5 Writing Tips to Help You Tap Into Your Donors' Hearts

The Donor Attraction Letter

October 23, 2013

Writing donor-centered communications that make strong emotional connections with your donors can be a big challenge.

Why?

Because your nonprofit supporters have very distinct desires, needs and expectations that need to be met through your writing if you want to capture their hearts and inspire more giving.

The honest to goodness truth is really this:

Writing good copy for your donors is hard!

There’s an art and science devoted to writing compelling donor communications because there’s a lot to it. To be effective, you really need to unlearn some old writing habits and develop new ones.

But, based on expert research and donor feedback, there’s one pretty straightforward thing I can tell you for sure:

Your donors are looking for warm, personal, friendly communications.

At the end of the day, your donors want you to touch their heart.

Unfortunately a lot of fundraising communications are missing the mark. If your writing tends to be overly professional and unemotional, your words are throwing up barriers to your donors’ hearts. But, with some relatively simple, important changes, you can begin ushering in more donor love:

Use a conversational tone.

Make your writing enjoyable and easy to read by writing like the way you talk. Some tips for this including using simple, everyday language, contractions, and “You” and “I” should appear plentifully in your prose. When your donor gets a letter or an email from you, you want her to feel like she’s having a friendly, one-on-one conversation with you.

Use the donor’s name.

To your donor, always remember that her name is the sweetest sound. When you address her directly by sprinkling in her first name throughout your writing, your donor becomes more engaged and interested in what you’re saying to her.

Use the second person.

Just as I’m doing in this email, you should write in the second person using the pronouns “you,” “your,” and “yours.” This will help you create a personal feel and your writing will be more donor-centered.

Don’t use jargon.

Use clear language that your donors can easily understand. Avoid jargon and phrases that only you or others close to your organization are familiar with. You don’t want donors stumbling over words. You want to keep them moving smoothly through your piece.

Show some emotion!

Donors are craving what I call “heart talk.” They want to hear what your heart has to say to them. How did their gift make you feel? How has their support touched your heart? Be warm, charming, cheerful and enthusiastic. The idea here is to write with emotion—–don’t’ hold back! You want your words to stir up feelings of joy, warmth, connection, and happiness.

The big takeaway is this:

Communicating in a warm, friendly, personal way with your donors will help you build strong emotional connections that inspire future gifts and increased giving over time. And remember: When you write to your donors from YOUR heart, you’re guaranteed to touch theirs.

Dedicated to helping you attract and keep your donors,

Jen Viano
Nonprofit Writer/Consultant
Editor, The Donor Attraction Letter

PS: Do you need help writing great donor-centered communications? Hit reply anytime to start a conversation with me about how I can help you with your web content, electronic + printed newsletters, fundraising appeals, sponsorship proposals, thank you letters, emails and more. Learn more about the writing services I offer here.

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