Creative

There’s nothing like a “proactive, hands-on committee” to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

If you’re ready to reinforce your fundraising foundation, these basic guidelines can help you transition to what can grow to be a strong and dependable base of support — individual donors.

No matter how skillful we become, it’s a good idea to dust off these prewriting skills because sooner or later they’ll come in handy.

Creative is great. I see lots of beautiful newsletters, Web pages and email appeals. They have great design, colors, photos and even videos. But they have a problem. They tend not to be original. They tend to be the same old thing you always talk about. Yourself. They aren’t donor-centric.

Just dressing yourself up in pretty clothes and talking about your organization from your perspective won’t do it. No matter how pretty you make it. What are donors buying with their gifts after all? Donors purchase an impact they want to achieve. Through you.

In order for any fundraiser's words to resonate with donors and compel them to take action, those words must feel genuine — which is to say they must feel and sound like the type of passionate speak people use when they converse with one another. In March 2008, Willis Turner, senior copywriter at Huntsinger & Jeffer, shared "The Watergate Guide to Straight Talk," in which he wrote: "The Watergate Transcripts became a template for the kind of 'real' writing I wanted to do."

It’s important to stand out in order to deliver your key message. Using humor in your campaigns can help catch the attention of people and leave a lasting impression, increase awareness for your mission, and eventually drive donations. There are three key areas of focus when considering your marketing strategy — the three C's — and these apply to humor too: consistency, creativity and consideration.

As a nonprofit communications trainer and coach, I’ve had this conversation more times than I can count …

Nonprofit Communications Director: I don’t think our newsletter is working, but my board members say they love it.

Me: I don’t care what your board members think about your newsletter, and neither should you.

Communications Director: (awkward silence)

Me: Your board members are not the target audience for your newsletter, so their opinions about it aren’t that important.

At the DMA Nonprofit Federation's 2011 New York Nonprofit Conference, veteran fundraising consultant Tom Gaffny provided 10 timeless keys to fundraising success that he's crafted over the past two decades during his session, "The 10 Commandments: 10 Ageless, Irrefutable, Non-Negotiable Keys to Optimizing Your Fundraising Success."

Writing, and sending, your nonprofit’s email newsletter takes creativity, precision strategy and even a little finesse. Not only that, but once it's been sent, your newsletter is out of your control. There’s no redo. Proofreading, avoiding spam triggers, ensuring it’s mobile-optimized and creating alluring subject lines are all imperative to the success of the newsletter and what the content inside is promoting.

Moses can teach us a number of important things about fundraising. Yes, that Moses, the prophet revered by Jews, Christians, Muslims and other religious faiths throughout the world. Consider just one story from the Bible that usually receives little attention.

Over 3,000 years ago, after fleeing slavery in Egypt, the Hebrews wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. During this time, God instructed Moses to have the people build a tabernacle, a movable tent-like structure where the Hebrews could worship and experience the presence of God.