Almost everything about nonprofit writing seems as if it was designed by a template, especially the company website content. Visit a few nonprofits’ websites and you can usually replace one name for another and swap out mission statements and the rest is true to form. Nothing stands out. It doesn’t pop and certainly doesn’t make us feel. Nonprofits need their content to be compelling and emotionally driven. From saving ocean life to rallying around support for cancer survivors – the content is there. It’s just not utilized to create a splash.
So here’s why and how to jump start fresh, new content.
Donations
Nonprofits need money to run. But there’s no product or service to sell. Instead, donations are needed. Visit any nonprofit website and you’ll get hit with mind blowing facts and stats. But rarely does it make us pull out our credit card and type in those 16 digits. What does compel us to give? A personal heartfelt story that makes us feel. Don’t tell us how many women are breast cancer survivors. Tell us instead the story of Karen who against all odds found the strength and courage to live her life everyday with Stage 4 breast cancer and is doing so with the support and help from donors like us. Let us know we can make a difference in someone’s life and donations will rise.
Social Media Engagement
No one is on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to be antisocial. We’re there because we want to connect. We want to learn, to be engaged and read the latest gossip! Follow some nonprofit feeds for a few weeks and you find the content is often dull and boring. We glaze over their posts in the feeds. Instead give us something that we haven’t already heard. Tell us how it relates to us. Ask a question or engage followers in dialogue. Give us a snippet of some interesting story and link us back to your company website content where you tell us the rest. Don’t be afraid to spice it up a little! Tell us your opinion or, better yet, ask us ours. Trust me, we’ll tell you. It’s like a first date with someone shy. Ask the right questions and you won’t get us to stop talking about you, your posts and your organization.
More Media Attention
What organization doesn’t want more media attention? But in the 24-hour news cycle, it better be interesting. Yes, the spaghetti supper fundraiser on Thursday night is important, but what’s better is a local angle on a national story. Give us an attention grabbing headline, tell us something interesting from an expert and show off your research skills. Dig through the wealth of expertise at the organization and countless stories that can be shared. Journalists and the public will be more interested and more coverage will follow.
Stacy J is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
