Writing for Activist Causes: A Call to Action

So for in this series Tips for Writing for Activist Organizations, I’ve talked about choosing a compelling issue and crafting a comprehensive strategy for addressing that issue. Today, I want to talk about the third component of successful activist copy: the Call to Action.

Unless you’ve been (understandably) shying away from the news lately, you’ve probably noticed there’s an election coming up. Last week, President Obama went on a base-rallying tour, hoping to galvanize Democrats into voting in the mid-term elections.

Amidst all of his talking points about the economy, health care and criticism of the Republicans, the President delivered a strong, to-the-point call to action: If you want to continue building the movement we started in 2008, vote for Democrats in November.

Obviously, I don’t know how well this call to action worked yet. But it does seem to be energizing at least a core group of Democrats and Obama supporters.

And that’s what activist organizations want to do when they're communicating with their donors. If you’re presenting your issue in a compelling manner, with a comprehensive strategy, your donors are going to be so excited about what you’re doing that they will be compelled to act immediately. And if you’re smart, you’ll drive that action.

• I love a good Petition or Postcard to the President, Congress, head of a corporation or other recognizable official-type person. They're easy for the donor -- simply sign and return -- and a great way for you to show those leaders how much support there is for your issue.
• A boycott, while harder to organize and follow through on, can also be extremely effective. Donors love knowing they're a part of a larger movement fighting for positive change. 
• Put your call to action in pledge form, so the donor has something to sign and return – hopefully, along with a check.
• Add a deadline -- nothing gets people moving faster than a time-limited offer.
• Offer a little something extra for their support. An issue-specific decal saying that the donor took action could provide that extra motivation to act -- and act now.

Even better, these are all actions you can hearken back to when you write your acknowledgements, telling the donors how many petitions you collected, the initial impact of their boycott, or a story about seeing your decal out in the world making a difference.

More questions about writing for an activist organization? Post them below, and I’ll answer next week!

Writing for Activist Causes: Strategy

Earlier this week, I started my Writing for Activist Organizations Series with instructions to choose a compelling issue and craft a strong message. Today, it’s time for Tip #2:

Present a Comprehensive Strategy 

Donors to activist organizations are passionate about making a difference. And they want to hear exactly how you’re going to use their contribution to make that difference.

One very effective technique I use is to pick 4-5 action items and highlight them in the letter, using bold headlines or bullet points to call attention to the fact that these paragraphs are important. They are telling the reader something he or she needs to know.

Do these have to be different for each and every issue? The short answer is “Nope.”

The truth is, you’re going to have a few tools you reach for again and again. For some activists it’s the OpEd – hard-hitting, informational pieces that get read widely. Other groups are great at throwing splashy demonstrations to call attention to their issues. Still others are, at heart, policy wonks, making changes from the inside that impact each and every one of us.

Whatever your tools are, tell your donors about them. Remind them over and over again…because chances are, your unique set of tools are a big part of what inspired those donors to give to you in the first place.

And be as specific as you can. Don’t just say you’ll have meetings with high-level officials. Tell them you’re meeting with the head of the EPA, or the Defense Minister of France. Publishing an OpEd in The New York Times? Tell them what it was about and, if possible, the impact it had.

One great bonus: thinking strategically for your donors can lead you to think more strategically for your own in-house efforts, too.

What strategies to you use in your activism? And how can you communicate those to your donors? Tell me about ‘em below.

Three Keys to Writing for Activist Causes

You’re a rabble-rouser. A go-getter, you don’t sit around and wait for the world to change…you’re out there making it happen. You’ve got a problem, a plan to solve it, and the skills to pull it off. You’re an activist organization.

I’ve spent the majority of my career writing for activist organizations, and there are distinct differences from a typical nonprofit. With activist organizations, it’s not enough to tell your story, acknowledge the donor’s importance, and make your ask. You’ve got to engage your donor in the cause you represent.

Choose a Compelling Issue and Craft a Strong Message.

First and foremost, activist organizations must have a compelling issue to mail on. Time and again, I’ve worked with activist organizations who try to bring in other, non-activist asks to their program, or who embrace an issue that is slightly out of their normal wheelhouse…only to have those mailings fall flat.

Stick to your core issues, the issues you know fire up your donors. If you’re an environmental organization dedicated to preserving wildlands in the Pacific Northwest, for example, stick to that topic.

