Subscribe Now

Receive alert message from us when new articles submitted to our site for free.

Enter Your Name
Enter Your E-Mail

Sponsors

Internet Marketing
Business Letter
Nursing job opportunities


Categories




Sign Up Here

Home / Marketing / Direct Mail


Print | Send To Friends | Add To Favorites | Comment

Donor-Centered Newsletter Stories Increase Income, Boost Donor Loyalty.

By: Alan Sharpe

Article Word Count: 852 words  [Comments (0)]
Total Views: 100 Views






Your donors read your donor newsletter to discover news about



themselves. You are of secondary interest.







Like you, your donors and members read what interests them.



They donate money to causes that interest them. They read about



people that interest them. That's why they support your



organization--because you interest them. Your donors read your



donor newsletter to learn what kind of difference they are



making in the world, through your organization.







This is why the donor newsletters that generate the highest



readership among donors and members--and attract the most



gifts--are the ones that focus on the needs of donors and



members and not the organization. They are donor-centered. A



donor﷓centered newsletter inspires donors to act. It



motivates them to give. And it encourages them to remain loyal.







This doesn't mean that every newsletter story you write has to



be about your donor. It simply means that you must make the



donor the hero of every story possible. Here are some practical



ways to do that.















Write stories that show recent gifts hard at work







Donors give to make a difference. They want their financial



contributions to right a wrong, change attitudes, eliminate a



problem that keeps them awake nights, and help the downtrodden



and underprivileged. When your donors pick up your newsletter,



they are looking for stories that demonstrate that their gift is



accomplishing their goals.







So make sure your donor newsletter contains plenty of news



stories that show donations at work. Show the link--explicitly



or implicitly--between the donor support you received and the



good you are accomplishing because of it.







Describe recent successes







Whenever possible, publish news stories that describe



accomplishments that interest your donors. Some accomplishments



(staff promotions, for example) will interest your staff or your



board of directors more than they interest your supporters.







The closer the accomplishment is to the heart of your mission,



the more likely your donors are to find the story appealing.



Your challenge with each newsletter issue is to uncover these



accomplishments. And if you can't find any obvious ones, you



need to turn mundane accomplishments into donor-centered



accomplishments.







Inspire readers with your vision for the future







Would you vote for a political party that had no platform? Or



invest your life savings in a public company that had no



strategic five-year plan for improving profitability or



increasing market share? Or send your children to a college that



hadn't changed its curriculum since the Internet was invented?







Informed donors want to support museums, universities,



hospitals, women's shelters and other non-profit organizations



that are thriving today--and have a plan for thriving tomorrow.







Avoid "Nonprofit Navel-Gazing Syndrome"







Some non-profit organizations suffer from what Jeff Brooks,



senior creative director at the Doman Group, a direct marketing



fundraising agency, calls "Nonprofit Navel-Gazing Syndrome."



This condition causes non-profits to believe that donors must



see the world the same way they do. This leads to a lack of



respect for donors who do not share their vision, and an elitist



attitude that prevents effective fundraising.







Brooks lists a number of symptoms of Nonprofit Navel-Gazing



Syndrome:















- news about back-office staff







- photos of wealthy (non-typical) donors presenting giant



cheques to your organization







- photos of people standing around (maybe holding wine glasses)



at your fundraising event







- articles that have the sole purpose of educating your donors



(instead of trying to stir their emotions)







- stories about your methodology







The proven remedy for Nonprofit Navel-Gazing Syndrome is



newsletter stories that put your donor--not you--in the center



of the action.







© 2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and



in print provided the links remain live and the content remains



unaltered (including the "About the author" message).



Grab this articles

Related articles


Newest Articles

Most Popular Articles