If you’re trying to raise money from donors, you must communicate with them.  Donors are people with interests and feelings – not ATM machines or wallets.  And to build relationships, we must communicate.

Have you ever had a friend who only called you when they wanted something?  Not much of a friendship, is it?  You might fell taken advantage of or used.  Yet that’s how so many nonprofit organizations treat their donors.

Remember that friendships are about give and take, not take, take, take.  You must share information and success stories with your donors so that they know what you’re doing with their gifts.  The sharing of info builds trust and affirms to the donor that they made a good choice to invest with your organization.  Otherwise, you’re just a moocher, taking everything you can from your donors and not giving anything back.

A well-done print or email newsletter can accomplish most if not all of these objectives with your donors.  Starting next week, I’ll be leading a 3-part webinar series called “Secrets of Successful Newsletters.”  I’ll be sharing with you exactly what you need to do to put together a newsletter that your donors will actually read and respond to.

Get all the scoop or register at http://getfullyfunded.com/secrets-to-newsletters.

Let’s face it: most nonprofit newsletters are boring.  They’re full of jargon and insider news that leave donors feeling less than connected.  To make your donors read your newsletter from start to finish, it must include info that donors find interesting.

Put yourself in your donor’s shoes:  what would they care about?  What would make them take time from their busy life to pay attention to what you’ve put in print?  Here are some ideas for things you can write about that will keep your donors engaged.

• Client story. Tell a story about someone whose life has been changed by your organization.  Keep it short and focused on the person – not your organization.  Use a good photo or two and your donor won’t be able to stop reading.
• A Day in the Life. Share what a typical day looks like for one of your clients. This will help donors better understand the work you are doing and help them identify with the people you are serving.
• Common myths. What are the common myths about your cause?  Dispell them by stating them and then giving the real information.
• Testimonials. Let others do the talking for you.  Share a brief testimonial from a client, a donor, a volunteer, or a local celebrity about your organization.
• Statistics. Share a couple of shocking statistics about your cause or the work your organization is doing.  Don’t go overboard here – one or two good facts with a tidbit of supporting info is all you need.

What have you included in your newsletter that got people talking?  Share with us so we can all benefit.

I heard a wonderful presentation recently about storytelling.  It’s entirely possible to tell a very compelling story without using pictures.  Instead, you paint a picture with the words you use.

To see what I mean, check out The Girl Effect.  www.girleffect.org.

Then think about what you see in your mind’s eye as you watched the video.

Cool, huh?

What stories can you tell about the work your nonprofit does that will paint such a vivid picture in your reader’s mind’s eye?

Maybe no one.  It all depends on the content.

Unfortunately, MOST of the nonprofit newsletters out there are crap.  Sorry, but it’s true.  With tons of text, few or no photos, and loaded with jargon, donors are immediately turned off when they see your newsletter in the mailbox.

If you want your newsletter to get read, here’s what you do:  write what’s interesting to the donor, NOT what’s interesting to you.  That’s right, put your donor hat on and write what the donor wants to read.

Write the stories of people whose lives are being changed by the work your organization does. Donors will read that.

Write about how donors’ gifts have been used in fulfilling your mission. Donors will read that.

Don’t write about the new janitor you just hired or some obscure award your organization won.  Remember that your average supporter knows little about the inner-workings of your organization.  Keep it simple for them.

Want more tips on creating donor-focused newsletters?   Here’s an article I wrote about common mistakes made in nonprofit newsletters. http://ezinearticles.com/?The-8-Most-Common-Mistakes-Made-in-Nonprofit-Newsletters&id=2387768

If you really want the scoop on nonprofit newsletters, read Tom Ahern’s book “The Mercifully Brief Real World Guide to Raising More Money With Newsletters Than You Ever Thought Possible.” Find it in my reading list: http://getfullyfunded.info/resources/bookstore.

It must be newsletter time.  I’ve fielded lots of questions recently about format and content – what to include, what not to include, what should be on the front page, etc.   So I thought I’d share a few pointers here for everyone.

First, DO NOT put a letter from the Executive Director on the front page.  Donors don’t want to read this.  What they DO want to read is a story about a particular person whose life is being changed by your organization.

Don’t waste space on a table of contents.  Especially if your newsletter is only 4 pages.  And don’t continue a story on another page.  Make it fit in the space available.