Does that mean you can’t ever mail on Global Warming or dam removal? Absolutely not! Simply use your core issues as a framework for discussing broader topics and how they effect the things your donors care about.

Remember, they give to you because they believe in what you’re doing. When you send them a communication about something outside of your core mission, they a) probably won’t give and b) could even lose interest in your organization altogether.

So choose your theme well. And then craft that theme in the strongest language you can muster. State the problem you’re going to solve up front, use decisive, action-oriented verbs, avoid passive sentences…

…and check back later in the week for Tip #2!

Obstacles and Opportunities: Time and Effort

This week, I’m talking about knocking down those barriers we often put up that keep us from doing our best fundraising. Cost is usually the first reason I hear cited for not moving forward with a bold idea. But time and effort are right up there.

I just attended Wordstock, the Northwest's largest book and literary festival. Which is mounted by a paid staff of three.

Obviously, they didn't pull the whole thing off all on their own. But those three people coordinated board members, consultants, volunteers and committees, engaged teachers, drew writers, assembled literary panels and attended to the tremendous amount of detail required to create a weekend celebrating literary arts.

I’ve often watched people sit across from me in a meeting, rolling their eyes and crying, “That’s too much work!”

And quite often, they’re not wrong. I know the folks at Wordstock would certainly vouch for how much effort they had to expend over the last few months. When you’re working on a shoestring, with limited staff and old equipment, it can take a tremendous amount of work to accomplish almost anything.

One of my favorite quotes – something that sits on my desk as a reminder – is Nelson Mandela’s “It always seems impossible until it is done.”

So instead of moaning about the impossibility of the task, think instead about how you can break your project down into smaller, more doable tasks. Is there a way to ferret out new resources or forge new relationships to help make the project happen?

A big project is not an insurmountable task. It’s an opportunity to find new efficiencies, engage volunteers, uncover hidden talents, and build teamwork.

Got examples of people coming together to create something great, despite the hard work? I’d love to hear about it below!

Obstacles or Opportunities: Cost

Earlier this week, I talked about Hildy Gottlieb’s assertion that we can – and must – turn our obstacles into opportunities. And the number one obstacle for most nonprofits is cost.

 Yep, direct mail is expensive – and it gets more so every year. But according to the Blackbaud Index of Online Giving, most organizations “found that, on average, online revenue accounted for 5.7% of their overall fundraising revenue.” 

While that’s actually pretty good news – online giving continues to rise – your web efforts still have a ways to go before they become your go-to revenue source. You still need your direct mail programs, which in part drive donors to your online presence.  So instead of moaning about the cost, start looking at what you can do with that investment. You will, of course, raise money. You’ll also inform and engage your donors about your issues.

 

One of my favorite things to do is take a set of strict cost parameters and try to come up with the most effective package possible. How can we make a 2-page letter just as compelling and informative as the normal 4-pager? What envelope treatment is going to get more people to open it? Is there an action-item we can include to help motivate more people to give?

Look at cost constraints – or any constraints – as a framework from which to build your program. Like writing a haiku, the options, even when you’re limited by a lack of funds, are still almost endless.

I’d love to hear how your organization has overcome cost constraints to create a winning direct mail campaign. Comment below!

Obstacles or Opportunities?

When you sit down to make your fundraising plan, are you looking at the obstacles in front of you? The money you’ll need to spend, the limits of the medium, the staff and consultants you’ll need to corral into doing the work, the difficulty of coordinating it all?

 

Or are you looking at the task at hand and getting it done?

This post over at Wild Apricot has a video of Hildy Gottlieb, nonprofit consultant and author of The Pollyanna Principles: Reinventing "Nonprofit Organizations" to Create the Future of Our World,  talking about obstacles and challenges we bring into the room when we’re looking at the tasks before us. She urges people to take away those “negative stopping words” and look at barriers as “empty conditions” we must meet.

Your fundraising program is a complicated set of tasks full of conditions that must be met. Are you relying primarily on direct mail, personal solicitation, or online giving? Are you coordinating those efforts, or is each team working independently? How are your resources allocated – staffing and financial?  

All of these questions and your organization's specific conditions can be overwhelming to the point of paralysis, but it’s far more valuable to consider how you’re going to meet the requirements in front of you than to worry about all the reasons you can’t.

