You’re talking to a person, so act like a person.

It sounds simple, but for organizations and businesses that have developed their communications strategies around press releases, official statements and copy-by-committee, treating your donor like an actual person is challenging.

This has become exponentially more important with the rise of social media. Social media is all about personal relationships and one-on-one interaction. It’s about hearing what other people think and having a conversation with them.

Far too many organizations tweet from up on high, but social media is really about getting down in the trenches with your constituents and geeking out with them about the things you share in common — ideally a passion for your cause. Really, it’s a matter of sounding like you are an individual, a person who actually cares about about what you do. Is that really so difficult?

You can find more lengthy articles with detailed dos and don’ts if you need them. And definitely read everything that Tom Ahern has ever said about donor communication.

But for me, it all comes down to remembering that one fundamental thing: you’re one person talking to another.

I’m excited on a personal level because I was a big fan of the show and am looking forward to watching another 90+ minutes of Mars-y goodness. But what really intrigued me is what the project can teach fundraisers.

If you’re not familiar with the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, check out their FAQ. In a nutshell, it’s a way for artists and other creative types to collectively fund their projects. Musician Amanda Palmer financed her successful album Theatre is Evil via a Kickstarter campaign, and two documentary short films funded by the platform went on to be nominated for Academy Awards.

Though there has been a lot of backlash against the Veronica Mars project – the money is going to fund a movie that the studio will profit from! There are so many worthier causes! These people are millionaires and should fund the movie themselves if they care so much! – there are some really powerful fundraising lessons embedded in this campaign.

1. They asked. Lots of fans have been clamoring for a Veronica Mars movie for years. The stars of the show and the show’s creator wanted to do it, but it was stuck in development hell, languishing for lack of financial support. So creator Rob Thomas figured out what he needed, explained it to his supporters, and asked them to fund it.
2. They have a well-articulated plan for the money. They set a campaign goal for the minimum amount they needed and then made a plan for what they’d do if they received more. Donors to the campaign were informed up front exactly how their money would be spent and what their contribution would make happen. They also told people what would happen if the Kickstarter goal wasn’t met and explained why this campaign was the best way for everyone to get what they wanted.
3. They acknowledged their supporters. Sure, they offered plenty of swag – that’s part of the Kickstarter model. But they also immediately thanked all supporters as soon as the campaign achieved its goal. And they kept thanking them, offering new incentives and updates as the campaign continued.

People have a choice of how to spend their money – and that counts for charities too. The Veronica Mars Kickstarter shows how loyal your supporters can be. Years after the show went off the air, fans jumped at the chance to get one more story from the series.

But it also shows that when you have a loyal base of supporters and you treat them with respect, candor and gratitude, you can fund even your most audacious projects.

Books get written by those who beat writer’s block!

There is a whole lot of information out there about writer’s block – see here, here and here just to start. So when I sat down to write this post, I nearly abandoned it before I started. Who needs another post about a topic that has almost 9 million search term hits?

But as someone who supports a family of five with my writing – which means I write on demand, day in and day out, regardless if I’m inspired, energized, enthused or at all clear-headed – I thought I might as well throw my pen into the ring. I simply cannot afford writer’s block, so I’ve developed quite a few tricks to keep me from ever succumbing to this horrible affliction.

And it is horrible. I know one writer who became so blocked she lost clients, her income dropped dramatically, her mental health suffered, and eventually, she had to train for a new career just to keep a roof over her head and to feed her family. It was paralyzing, and it went on for years.

So believe me, I’m not a naysayer. And I’m not just one of the lucky ones who never experiences it. There are plenty of days I can’t imagine how I’m going to put those words down on the paper, days when every ‘a’, ‘the’ and ‘it’ written merits a cry of “Hallelujah!”

There may come a day when I do finally run up against a writer’s block that I can’t trick my way out of, but until then, here are a few tried and true methods that keep me going:

When the well of ideas runs dry…

Sometimes, you just can’t think of anything to write about, or a creative, not-done-to-death way to write the piece you’re trying to write. It’s tempting to moan and wail, but that doesn’t get the work done.

Solution: Write anyway. Write anything. Give yourself permission to write the most cliché-

Embrace those cliche´s if it gets words on the page.

ridden copy you can think of. Because the secret to writing amazing, brilliant prose – whether you’re writing fiction, a hard-hitting article, or fundraising copy – is not writing. It’s revising. So just write, and let the truly original ideas come later.