Keep the special event info to a minimum – you don’t need to go on and on about upcoming or past events.  Stroke sponsors as needed, but don’t go overboard.

Realize that your newsletter is a great tool to build relationships with donors and educate them about what you’re doing.  Don’t waste space on things that aren’t interesting to your donors.

If you really want to learn more about nonprofit newsletters, check out Tom Ahern’s books and his website at www.aherncomm.com.  You’ll find some great resources and tips.

In the mail last week, I received the worst newsletter I’ve ever seen.  I’ve seen some bad ones over the years, but this one takes the cake.

First, the front page was a long letter from the Executive Director.  This page was packed full of text with hardly any white space and no breaks for my eyes.  No photos, no headlines.  It was exhausting to look at.

On the inside, another long letter from the Board President.  Tons of text, no breaks – yuck.  The rest of the newsletter was more of the same – boring text-heavy pages with no photos, no stories, nothing to warm my heart or compel me to give.  There was a lot of “save the date” info about events coming up and events that happened months ago.  There was info about staff coming and going.  Nothing about the people the organization serves and how lives are being changed.  I know this organization has some powerful stories to tell (I’ve heard them before).  Why weren’t they in the newsletter?

The whole thing looked like a bad copy of a copy.  Am I as a donor not worthy of at least an original copy?

As I looked at this terrible excuse for a newsletter, it occured to me that it was written to be interesting to the writer – not interesting to me as the reader.

I share this with you in the hopes that you can learn from the mistakes of this organization and do a better job of your own newsletter.

How well does your newsletter perform for you?  If it’s not so hot, then maybe you need to make a few changes.  Here are 3 secrets to a successful newsletter.

The first secret to a successful newsletter is to be clear about the result you want.  What is your newsletter’s purpose?  Is it educational?  Is it supposed to be a fundraising tool?  Both?  This will help guide you in selecting content.

The second secret to a successful newsletter is to make it donor-focused.  Write the kinds of things that a donor wants to read, not what you want to include.  Donors want to read stories about clients and how they’ve been helped.  Donors aren’t usually interested in articles about new staff members, new Board members or lengthy “letters from the President”.

The third secret to a successful newsletter is to use good design.  Use lots of white space and keep it skimmable.  Donors read your newsletter like they read the newspaper.  They skim.  They read the headlines and if it looks interesting, they’ll read the article.  They look at photos and read the pull quotes.

If you want your newsletter to raise money, then you need to include an Ask somewhere.  The most common and usually most effective thing to do is to include a reply envelope inside its pages.

Grab a copy of your last newsletter and see how it compares.  Use these 3 secrets on your next issue and see how you can improve your results.

Have you put your print newsletter online yet?  Many people do this.  The easiest way is to create a PDF file of your newsletter and post it on your website.  But that doesn’t make it an effective donor communications tool.

The Nonprofit Communications blog has some help when it comes to newsletters:

1. Sending a PDF of your print newsletter out as an attachment to an email list is NOT an email newsletter.

2. Not everything you included in your print newsletter will be right for your email newsletter.

3. Consider a more personal tone.

4. Decide on full text, teasers, or a combo.

5. Prepare to spend lots of time on … subject lines, headlines, and subheads

6. Use an email newsletter service.

7. Include a sign-up box to your website.

Read the entire post.

Every nonprofit should and probably does have a Mission Statement.  But can yours do multiple duty?

In order for your Mission Statement to fulfill multiple roles for you, it must be simple, concise, and easily understood by the people you share it with.  Leave out the jargon, the acronyms, and anything a regular person wouldn’t understand.  And it should be short, like an “elevator speech”. (Usually 10-15 seconds at most when spoken).

Once you have it, use it everywhere!  Put it on your website, in your newsletter, and at the bottom of your press releases.  Include it in your brochures, annual reports, and other written materials. Put it at the top of your Board and staff meeting agendas.  Put printed versions up around your facility.

The more times folks see it and read it, the more it will sink in. It will help you build your brand and general awareness of your organization.

Here are a few tips for maximizing donations received through your newsletter.

• Don’t make your newsletter too flashy. Make your piece sharp and professional, but not expensive.
• Make your newsletter easy to scan. use well-written headlines and pictures with captions.
• Keep it short. Donors don’t want to read a novel.
• Don’t continue stories from one page to another.
• Use lots of white space.