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!