When your vocabulary has shrunk to that of your first grader’s…

I often feel like giving up on something because it seems like I’m using the same words over and over again. I have an English Degree and a French minor. In theory, my vocabulary is pretty impressive in two languages. But there are days you’d be hard-pressed to believe it.

Solution: Again, write anyway. Repeat as much as you want. Fix it later. Remember, typing a word is not the same as chiseling it into stone. You can always, always, always change it. Until it goes to the printer, and then you just need to let it go and move on. Also, keep a thesaurus – either paper or virtual – handy.

When. Each. Word. Is. A. Struggle…

Some days, it takes me 45 minutes to write 1000 words. Other days it takes me 4 hours. Those 4-hour days are sheer torture.

Solution: Ha! Gotcha. You thought I was going to say “Write anyway” didn’t you? Nope, my solution for this version of writer’s block is the opposite. Stop writing and take a walk. Clear your head, get your body moving, and chances are the words will flow again once you get back to your desk.

When the sight of the blank page and flashing cursor makes you hyperventilate…

If you think too hard about that blank page, it really becomes a daunting thing, a wraith that feeds on all the words you might possibly put down upon it. Terrifying.

Solution: This is where I haul out all my old writing class techniques. Try freewriting for ten minutes just to warm yourself up and fill up some of that page. Write a poem or story or movie review instead of the piece you’re trying to write. Write a big rant about how you can’t possibly write what you’re trying to write because you suck or your idea sucks or your subject sucks. Put it in all caps if it helps. Change fonts – you might just start writing so you can see what it will look like. Copy one of your favorite passages from a book or blog word-for-word. Do whatever you need to do to make that page a bit less blank.

And then, keep writing.

I want to go to there.

The other day, one of my neighbors sent around an email asking to borrow a large duffle bag. The family was heading to Hawaii for 9 days, and they really wanted to take their boogie boards with them but didn’t own a bag large enough to pack them in for the plane trip. They didn’t want to have to buy or rent boogie boards when they got to Hawaii.

Full disclaimer in case said neighbor reads this: I totally would have leant you the bag if I had one like that, and I’m sorry for using your well deserved family vacation as an object lesson for how not to ask for things if you’re a nonprofit. I hope you had an amazing time.

Now, for my nonprofit readers: you can perhaps imagine what my initial, gut-level reaction was upon reading my neighbor’s request. If not, it went something like this: The only way I would be digging around my attic to find a giant duffle bag is if I was going to Hawaii. Buy your own damn bag.

Of course, my rational, altruistic self then kicked in, and I realized that I would love to help, but I don’t own a bag like they needed. And probably someone else did, so really, I didn’t need to go digging around in the attic to make sure.

And then another email came in from a friend looking for childcare so she could go to a party with her husband – their first date in the two years since their son was born.

My gut-level reaction to that request? YES, I would LOVE to help you out.

When you’re asking your donors for money, are you making the right pitch?

Both my neighbors and my friend were asking for something that wasn’t completely necessary. There were no lives at stake, just convenience and fun.

My neighbors made a practical, extremely logical pitch: It would be a waste of money to have to buy new boogie boards when we could just take ours with us if we had a bag. That logic got my brain working, but it didn’t exactly make me feel like being generous.

But my friend made an emotional pitch: We haven’t been out alone together in two years! That heartfelt request moved me to immediate action, and I thought, “I can make that happen for her.”

When you’re asking your donors for support – or your friends for a favor — remember: emotion wins the day.

I know, really it happened to her. But it’s strange for me to think about the changes the last ten years have brought to my life as a direct result of her presence. In a very real way, I owe her much of my progress as a writer and creative consultant to nonprofits. Having her was an earth-shattering, highly focusing experience.

So after the dust settled from her sleepover party and all-around over-the-top birthday celebrations with family and friends subsided, I decided to take a few minutes to celebrate my own journey over the last ten years, reflect on what I’ve achieved, and plan for the next decade.

The process is ongoing for me, but it also made me think about my clients and their upcoming milestones. So much excitement and opportunity — so how can we take advantage of it?

Does your nonprofit have a big anniversary coming up?

Anniversaries are a good time to reflect on the past and set new goals for the future — individually and for nonprofit organizations. Sometimes you find you simply need a course-correct. Other times, a full-on reinvention is required. And while much of this work will be internal, there are ways to celebrate publicly…and perhaps induce your donors to give even more to commemorate your milestone.

