By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
The secret to publishing compelling donor newsletters is to only publish stories that are newsworthy to your donors. But how do you decide if a story is newsworthy? Take this simple test.
Is the story timely?
Is the topic on everyone’s mind these days? Did it just happen? For a story to be newsworthy it must contain information that is new, recent. Any topic that is current has the potential to be newsworthy. Think within the timeframe of your newsletter. Whatever your publishing schedule (weekly, monthly, quarterly), every story you publish should deal with events that occurred since your last newsletter and not before.
Is the story significant?
Why is it important? Why does it matter? Why does it matter now? The easiest way to answer this question is to count the number of people the story affects. If the story is about the annual board retreat, the number of people affected is likely the number of people on your board. But if the story is about a board retreat attended by Nelson Mandela and Bono, and a donation of $100 million given to fund your latest dream project for inner- city toddlers, then you have a few more people affected. People who will find the story significant.
Is the story dramatic?
News is about people. Donors want to read about amazing people doing amazing things. A story about Greenpeace activists in the South Atlantic protesting illegal whaling wasn’t dramatic until a Japanese whaler fired a grenade-tipped harpoon within a few feet of one of the Greenpeace activists, knocking him into the deadly, icy waters.
Is the topic odd or unusual?
If your soup kitchen serves 1,000 meals a week, that’s usual. But if one of your guests turns out to be a client from years ago who has since gone clean, gone straight and is now a millionaire business owner who mentors youth, and has returned to your soup kitchen to tell you he’s thankful for your help years ago, that’s unusual.
Is the story controversial?
Are your volunteers chained to the railings of the Indonesian Embassy in Washington? Has your executive director gone on record as saying the only kind of safe sex is that between a man and a woman who are married for life and monogamous? Newspapers , magazines, tabloids and television and radio talk shows, as you know, thrive on controversy. If you can find a story that is controversial but also in good taste, and relevant to your case for support, you have a newsworthy story.
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