or deleting your email, you have to learn to write in a whole new way. This webinar will show you how.

Registration costs just $49. When you consider how much time you spend on your website and e-newsletter, that’s a tiny investment to make sure your messages get across. During the webinar, you’ll have the chance to ask questions over the phone or via chat, using a toll-free, user-friendly webinar service.

Get the details and register today!

This is the fifth in a five-post series on a direct mail make-over currently being tested by the University of California at Berkeley (Cal). Read Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

This week I have chronicled the story of how Cal’s fundraisers took a new approach to turning alumni into annual donors by creating a graphic-driven, audience-directed, full-color brochure. While the results of the direct mail campaign aren’t in yet, I believe you can still pull several lessons from their experience.

1) Connect with your audience’s memories and emotions. A large group of alumni has never responded positively to Cal’s annual appeals. Instead of continuing to send them more of the same kind of mail that didn’t work, hoping that the alumni would change their minds, Cal conducted focus groups. They honed in on some themes they heard directly from those alumni, and worked with those concepts, even though they weren’t all necessarily positive (e.g., Cal is big, impersonal place.)

2) Try something new and test it. This is the first time Cal has produced a brochure as bold as this one. But rather than sending it out in the world all alone to see how it performs, they also wrote a traditional business letter using the same theme. This split-testing will tell them much more about the success of the brochure than if they had sent it out alone.

3) Let your ideas evolve. Cal started with a cookie cutter theme based on focus groups. But it simply didn’t work. Rather than abandoning the concept completely or sticking with it simply because the focus groups had used that terminology, the fundraising team let the idea evolve into one that worked. I compare it to kneading bread dough until it is smooth and shiny. I have a folder on my computer labeled still cooking for article ideas that aren’t quite ready for publication. I’ve found that it takes at least three iterations from the original concept before the images and text of an idea really gel. (Enough cooking metaphors; you get the idea.)

4) Let the graphics talk. The Cal piece works graphically because it appeals to our natural curiosity, but still provides enough clues that we don’t stray too far away. Take the Trendsetters tagline, with the Rolling Stone cover of Bono. Now, I know Bono didn’t go to Cal, so I’m thinking, “What’s the connection? Let me read this small type down here.” Turns out Jann Wenner, ‘67, is the cofounder and publisher of Rolling Stone Magazine and upon closer inspection of the image, I see that he wrote the cover story on Bono. (I personally think that using the Bono cover is also a subliminal message since he is now one of the faces of modern philanthropy, but Cal says that’s not the primary reason why they chose it.)

5) Use “You” Without Being So Obvious. The first drafts were full of “you” statements –“you this, you that” and they were too presumptuous. While I am completely on the “You” bandwagon for nonprofit marketing, especially donor communications, some people are taking it too far. I believe smart donors can see through it, and once everyone employs this technique, the effectiveness of that single word alone will dim. What will not fade, however, is the power of more creative, sophisticated messages that are built off the concept of “You, the donor” without overdoing it.

I hope you enjoyed the series this week. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment on any of the installments.

Special thanks to Amy Cranch and Virginia Gray of Cal for their detailed, honest accounts of the process!

This is the fourth in a five-post series on a direct mail make-over currently being tested by the University of California at Berkeley (Cal). Read Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | This is Part 4 | Part 5

The direct mail makeover by Cal fundraisers highlights the cultural contributions of alumni and asks other alumni to support the next generation of innovators, while also thanking the graduates “for being who you are.”

The brilliance of this approach is not in its originality – it rarely is. Using famous alumni is not new. Asking alumni to support future generations is not new. And yet it works beautifully. What is new is the twist on these concepts. What’s new is the juxtaposition of meaningful cultural icons that came out of Cal alumni and inviting other alumni to think of themselves as peers to those innovators.

I’m one of those slightly disaffected Cal alums who Virginia Gray, Cal’s associate director of annual giving and regional programs, is trying to squeeze some bucks out of. I enjoyed my time there and appreciate the education I received, but I feel no special connection to any particular people or places on the campus. But this piece grabbed me.

Rather than talking about all the Nobel Laureates and other Big Brains who went to Cal, the piece talks about their impacts in images and words that are relevant to me, right now. A computer mouse. Saving the planet through energy efficiency. MySpace. Apple, Inc. Dilbert. Bono on the cover of Rolling Stone. This piece of mail takes an education at Cal that happened decades ago and makes it meaningful to my life today. It makes it incredibly easy for me to see how my contribution will lead to the next great thing I’ll have on my desk tomorrow.

Remember: They started with a cookie cutter. “We tried it one way, and it didn’t work out, but we kept going. The new idea was really good, and the copywriting and graphics told a great story,” says Virginia.

I admit, my interest in this piece was piqued first by professional curiosity. When I saw the big, yellow “You” on the cover panel after getting years of canned letters from Cal, my first thought was, “OK, somebody just took some donor marketing training and has gulped down a big cup of the ‘You-Not-Us’ Kool-Aid.” But when I opened it up and read the piece, I immediately felt like I was part of this amazing group of innovators simply by virtue of being an alumna. Check one slacker alumna off your list, Virginia. I gave online for the first time since I graduated in ’91.

Virginia is new to nonprofit marketing, but she has a strong direct marketing and branding background and knows the importance of finding emotional hooks. Her focus groups told her what she already knew. Cal is huge and there are not a lot of common experiences there that create unifying emotions in alumni. But those same alumni also told her what their hot buttons were — that they weren’t cookie-cutter Ivy League graduates and yet were proud to have graduated from one of the top universities in the nation.

Did it work on other alumni as well as it did with me? We’ll see. The mailing list includes 100,000 graduates of Cal’s College of Letters & Science who are not currently donors. The list was not broken out by age or other demographics. Half got the full-color brochure and the other half got a standard business letter with similar messaging in much longer text and no graphics. See the Brochure. See the Letter.

Virginia says it takes a good two-three months before they can judge the performance of a direct mail campaign, but she will pull the first numbers at the end of November and has agreed to share them with us. By split testing similar messages in drastically different formats and comparing them to other campaigns, she hopes to determine what was more important to success: the message, the package, or both.

We’ll find out in a few weeks. Stay tuned by subscribing to this blog right now (see upper left of blog home page), so you don’t miss the results!

Coming Tomorrow: Lessons you can learn from what Cal did