Here are my key suggestions, cautions and ideas for celebrating your nonprofit’s anniversary with your donors:

By a strange coincidence, I also started writing for a living in my mid-twenties, about four months after I cast on my first stitch.

For years, I didn’t think the two were related at all, except that when I am in a knitting phase, I’m not writing quite as much, and when I’m in a writing phase, I’m not knitting as much. If I thought of them together at all, they were competitors for my time.

But one day, one of my kids was looking at my latest project, and she said, “Wow, that sure is a mess. Are you sure you want to keep making it?”

Hold the mustard! That is something I say to myself in the middle of every single thing I write — fiction or fundraising or email to a friend.  And in that moment, I realized that all these years of knitting and writing have been far more inextricably linked than I ever knew.

The Beginning: Casting on

The first few stitches…

Every piece of knitting starts with that first cast-on stitch (Fancy expert knitters who know some fabulous technique for starting without casting on: Pipe down! I’m making a point here!), just as every piece you write starts with that first word.

Those first few rows of knitting – just like the first few sentences you write – are maddening. Full of promise of what’s to come, but messy and often confusing…and absolutely necessary to get to the good stuff. They’re never the prettiest stitches or the most beautiful prose. But they form the foundation for what is to come.

As you add row upon row, word upon word, you feel pretty good. You’re making progress! Your fingers are flying! This is AWESOME!

Until you look at your word (or row) count and realize how much further you have to go.

The Messy Middle

Which is when you get to the big slog, which looks like this:

Ugh! Must I keep going?

Can you even imagine wearing that? Can you imagine wanting to?

The same thing happens when I’m writing. I get to the middle and feel absolutely certain that everything I’ve done up to that point was a complete waste of time. There are stray thoughts everywhere, paragraphs that start strong, then peter out into nothing. Structure? What structure! It’s an amorphous blob that will never amount to anything.

But I keep plugging away. Because I’ve come this far, and because I’ve done this enough times to trust that it will somehow, some way, work out.

Done, But Not Done

And then you finish. You type that last word, cast off that last stitch. It feels great, and hey! It doesn’t look half bad.

I feel like I should be done!

Of course, it’s not ready for prime time yet. There are all those loose plot threads to tie up and those seams – and themes – to sew up.

And this is where I really start to lose heart. I’ve spent so much time with this project – during which I’ve thought of a dozen other projects (or received a dozen new assignments) I’d rather be working on. And I’ve kind of gotten sick of even looking at this one. Why did I pick out this ugly yarn anyway? No way am I ever going to wear this monstrosity!

I know a lot of knitters – and writers – who get to this stage and simply stop. They have completed but not finished sweaters taking up space in their knitting bags. Writers have finished but not polished novels. Fundraisers have letters that could have raised big money, but instead fall flat.

But this is what knitting – such a visual and tactile medium – has taught me about the more intellectual medium of writing: DON’T GIVE UP.

That extra little effort to finish and polish and press is so worth it.

Guess what I’m wearing right now?!?

Crafting a successful creative strategy makes you feel like you’ve just conquered a raging river.

One thing I’ve noticed in working with a variety of clients on their creative strategies for direct mail, fundraising and communications is that not all organizations understand just what goes into crafting a successful creative strategy. So I thought I’d lay out my four sure-fire steps to implementing a successful creative strategy at your organization.

1. Set Goals

Whether you’re strategizing for one mailing or an organization-wide campaign, it’s crucial that you have specific and attainable goals laid out clearly for everyone at the organization. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down with a potential client and watched them start to sputter when I’ve asked them what they expect to achieve with their latest direct mail campaign.

HINT: It’s not just about raising money!

The best organizations are looking at each effort — whether it’s a direct mail campaign, online communication, a tweet-up, or something else — as steps in achieving overall organizational goals. Most donors are getting information from only one or two of your channels. Make that information count.

2. Find your voice.

Chances are, your organization is not the only one working on your issue. So why should your donors give to you instead of another worthy nonprofit? Your donors want to connect to your organization on a personal level, and that is all about your organizational voice and how it stands out from the crowd.

NOTE: This doesn’t have to be competitive!

Focus on what YOU do well and communicate that — in your direct mail, on the web, in your newsletter, indeed any time you communicate with your donors — with conviction and passion. Your donors will respond to that authenticity.

