Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Nonprofits Appeal to 3 Generations

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father daughter granddaughter

How does your nonprofit engage with all three?

I don’t go to many nonprofit events. I get invited to too many: I can’t attend all of them.

So, this spring I chose to go to The Welcome Project’s Yum: A Taste of Immigrant City and skip half a dozen other events held by groups I care about. I’m a Baby Boomer.

Lauren doesn’t go to many nonprofit events either. But she doesn’t pick and choose. She just doesn’t go. She’s a member of Generation X.

And meet Katie, a Millennial. She doesn’t go to galas…and “what’s a check?” But Katie will volunteer (especially along with her friends), and she will raise money for you online (by asking her friends).

How do you get all three generations to feel engaged and excited about your cause, and support your organization? Here’s how:

Approach us as we’d like to be approached.

For the details, read my guest post on Tripp Braden’s blog, The Three Generations Nonprofits Want to Reach!

Fundraising Tuesday: Goldilocks & the 3 Nonprofits

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just right

When are your communications just right?

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks.  She liked to give away money.

One day Goldilocks went exploring the forest of letters, email, and online posts she received.  She found herself in the house of three nonprofits.  She sat down at their table and sampled what they were offering.

She tasted the first nonprofit.  “Oh, this is too hot!” she exclaimed.  The nonprofit was sending her something every day, and all of it was peppered with funding appeals.

She tasted the second nonprofit.  “This is far too cold,” she realized.  The nonprofit was communicating with her only when it was asking for money.  And by the time she received a thank-you letter, she’d reached the bottom of the bowl.  She had no appetite for any more donations.

Goldilocks tasted the third nonprofit.  “Ahhh,” she breathed.  “This is just right!” Here was the porridge she’d been looking for.  The main ingredient was content that pleased her palate, spiced with a healthy dash of humor and with nuggets of information to chew on.  The funding appeals had absorbed the flavor of the dish and went down smoothly.

“Someone’s been eating my porridge,” Goldilocks heard a voice say.  There was the Communications Director of the third nonprofit, smiling.  And behind her was the Development Director, asking “Would someone like to sit in my chair at my next event?”

 

Let the Client Write Your Fundraising Letter

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You have probably sent your donors dozens or hundreds of fundraising letters for your nonprofit. But have they ever seen a letter from a satisfied client?

Stephanie’s Story

InterfaithFamily clientMy friend Carol Reiman sent me a letter she received by email from the nonprofit organization InterfaithFamily.

“Dear Carol,” it began (a good start, calling the donor by name):

Confused. The best adjective I can use to describe how I felt about planning my interfaith wedding before learning about InterfaithFamily.

The writer, Stephanie Radowitz, says she grew up Catholic and knew nothing about planning a wedding with her Jewish spouse. She was afraid she’d create hard feelings on what should be one of the happiest days of a couple’s life. Then, a co-worker connected her with an organization for people like her and her husband.

Not only did Stephanie learn enough from InterfaithFamily to plan the wedding–she found the rabbi she would trust to conduct the ceremony!

I cannot thank IFF enough for providing me with abundant resources, new friends and experiences. It is why I continue to stay connected to IFF and why I am giving back to help other couples who are navigating their own interfaith path. I hope you will consider joining me by making a gift to InterfaithFamily today and turning the confusion for so many couples like us into possibilities.

What the Client Did Right

There are so many things to love about this appeal letter!

  • The subject line is “Happily ever after starts here.” Who wouldn’t open that email, to find out where you can find “happily ever after?” (If it were postal mail, she could have used that line on the envelope.)
  • Stephanie tells a story. It has a narrative structure: heroine, challenge, helpers, solution. She doesn’t just tell us that the nonprofit helped her. She shows us how.
  • It uses “engaging” photos. (Pardon the pun!)
  • It has a warm, personal voice.
  • It smoothly directs readers to where they can find out more about the organization.
  • It asks for money. (Yes, you have to ask! And look how effortlessly Stephanie slips from her story to “And that is why” she’s supporting IFF.
  • It uses a postscript to make giving urgent. P.S. An anonymous donor has agreed to match all new and increased donations. Make a gift today and double your impact!

Okay, Maybe the Client Had Help

Stephanie’s letter is better than the vast majority of appeals I see written by paid staff at nonprofit organizations. Maybe she’s just an exceptional writer and intuitive fundraiser. Chances are, however, she had help.

Who is the Stephanie in your nonprofit organization: the client with a great story to tell? Can you interview her and write it up in her voice? Or can you share a template with her to make it easier for her to write the letter? Either way, it will ring true and make your donors want to give.

As long as the love rings true.

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