A collaboration between Frank O’Brien at O’Brien on Message and Madeleine Nance at Kind Word

I recently got together with my friend and fellow fundraising writing specialist, Frank O’Brien, to talk about our go-to Copywriting Dos and Don’ts.

Frank already had a list of his own tips. After all, he has been writing for American nonprofits for the better part of four decades.

And he asked me one day if I’d come up with some of my own to add to the list—bringing our different perspectives to the conversation.

Here’s what we did… We took Frank’s existing 10 tips, he added 10 new ones, I added my 10 tips, then we took that list of 30 and cut it down to our favorite 20.

And that’s how Frank and Maddie’s Top 20 Copywriting Dos and Don’ts for Nonprofits came to be!

Let me show you a preview of these handy tips. And if you love reading them as much as we loved writing them, you can see the full list here.

DO know how your audience talks. DON’T sound like an outsider.

This one hits close to home for me because I’ve moved across the world from Australia to the US. Every day, I notice differences in local language nuances. In Australia, we walk on the “footpath” and it’s the “sidewalk” in America. I write for organizations in different parts of the world, so I need to remember how the locals talk in my copy.

DO know what your reader can handle. DON’T play it safe.

In the nonprofit space, we deal with sensitive and heavy subjects on a daily basis. But the reality is that many of our supporters find our most challenging work difficult to contemplate. We have to balance knowing what people can handle (because we don’t want them to feel so much pain that they turn away) with showing them the truth of the problem they can help solve.

DO lead with emotion and back it up with facts. DON’T even try doing the reverse.

Here’s how story coach Lisa Cron puts it: “Feel first. Think second … If I ask you to think about something, you can decide not to. But if I make you feel something? Now I have your attention.” 

People make decisions based on emotion and “gut feeling.” Leading with emotion and backing it up with facts works. Leading with facts and trying to add in emotion later doesn’t. 

DO write like a storyteller. DON’T write like a poet.

People receive the messages we send as personal communications, not works of art. In most cases, beautiful turns of phrase, poetic imagery and stunning prose can defeat that personal connection.

A more down-to-earth, conversational writing style is almost always the right choice. It protects the authenticity and emotional power of the story you are telling. And that’s the whole point. 

DO run from internal jargon. DON’T forget to explain complex ideas.

“Program talk” is real in the nonprofit world. Just think how much more powerful fundraising communications can be if donors actually understand what they’re supporting. Our advice is to keep away from internal jargony phrases like “capacity building” – say something like “help people learn skills” instead.

Want to see the rest of Frank and Maddie’s Top 20 Copywriting Dos and Don’ts for Nonprofits?

Head on over to the full list here at O’Brien on Message.