3. Communicate and Coordinate

You can generate your very best creative by simply communicating and coordinating with everyone on staff. Tell them your goals, ask questions, learn about what they’re doing and ask them how that fits with the fundraising  goals you’ve set. Make sure your web development team knows what you’re fundraising on and when.

If you have a copywriter, set up meetings for that person with the program staff working on the issue. If it’s something near-and-dear to the Executive Director’s heart, see if he or she is willing to take twenty minutes to discuss it with the copywriter.

All of this can make a world of difference in generating accurate, moving and effective fundraising and communications.

4. Personalize

Because this can’t be said enough: it’s about your donor. So however good your creative strategy is, it won’t be nearly as effective if you don’t take that final step from understanding what your organizational goals are to understanding why your donor should care. Because if your donor doesn’t care, all the hard work you did in the first two steps won’t matter one bit.

Pay attention to the campaigns that your donors respond to (and those they ignore). Know what pushes their buttons. Thank them often, always letting them know specifically what their support has helped you accomplish. And give them as many opportunities as you can for interaction, conversation and feedback. Make them feel like key players in your work.

I can’t tell you how exhilarating it is to work with an organization that is firing on all cylinders. And the results they get on all of their fundraising and communications efforts are proof that by thinking strategically about your fundraising and communications efforts, you can raise more money and support for your cause. And that’s what any nonprofit good creative strategy should be about.

But even as my kids were getting more and more excited about space exploration, I saw the tweets racing by lamenting the money spent on sending a rover to Mars when there are so many problems here on Earth we need to solve.

I’m not going to write a comprehensive defense of space exploration. If you wonder what the value is, check out this interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson, or read his newest book. But I will say that many of the things you and I use every day — everything from our cell phones and computers, to athletic wear and tennis shoes — were originally developed for NASA.

Imagine what might be achievable if NASA had reliable funding and the freedom to aim for truly audacious goals. What alternative fuels or advances in solar power technology might be made? What cool new fabric might make sweaty summer runs like the one I took this morning even more comfortable?

A lot of fundraising departments I work with are just as starved for funding as NASA. In an effort to be efficient and streamlined — to put as many of those dollars they raise toward programs as possible — too many nonprofits are denying themselves a chance to innovate, evolve and, ultimately, do even more to further their missions.

Instead of aiming for the big and complex mission to Mars, they’re content to run the same near-Earth orbit mission over and over again.

It’s easy to play it safe. After all, nobody wants to be the one who bets big and loses. But your donors can tell the difference between an organization that’s hanging on to the status quo and one that’s charting a bold and energetic course for the future. Guess which one most of them prefer?

Investing in your fundraising efforts — whether it’s in increased time, money, energy or vision — can pay huge dividends.

Test boldly in your direct mail, and you can find out what appeals to your donors and target your fundraising more effectively. No more incremental nudges. Let’s find out what happens when you take an entirely different creative approach, or aim for a new universe, or aggressively go after lapsed donors.

Take the time to coordinate communications and fundraising department efforts, and you can pool talents and develop strong messaging that helps inform and enlighten people about your efforts. (Bonus: unless you have to bribe them with donuts to sit in a room together, this won’t cost you a cent!)

Spend a little more on personalization — in the mail, on the Web and in your face-to-face efforts — and you can foster better relationships with your donors…and reap the benefit of increased giving.

And another bonus of investing in your fundraising is that in doing so, you might just find other ways to cut costs that don’t stymie innovation.

I’m excited to see the pictures and read about the discoveries that Curiosity sends back to Earth. It’s a remarkable achievement.

But I also get really excited when I work with an organization that is committed to exploring all the ways they can improve their fundraising. Be bold. Be daring. Dream big. Show your donors how much passion you have for your mission, and watch as they reward you with their loyal support.

Those rules are a great start, but I don’t think that’s the end of the discussion at all. Because when I was asked the question, it brought up a lot of other, related ideas about storytelling, ethics and the nature of truth and fiction that I think are valuable to explore.

What is truth?

If you work for a nonprofit of any size, you probably see hundreds of stories coming through your organization each year. And I’m willing to bet that many, many of these stories have a commonality to them that can, sometimes, make them seem indistinguishable from each other.

It’s probably easy for you to generalize about the people you serve: “Our clients are predominantly [insert three adjectives that describe the typical constituent here].”