This week, I’m going to talk about three of the most common “barriers” clients throw at me when talking about their direct mail: cost, time and effort.

What are your barriers? What conditions are you working with? And how can you meet those conditions and be successful?

Five Great Fundraising Posts

In my ongoing effort to stay sharp, I spend a lot of time reading what other people have to say about direct mail fundraising. I love hearing others’ perspectives and discovering new ways to think about what I do. I wanted to share a few articles with you -- articles I wish I'd thought to write! -- that can help inspire and inform your fundraising.

Ever wondered why nonprofit direct mail packages look like they do? Here’s a helpful comparison of fundraising mail vs. other types of direct mail from Adams & Hussey. 

I’ve written about using emotion and passion in your fundraising before. But here’s a great article from Contributions Magazine that lays it all out for you. 

I wrote a whole series on appeal letters, but if you want another excellent summary of the things you need to address in your fundraising appeal, check out this article by Katya Andresen and Julie Stofer. 

I just blogged on why you should always remember to thank your donors, but here's another simple – but very effective – reminder of the importance of acknowledgements. 

I also really loved these tips from Karen Zapp on reviving a flagging direct mail program. 

What books, articles or sites inspire you? I’d love to hear about them in the comments section!

Mind Your Manners: Acknowledgements

Everybody talks about how important acknowledgements are. It seems to be generally understood that if someone is generous enough to give you a donation, the least you can do is thank them.

So why are so many organizations so bad at it?

I can’t tell you how many times a client has said to me, “But it’s so expensive to send a thank you letter for every gift!” Or even better, “But it’s so much work!”

I’m sorry, but I don’t accept that excuse from my 7-year-old, so I’m certainly not going to accept it from an organization I give money to.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you can’t afford NOT to send acknowledgements.

My old boss used to preach to all of her clients about the importance of including a reply envelope in acknowledgements, saying, “There’s no better time to get another gift from a donor than when they’re in the ‘rosy glow’ of having just given.”

But even if they don’t give again right away, your acknowledgement is a critical tool for future giving.

Done correctly, an acknowledgement does three things:

1. It thanks the donor for their support.
2. It tells the donor what that support has accomplished so far.
3. It tells the donor what their continued support can accomplish in the future.

Many of my current clients also put information about planned giving and sustainer programs into their acknowledgement letters, too. They’re great vehicles for getting the word out about other ways to give to the organization.

But however you thank them, make sure you do thank your donors. As Mal Warwick says, “If you run a responsive donor-acknowledgement program, you’ll gain a competitive advantage that will pay off in higher renewal rates and greater loyalty.”

And who doesn’t want higher renewal rates and greater loyalty?

Using Visuals in Your Mail

In honor of today's post, I'm going to try my hand at adding visuals to my blog. The results will probably be rough, as I'm still trying to figure out how best to use all this exciting new technology.

Which shows my age, I suppose. Here's another age-related confession: When I started out writing fundraising copy, the Internet was a fairly new phenomenon. My first copyediting job provided me with maybe (oh, fuzzy memory!) my second e-mail address.

When we put together direct mail packages, the proofs came to us via FedEx on stinky bluelines. The designs were by necessity simple, two-color and stuck as closely as possible to the old type-written letter model. We did occasionally try to add photos and other visual elements, only to have those mailings bomb.

My, how things have changed. More and more organizations are exploring the use of photos, sophisticated design and interesting package formats. It’s exciting and frees up a lot of creative restraints that have been in place for decades.

But are all those packages working?

There are a few simple rules you should follow if you want to use visuals effectively in your direct mail:

1. Choose your photos with care. Got a photo of your Executive Director shaking hands with the Pope? Save it for the Web. If you want to use photos in direct mail, they need to be evocative, emotional and representative of your mission.
2. Be mindful of what component you’re putting them on. Each component in your direct mail package serves its own purpose. Your outer envelope needs to get opened, so you want to use a picture that intrigues, that makes your donor ask, “What does this mean?” On your reply, though, you want to use a picture that pushes your ask.
3. Be mindful of what you’re mailing. A great photo for a special appeal might not be the best choice for an acknowledgement.
4. Don’t go crazy with your package design. Stick to more economical papers and traditional package formats. If it looks too slick, your donors are going to start wondering just where their money is going.

