This document provides 8 tips for writing effective donor engagement copy for fundraising appeals. The tips include: 1) Don't try to be creative but focus on the donor; 2) Imagine a specific donor to focus the writing; 3) Pour over resource materials on the cause's impact; 4) Take a break to let ideas form subliminally; 5) Write quickly without overthinking; 6) Edit slowly with a fresh perspective; 7) Ensure the copy is focused, engaging, and moves the story along clearly; 8) Conduct a final review with the goal of long-term donor engagement. Following these steps can result in fundraising copy that respects donors and treats them with deserved respect to enhance engagement.

1. Copywriting
24 October 2017
BY BONNIE O. MEYER, CFRE
COPYWRITING TIPS
FOR BETTER DONOR
ENGAGEMENT
8
THINK
CREATIVELY

2. NonProfitPRO.com 25
et’s say you’ve been asked
to write the year-end appeal
for your organization. Now
you’re staring at that proverbial blank
sheet of paper or more likely, the
new (and wordless) document you’ve
opened on your computer. You feel
the pressure mounting …And now
what do you do?
It’s time to consider the following
eight step-by-step tips.
DON’T TRY TO BE CREATIVE
Relax. You have a passion for the cause, right? (If
not, don’t even bother with the remaining tips.) So, I
repeat: You have a passion for the cause. That’s essen-
tial. But if you think your job at this moment is to be
creative, you’ll focus on “you,” the copywriter—and
that’s not where your head needs to be.
Ironically, the key to thinking creatively is to stop
obsessing about creativity! Which leads us to …
FOCUS ON THE DONOR
This is key to your goal of enhancing donor engage-
ment. But you say, “I’m writing to 10,000 donors.
Each one is unique, so how can I possibly focus on
the donor?”
Excellent question. And my advice for this stage
of the creative process is to simply settle on one indi-
TIP#1
TIP#2
L

3. vidual whom you know to be generous.
Two options:
Option 1: A known donor to your
organization (preferably not a board
member or someone in the inner circle).
It could be a donor you talked with on
the phone when he or she called with
a question, or perhaps a donor you
observed participating in a focus group.
(Focus groups can provide helpful
insights to the key drivers that motivate
donors to engage with you.)
Option 2: If you really don’t know
any donors to your organization, then
think of someone in your personal
network who is generous and who, logi-
cally, could be a donor to your cause.
Please don’t pick your mom for this ex-
ercise. It’s okay to choose your next-door
neighbor, aunt, uncle, cousin—just avoid
immediate family members.
REMEMBER THE DONOR
Before you do anything else, write that
person’s name at the top of your screen
or page (e.g. “Dear Betty,” “Dear Karl,”
“Dear Linda”).
POUR OVER THE RESOURCE
MATERIAL
You collected for this assignment and
fall in love (again) with your cause. Use
a checklist to make sure you’ve pulled
everything together. When crafting ap-
peals, you’ll want to be clear on how
Copywriting
ONE
CAN MAKE A
DIFFERENCE
7 8 1 . 9 3 4 . 0 5 8 6 | I N F O @ N E W P O R T O N E . C O M | N E W P O R T O N E . C O M
One person can make a difference in the world.
One organization. One donor. And NEWPORT ONE
can help. NEWPORT ONE is the one you can count
on for award-winning, integrated, multi-channel
fundraising strategy and services.
26 October 2017
TIP#3
TIP#4
The combination
of a solid offer,
a great story,
mindfulness of
the donor’s
generosity and
your own passion
for the cause should
put your copy on
the right path.
“
“

4. the donor’s gift will be applied to make
an impact and how you might quantify
impact (e.g. $50 fills a hungry child’s
backpack with food to last the weekend).
Understand what the situation was
like before your organization began to
address a particular need and how things
have changed. Do you have a compelling
story, photo or video that illustrate the
transformational impact of donors’ gifts?
Do you have direct quotes that help
bring the story to life? Do you know
how many individuals are still waiting
for help? Do you have a specific revenue
goal for this appeal?
LET YOUR MIND WANDER
Now that you’ve poured over your re-
source from top to bottom, take a break.
Don’t even try to work on your project.
Instead, do anything else you might
normally do. Take a walk. Exercise. Pull
weeds. Pay some bills. Be sure to sched-
ule “down time”—including at least one
night of sleep—before you return to your
writing assignment.
Something inexplicable happens dur-
ing the pause. Your mind begins to make
interesting connections, and you begin
to form creative ideas of how to engage
your donor. This happens subliminally,
but only if you pause.
WRITE FAST
After you’ve taken time to let your mind
wander, you’re ready. You may not feel
ready, but you are. So start writing. Kick
yourself into gear, and don’t worry too
much about the first pass. Just write with
passion, and be sure you’re writing to
Betty, Karl or Linda—your donor. This is
the key to developing language that con-
veys what I think of as the big three R’s:
It also ensures that your copy rings
true. It’s authentic, conversational, easy-
to-understand. When your first draft
is essentially complete, read it through
from top to bottom. If you find that
you’ve bored yourself to tears, it’s a sign
you should start over. But that’s unlikely.
The combination of a solid offer, a
great story, mindfulness of the donor’s
generosity and your own passion for the
cause should put your copy on the right
path. Still, you’re not finished yet.
EDIT SLOW
What I mean is that you need to allow
time to polish your work. I recommend
another full-day pause at this stage so you
can review your work from a fresh per-
spective. The following is not a complete
list, but here are a few things you’ll want
to consider when writing appeals:
focused?
hold interest from start to finish?
tively to “put a face” on the need?
to paint a picture and move the story
along?
does it sound natural, conversational?
have a clear call-to-action?
photos and video (if email) to reinforce
the appeal?
relevance for lapsed donors vs. active
donors … or new donors versus long-
time donors?
FINAL REVIEW
When everything’s in place, review one
last time, bearing in mind that your
overarching goal is long-term donor en-
gagement. As we strive to raise more net
revenue for our organizations, let’s keep
our eyes on the donors who will make
that happen … and treat them with the
respect they so deserve. If you’ve applied
your creativity to that end, you’ve got a
winner! NPPRO
NonProfitPRO.com 27
TIP#5
TIP#6
TIP#7
TIP#8
As we strive to raise more net revenue for
our organizations, let’s keep our eyes on the
donors who will make that happen … and
treat them with the respect they so deserve.
““