So is that generalization true?

What if you put the generalization into story form by creating an amalgam? Could you give it a name, a set of circumstances and a story arc and still call it “true”?

I’ve worked for organizations that had no problem with this definition of the truth, believing that slavish adherence to the details of the stories in their organizations undermined the true spirit of their work. I’ve also worked for organizations that would never, ever consider using an amalgam, certain that it was lying to their donors.

Truth in Fiction

It may be because I am a fiction writer as well as a copywriter that I fall more into the first camp than the second.

Think about memoir for a second. Memoir is generally considered to be a form of nonfiction. But memoirists also take liberties with dates, places, names and timelines in order to create a more cohesive story, while staying true to the overarching themes of their work. Looking at it another way, memoirists lie to preserve the truth.

And some of the “truest” writing I’ve read is fiction. Sure, the facts may not be there, but truths of what it means to be human are often found in fiction, and can serve to inspire as well as — or sometimes better than — nonfiction.

But…

But we’re talking about nonprofit storytelling here, not memoir, not fiction. Making up stories whole cloth and pretending they actually happened in your organization will not serve your purpose well.

Lying is a crummy thing to do to your donors. It betrays their trust and is an extremely poor way to repay their generosity.

Still, it is extremely easy to turn a compelling story into a boring collection of facts. And while your donors never deserve to be lied to, you certainly don’t want to put them to sleep.

So as I mentioned earlier, use the constraints of the truth to up your creative game. Remember to hit as many of the five senses as you can. If you’re interviewing someone, really listen to what they’re saying about how they felt so you can convey that to your donors.

Your organization’s storytelling ethics deserve careful thought and consideration. Make sure you can justify your stance — to your board, to your employees, and above all, to your donors.

And, as always, be creative about how you tow that line. Nonprofit storytelling should be about taking your donors on a journey with you, not just about telling a story and asking for money.

During the non-stop action of the last month, I’ve been spending a lot of time mulling over a few really interesting questions someone recently asked me about storytelling ethics.

How true does a story we use in fundraising have to be? Can we change names? Can we fudge details or timelines? Do people ever make up stories entirely?

I gave a fairly evasive answer: how literally truthful you are in your organizational storytelling is up to each organization to decide.

But I was curious how others might answer that same question. As I began researching the issue, I started contemplating ideas of truth and fiction and where we draw the line between the two.

Let me say up front that I still don’t have a better answer to the original question. I do think it’s a discussion each organization needs to have internally and then convey to any consultants or writers they bring on board.

But I did find some helpful basic guidelines to follow as you have these internal conversations.

A Basic Ethical Stance

In my initial burst of research, I came across this article by Joanne Fritz on the ethics of changing details in stories. She interviews two noted experts — Lisa Sargent of Sargent Communications and Pamela Grow of Simple Development Systems. Both take a firm stance on changing details, agreeing that it is sometimes necessary to protect the identities, particularly of young people, of those whose stories you want to share.

They urge nonprofits to take three key steps: get written permission, alter or hide key personal details, and be transparent with your donors.

This is great advice, particularly for nonprofits working directly with clients, such as a nonprofit helping clothe foster children, or a drug addiction support organization, for two examples. Activist groups and other large-scale groups may be gathering stories that are of a less personal nature, so they may not have to worry about protecting identities as much.

But from what I see in the mail that comes across my desk, the toughest thing about these standards is the transparency portion. Sure, you can simply add a disclaimer into your letter. But please be clever and creative about how you do that.

Because as soon as you say, “some of this story isn’t 100% true” your donor is going to stop reading your pitch and start examining your story to see what details sound made up.

And once you lose ‘em, you lose the chance of a gift.

If you need to use a disclaimer, weave it into your story. Instead of a an asterisk next to a message saying “Details have been changed to protect identities” try appealing to your donor’s sense of empathy:

“Joanie was really nervous about people learning her secrets. But she knows how important it is to get her story out there, so she’s agreed to let me share it with you, as long as I protect her privacy.”

Adhering to strict ethical rules does not have to kill your creativity, nor should it. Always try to push yourself to find the most organic and natural way to adhere to your standards, and your nonprofit copywriting will shine that much brighter.

The rules I mention above are a great starting point. But I think storytelling ethics deserve more thoughtful consideration. So please check in later this week for more thoughts on storytelling, ethics and where (and how!) to draw the line in your own organization.