Above all, make sure you’re testing your image-heavy packages. Because, after all, what good is a pretty package if it’s not performing up to snuff?

And for a comparison of the different kinds of direct mail packages and why they look they way they do, check out this article from direct marketing firm Adams Hussey & Associates.

More questions or comments? Ask away in the comments section!

Integrating Diverse Missions

Education and advocacy. A special event and ongoing programs. Activism and conservation.

I work with several organizations that have two or more central missions that attract diverse audiences. Sometimes that's just how an organization is set up from the beginning. But often it's part of a group's natural growth.

• Perhaps a museum hums along for a few years, then starts developing arts education outreach programs that lead to a big arts festival.
• Or a conservation-focused group that decides to more actively combat environmental degradation.
• Or a hard-hitting advocacy group decides that part of their mission should be education and outreach about their issue.

Diversification can be great for an organization, injecting life and verve into the atmosphere and giving people a new excitement about your mission. But it can be hard on your fundraising.

How do you sell an organization that does several different things?

It's not an easy question to answer. Sometimes, if the two missions of your organization are sufficiently different -- and have sufficiently large audiences for each one -- you may want to set up two separate fundraising entities.

For example, I work with an advocacy group that set up an education wing. Their advocacy is hard-hitting, often controversial. But their education arm, while set up to further their overall mission, deals with fewer hot-button issues. Their audiences do have some overlap, but many of the advocacy supporters are uninterested in the education mission and vice versa. So they set up two separate fundraising organizations and are now raising money for each mission.

But other times, the missions are too closely intertwined, or the audiences simply too small for each one, for them to stand on their own. So you've got to integrate your asks.

Say you're an arts organization that holds a high-profile, once-a-year event, but spends the rest of the year on arts advocacy and education. Most of your supporters have come in through your event. That's how they discovered you, what they know about you, and why they support you.

Your job, as an organization is to get them excited about all of the other things they're helping you accomplish. Sure, they help put on your One Exciting Event, and you should thank them (and remind them of the magic they help create). But they also make possible X program for struggling artists in the community and Y program to bring arts education into public schools.

Tell them what these programs mean for the people they benefit. Do kids' faces light up when they've created their own piece of art? Did an artist complete an important work thanks to your support? Tell these stories to your donors and to those people you want to have as donors.

Then, use your appeal program to separate out your asks. You'll find out which of your programs are the biggest draws, and which you need to sell harder. You'll find out which of your donors are passionate about education, and which want to support starving artists.

All of which will help your bottom-line fundraising.

Does your organization have a diverse set of missions? How do you incorporate everything into your fundraising? Is it successful, or are there areas you could improve? Post away in the comments section...

Make it Personal

Direct mailer writers always talk about making our mail "personal". For us that means lots of "I, you, we", using a conversational tone, and, quite often, fudging the rules of grammar a bit.

But the other day, a couple of things happened that reminded me that there is another way to keep things personal -- something it's all too easy to forget in this day and age of social media connections and conducting business by e-mail.

First, I ran into an acquaintance who runs an arts organization. She was thrilled because her group had just been notified that they were the recipients of a big grant. I congratulated her, and she told me this story:

"You know, we thought for sure we were out of the running this year. The group giving the grant just announced they were eliminating arts funding! So when I got word, I immediately called them up to say 'thank you'. The man in charge of granting the awards told me that he had gone against the new policy specifically for us because he remembered meeting our Executive Director and having a great conversation with her at an unrelated event. Personal connections really do count!"

Do they ever.

A similar thing happened to me a couple of months ago. A client I'd been working with for a couple of years went through some restructuring. They completely reevaluated all of their old contracts with an eye on reinventing their program from the ground up. I fully expected to lose the business.

But the Development Director called me up and asked that I stay on, one of the few contractors asked to do so. Now, I'm sure my strong work ethic and quality product played a part in that decision. But the tipping point?

I took the time while on a vacation in their city to stop by and meet the gang at their office.

This wasn't actually a calculated move on my part. At the time, I had no idea that they were planning on restructuring. I just wanted to be able to put faces to the e-mail addresses and conference call voices. But those couple of hours out of my vacation paid off.

Those face-to-face connections are important -- maybe even more so now that so many of us do business with people across the country...or across the globe. It might take a little extra time and effort, but the payoff could make it all worth it.