How to Write a Donor Newsletter
A donor newsletter can be a great marketing and communication tool to generate money for your nonprofit organization. Incorporating interesting and newsworthy content helps to ensure that it attracts readers. However, in order to write an effective donor newsletter, you must take preliminary steps to ensure that its articles will work together to create a unified message about your organization, its mission and the importance of its donors in helping the organization to succeed.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Record of current donors and other supporters
- Information about organization happenings and projects
- Relevant photos
Instructions
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Writing a Donor Newsletter
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List five or six topics that may interest your donors. These are the seeds of articles for your newsletters. Ideal topics include recent activities, such as a special fund-raising event or the groundbreaking ceremony for a new facility. Spotlighting a donor who has raised the most money on behalf of the organization is another possibility. If your organization serves children, a letter from a child it benefited can make for a touching article. Another topic might be a heartfelt letter from the executive director about your organization's greatest challenges, accomplishments, needs and opportunities. You may also want to include information about who recently donated items or money and how their gifts have helped. Ask around your organization to find intriguing stories about recipients of your donors' generosity. The more personal the stories and the more they focus on positive outcomes, the better your newsletter will be.
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Determine which topic is of most interest to your donors. This will be your newsletter's most prominent article. The find out what your donors want to read about, ask for their feedback and opinions on the topics of previous newsletters.
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Use a semiformal yet intimate tone when writing your newsletter articles. Your tone should reflect a personal relationship with your donor, as if you're sitting face-to-face having a warm, friendly conversation about your organization's work. Each article needs a lively headline that makes it a must-read. Not, "Board Meeting on Jobs Program Held," but rather, "Directors Announce Plan to Train Out-of-Work Moms."
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Include photos of your biggest donors along with information as a show of gratitude and acknowledgement. Also include photos of the people you are helping with their money, or the activities and events their generosity made possible.
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Offer contact information and news about how readers can involve themselves in your work. Always include your organization's mission statement, as well as information about the programs and services it offers.
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Tips & Warnings
Always get input from donors before finalizing your newsletter. Your target audience's honest opinions will help you to write an effective newsletter.
Getting different people to write newsletter articles and testimonials will also help to make your newsletter more reader-friendly.
References
- Photo Credit hand writing red pencil image by Nicky Jacobs from Fotolia.com
