The Storytelling Non-Profit

Non-profit storytelling that raises money & awareness

You are here: Home / Non-Profit Storytelling Tips / What Makes a Great Donor Newsletter?

Non-Profit Storytelling Tips

What Makes a Great Donor Newsletter?

Last week I got a great question from blog reader, Allison, about donor newsletters. Allison asked as simple, but great question: “What makes a great donor newsletter?”

Newsletters are one of many tools that we have at our disposal to build relationships with donors. But there are a million ways to create and write a newsletter, so what are a few tried and true options?

Here’s my take on 5 things that make a great donor newsletter.

  1. Be donor-centered

First and foremost, your donor newsletter must be donor-centered. It can’t be all about your organization and how great you are. It must be about the donors and how great they are. There are a number of ways that you can be donor-centered. One of the easiest is to use the word you. This allows you to talk directly to donors and capture their attention.

  1. Share relevant updates

I know – there are probably a million things happening at your organization right now. It can be tempting to cramp all of them into the newsletter. Don’t. Select updates that are relevant to donors. Did you recently do an appeal for a project or program? That project or program would be the perfect newsletter update.

  1. Use visuals

Whether you do a print or digital newsletter, I highly encourage you to use pictures of people. Words can help describe the picture and bring it to life, but there really is no replacement for seeing the work in action. Again, this is a great way to help bring donors closer to the work they fund.

 

  1. Tell stories

Like visuals, stories help your donors see their impact in action. As we know from the research of Penelope Burk and Roger Craver, donors want to know about the impact of their gift. This is the key to donor retention, and how you can get your newsletter to work harder.

  1. Include a survey question

I love donor surveys, and a newsletter is a great opportunity to ask donors 1 or 2 questions. You can think of this as taking the pulse on donor satisfaction. It is a great way to collect additional data points and get new data points.

What do you think makes a great donor newsletter? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.


About Vanessa Chase Lockshin

My name is Vanessa Chase Lockshin, and I want to empower you to tell your story. In my personal life, finding ways to tell my stories has been a transformational practice. In my fundraising life, I’ve helped hundreds of organizations tell their stories to engage and inspire their donors. To date, my work has helped non-profits raise over $10 million.

Comments

  1. Becky says

    I work at a food bank and create a monthly e-newsletter for our donors and volunteers (who are often one in the same). These readers tell me that they never get tired of client-success stories. It takes work to get clients to tell their stories and often they don’t want their pictures shown- but the work is worth it. Seeing the impact they made in people’s lives inspires the donors and volunteers to keep giving their time and money!

  2. Vanessa Chase says

    Hi Becky – That’s amazing that you get such positive feedback from your donors! I’m sure that’s so encourage for you as you put the newsletter together.