Applying Hot Trends in Nonprofit Marketing to Planned Giving Newsletters

Applying the Hot Trends in Nonprofit Marketing to Your Planned Giving Newsletters Presented by Kivi Leroux Miller 16 th Annual Planned Giving Days

About Me

Enough Me, How About You?
Everyone
Stand
Up!
Flickr: Zen

Planned Giving Newsletters Are Often Too . . .

Planned Giving Newsletters Are Often Too . . .
Technical
Boring
Morbid

Planned Giving Newsletters Should Be . . .

Planned Giving Newsletters Should Be . . .
Inspiring
Motivating
Life-Affirming

So What Can You Do About It?

Take Advantage of Three Trends

Trend #1
I Am Donor, Hear Me Roar!

Philanthropy is Personal Let me out of here!

What This Means
It’s all about them, not you!

What This Means
Stock articles won’t cut it.
Flickr: Krypto

What This Means

Trend #2
Facts We Forget, Stories We Remember

Stories Work Because . . . They are sticky. Flickr: roboppy

People Hear AND See Good Stories
“ Stories provide simulation (knowledge about how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act).”
– Chip Heath and Dan Heath in Made to Stick

What This Means
You need to become a half-way decent storyteller.
Flickr: Zoomar

Stories rush by you everyday. Take the time to capture them.

Three Classic Stories
The Challenge Plot
The Creativity Plot
The Connection Plot
Mixing and matching is fine!

1. The Challenge Plot
Classic underdog, rags to riches, against all odds, bootstrap stories
Inspires action, confidence; appeals to our courage and strength
Flickr: barriebarrie

Act I:
Introduces the character, his situation, and his goal.

Act II:
Character faces obstacles. Tension mounts.

Act III:
Action peaks. Character triumphs, gets payoff.

So Who Is This Guy in Your Planned Giving Newsletter Stories?

Writing the Challenge Plot
Characters at a particular time and place
Their goals or desires
Barriers that they must overcome
How they get beyond those barriers
Payoffs or triumphs
Here’s What You Need

2. The Creativity Plot
Aha! moments, breakthroughs, “what if” stories that work out
Inspires us to take a chance, experiment, support a new approach
Flickr: Thomas Hawk

Writing the Creativity Plot
A well-understood problem
A standard response that just doesn’t work
A new approach (test runs or theories OK)
Vision of a new reality
Here’s What You Need:

3. The Connection Plot
Bridging the gap, we are one, there but for the grace of God go I, big meaning in a small event stories
Inspires compassion, understanding, love, cooperation
Flickr: pondspider

Writing the Connection Plot
A small, specific situation or event
A connection to a greater, universal human experience
A surprise, discovery, or epiphany
Connections within the story and with the reader’s heart/soul
Here’s What You Need:

Trend #3
Feeding the Snack-Size Culture

Make it quick, will you? Short attention spans, ADHD, information overload, blah, blah, blah, blah, Flickr: Sarah Mae

What This Means
Cut your text way back.

What This Means
Make everything scannable.

What This Means
Give people options.

BEFORE
Technical
Boring
Morbid
Inspiring
Motivating
Life Affirming
AFTER Make It All About Them Tell Great Stories Keep It Snack Size

You’ll find a copy of this presentation and additional resources at NonprofitMarketingGuide.com/pgdays

http://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com	252
http://www.slideshare.net	12
http://thedailygriddle.blogspot.com	2
http://www.lmodules.com	2
http://static.slideshare.net	1
http://nptechnotes.pbwiki.com	1
http://www.ecoscribe.com	1
http://www.thedailygriddle.blogspot.com	1
http://www.e-presentations.us	1

Applying Hot Trends in Nonprofit Marketing to Planned Giving Newsletters

by Kivi Leroux Miller on May 21, 2008

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

9 Embeds 273

Statistics

Applying Hot Trends in Nonprofit Marketing to Planned Giving Newsletters — Presentation Transcript