It's about the wants of your reader

I love Copyblogger, and I especially love thinking of ways to adapt their advice for the nonprofit world.

They discuss the importance of determining if your copy truly contains a benefit to the reader.  The example they use is that "Balance your blood sugar levels naturally!" isn't good copy because no one thinks "Gee, I need to balance my blood sugar levels naturally!"  But what people do want is to avoid the things like blindness, numb limbs, and premature death that go along with diabetes.  Therefore, better copy would focus on how to naturally avoid diabetes and its bad effects.

So how can you apply this to your own work?  Don't ask people to "save the park," ask them to save the place where they relax, kids and dogs get exercise, and neighbors meet and chat.  Don't ask your readers to donate money for food, ask them to donate money to stop folks in need being hungry.

Marketing is like gift giving—too often we give people what we think they should want, or what we want them to want.  To be effective, you have to get inside the head of your reader, figure out what they desire, and then give them that, or appeal to that. 

What can you learn from Beyoncé's blog?

Last year, Beyoncé started a Tumblr. It is low on text, but full of photos of her, her family, and her adventures.

This is an amazing analysis of Beyoncé's blog and why it is so compelling (which I recommend reading even if you aren't a Beyoncé fan). What struck me about it in particular was that nonprofits could take away two useful insights from this analysis:

• The blog is authentic. You can tell that many of the photos are taken by the legend herself. It is clearly her, her family, her life, even her handwriting. 

What is your organization's blog like? For example, if you have entries written by volunteers, is it clear they are written by them, or does someone take their words and make them sound "better," sanitizing them in the process? Even photos that aren't that great lend authenticity—they say "this photo was taken by a volunteer, we don't spend your money on slick photos, but this picture captures what we do regardless."

• The blog is intimate. As a stark contrast to the heavily made-up, stylist-influenced, Photoshopped pictures of Beyoncé that one can find in magazines, here she shows a much more natural side. In many photos she's wearing little or no makeup, and lots of photos feature her doing something wacky. There are lots of pictures of her family in remote locations that are very private. This drives the viewer to feel a connection to the star. 

In order to get people to care about and, ultimately and especially, donate to your organization, they need to feel connected to it. In particular they need to feel a connection to the work. Can you use photos (or video!) that make people feel like they are there at the zoo seeing the new baby gorilla being born? That they are there with you working with kids in Central America?

Not a photographer? Here's help!

If you are a typical nonprofit development professional and not a photographer, you probably feel nervous about picking up a camera to take pictures for your organization's website, brochure, or similar.

But organizations can't always afford to hire someone who really knows what they're doing.  And if you can, that person may not always be there to get shots when things are happening.  So it's up to you.

Luckily, even if you don't know an f/stop from your elbow, there are a few basic tips that can improve your photos immensely!

• Take pictures of faces

That's what draws people's attention on a page.  Even if you are an environmental nonprofit (for example), you could use photos of kids exploring the wetlands you strive to protect.

• Give people room to look 

If in a photo someone is looking to the side even slightly, her face shouldn't be in the center of the frame.  There should be extra space in the direction she is looking.

• The rule of thirds 

A pretty simple concept to grasp that has the potential for creating fantastic photos.

• Crop, crop and away

Remember in this digital age you can crop photos if your viewfinder composition doesn't come out the best.  You don't need image software, you can even do it in Microsoft Word.  Just be sure to use a high resolution so you can do this (also so the photos can be used in print, not just online).

• Flash vs. no flash?

Using the flash can make images look stark, and people washed out.  However, if you are having trouble taking pictures that aren't blurry, using the flash can help you out.

• Brightness and contrast

If a photo is too dark, you can first increase the brightness, and then increase the contrast so it doesn't look washed out.  You have to play around with the settings so it doesn't look strange or bad.  Again, these are tweaks you can make even in MS Word.

• Look at what's around your subject

It can be easy to focus on the person you are photographing—is she smiling, is his hair messed up?  But don't miss something that makes it look, for example, like a tree is growing out of the top of his/her head.  In real life it doesn't look like that, because we have 3D vision.  In a photograph, though, the image is translated into flat 2D.

This post on Big Duck has 10 tips aimed at the nonprofit.  #1, "Think beyond events," is so important.  Do the people in these pictures like to see themselves featured in, say, your annual report?  Sure.  Does anyone else care?  Not really.  Donors like to see where their money goes.  You want to give them a warm fuzzy feeling, which photos of people in suits accepting awards just doesn't provide.

Also, #6, "Shoot lots of frames," is great.  Why not?  In the digital age, there's no extra cost involved in hitting that shutter repeatedly.  #9, "Always get permission," is of course very important!

Here are some more great beginning photography tips for you to check out.  Photos tell your story. Don't be afraid to experiment; you'll keep getting better and better.

Big concepts = small amounts of money raised

Katya Andresen reminds us to think small, not big.  I couldn't agree more.

When soliciting donors:

• Focus on one or two stories at a time in order to move people to give.  Those stories makes the problem more real (and therefore, compelling) to your donor. 


• Emphasize the fixable—people want their donation to make a difference.  Don't give them a chance to think "What are they going to use my $10 for, a couple of staplers?"  Tell them "Ten dollars provides dinner for 9 people in need."


• Don't use statistics with large numbers that emphasize the scope of the problem your organization is trying to solve.  Humans evolved while living in nomadic hunter-gatherer groups of around 150 people.  A concept like "260,000 people will [have this problem/disease]" is not something we needed to be able to understand.  Stats like that overwhelm people and make them think their 20 bucks isn't going to help anyway, so why give?

I will write more about the importance of storytelling in coming posts.  Stay tuned.

Messaging essentials

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know how much I like clear, concise, simple ways to improve your fundraising communications.  The amazing Katya Andresen has a terrific blog post with 8 things to check before you hit send, go to print, or get up in front of an audience.  Just go read it.