March 19, 2017

Move Donors to Give More and Give Longer with a Winning Newsletter

A good newsletter can work wonders.

It can move donors when other appeals fail to do so. It can win the second gift, increase donor retention, affirm donors’ commitment to your cause, and raise a lot of money. But what makes a donor newsletter good?

Here are six tips to engage high-value donors with your winning newsletter:

Focus on your donors.
A lot of newsletters talk about what the organization did. Instead, use stories and images that show how donors’ gifts made a difference. Convey how essential donors are, how much you appreciate them, and how they’re doing good. That donor stewardship will build donor relationships and ultimately retention.
Include emotional triggers.
Copy and images should stir strong feelings like guilt, outrage, fear, benevolence, and more. Don’t play it safe. Make donors feel something. Link them emotionally to your cause. Motivate them to give.

Click here to read our blog post, "7 Emotional Triggers to Get Donors to Act."
Have actual news.
Our brains instinctively seek out what’s new. Your newsletter should feature something surprising, interesting, and newsworthy to grab donors' attention.
Power up your headlines.
Headlines have two jobs — convey the gist of the story and tantalize readers. To do both, use a headline and subhead combination (called a “deck”), and employ strong verbs that evoke urgency, action, fear, and hope.
Choose stories over statistics.
Shocking statistics might astound your donors, but they won’t motivate them to give. Stories will. Present the human drama of your cause. That’s what donors want to read about.

Click here to download your FREE copy of our Storytelling How-To Guide.
Cater to skimmers.
Almost nobody reads newsletters front-to-back, but they do skim. Headlines, subheads, photos, captions, and pull-quotes have to encapsulate your message for donors, while pulling them in to read more.