I recently discovered an inspiring brand story that was more original and moving than much of the nonprofit writing I saw in 2020. Where did this wonderful writing come from? A fruit company.

In this webinar, Laura Ingalls helps nonprofits write more effective year-end donation letters.

I was delighted when I recently received three direct mail pieces from organizations I admire. But my heart broke when I read them. In fact, it broke twice.

I have a working theory. The further away we get from childhood the harder it gets to spot a great story. And you need to find that story if you want your donation letter to succeed.

If you write donation request letters, then you know how frightening the job can be. So much rides on you finding just the right words. Here are five of the most common writing issues and how you can fix them in your next donation letter.

Nonprofit jargon serves a purpose when you use it with co-workers. But in donation letters, jargon makes it hard for donors to understand you. Here are 10 words to cut from your copy.

Humans say they want grammatically perfect prose. But the truth is that they crave short, chatty copy that makes them feel something special. And for most of us, that’s incredibly hard to do well. To help, our team created this Storytelling Treasure Map.

Stories invite a deeper relationship with your donors. But if you fail to tell great stories – consistently throughout the year – your fundraising revenue will likely suffer. That’s why I want to teach nonprofits how to spin gold, using the 7 basic story plots.

I didn’t set out to fall in love with a fundraiser. In fact, as a communications director I was convinced that all of them were crazy. But The One treated me differently. In her eyes, I was someone with which she could plan and build a lasting fundraising program.

Great writing helps to develop strong relationships with donors. It snags grants and helps your community to understand and care about the complex need that your programs solve. Master these 5 tips and your boss, donors and other readers will thank you.

I’ve been thinking about how spicy, vital causes like yours go with the bland, safe option when they write. Should we blame legal? Tempting. How about the curse of multiple editors? That certainly doesn’t help. But the fact is that sometimes we feel too busy to be creative. Here’s some inspiration.

Nonprofits naturally have amazing stories to tell about lives saved, challenges overcome, heart-breaking sacrifice and huge needs that diverse communities are rallying to meet. So why is so much of our writing DEAD BORING. Understanding how journalists decide if something is worthy to print, can help change that.

I’ve based all of my successful fundraising strategy around emotion backed up by logic, not the other way around. But now I know there are specific times when the exact opposite is true. Just don’t forget to back up your ask with a great impact story and fantastic stewardship.

As a nonprofit writer, there are moments that feel like being an NFL linebacker – taking the hits play after play. Don’t let your storytelling get sidelined by confusing plays and poor sportsmanship. Here are 5 things you can do to take some of the pain out of nonprofit communications.