The brutal truth is that most people aren’t that desperate to read what you write.

When your appeal letter drops through someone’s letter box, it’s easily tossed aside. On your website, you have just seven seconds to grab someone or they’ll move on. When a potential funder receives your annual review, they’ll just skim read it. Then add it to the stack from other organisations also looking for money.

You need techniques to make your writing “sticky” – to get people to read and take notice. Here are some top tips:

Make it useful

Say you’re trying to communicate with children’s services commissioners. Could you complement your core material (what you do, the impact you have) with something that is also useful for your audience? Perhaps a Top 10 Online Resources for Commissioners, or How to Save Time and Money When Commissioning Services report? Hook your reader with something useful and valuable to them, then use it as a lever to get your own messages across.

With every publication, ask yourself: is this interesting and valuable to my audience, or is it just what I want to say?

Grab attention

When someone flicks through your publication, you have just seconds to catch their attention. But how?

Headers and standfirsts (the line or two under the headline summarising the copy) are key.

Ensure your headline is striking, tells the audience what the piece has to do with them, and tells them why they should read on. Try to tell the whole story of your piece, including your call to action, across your headlines and subheadings. Skim readers need to get the message even if they don’t read the detail.

Ditch the puns

Those oh-so-clever headlines (“Government changes its tuna on fisheries policy”) you felt so smart writing in the office don’t often work when they make it into print or online. Your reader will at best be puzzled, at worst put off. Don’t kid yourself they will be so intrigued by the cryptic headline they’ll read on.

Leave the puns to the tabloid hacks.

Strong images with good captions

Strong images will draw readers to your work, but don’t waste your caption by simply describing the picture. They can see it! Instead, use the caption to relate your key messages, and attract the audience to read the rest of the copy.

Go short and simple

People will give up on your writing if it is difficult to read. Make sure sentences are short (try less than 30 words) and paragraphs brief. Eliminate jargon and acronyms – people should to be able to understand what you write the first time they read it.

Break it down

A page packed with dense copy to wade through will put many readers off. Break down your copy to make it easier to digest: use bullet points (but not too many), boxes, lists, A to Zs, top tips and other formats to make difficult information more digestible. Use lots of subheadings to break up text, particularly on the web. White space gives the eyes a rest, and makes your copy less daunting to read.

Use transition copy

“After the break, a BIG shock!” That’s what you hear on programmes like The X Factor to get you to tune in again. You can use this cliffhanger technique in your own copy to keep people reading.

“Transition copy” is the name for little phrases like “you won’t believe what happened next” and “the truth will surprise you” which, when read, almost compel the reader to keep reading. Drop a few in your copy, say every half a page, to give your writing pace and deftly carry the reader on to the next segment.

I can help you engage your audience – contact me today.

No one likes writing about or talking about money, but for most charities the effective “ask” is the lifeblood of their organisation.

Here are a few tips to help with your fundraising writing.

Start with outcomes

Your donors want to know the impact that their money will have, so always start any writing about money with outcomes and achievements. Psychologists have shown people are much more likely to do what you want them to do if you give them a reason to do it. So never just ask for money without demonstrating – and proving – that their donation is an investment in the impact your organisation has.

Keep it simple

Your organisation may do 50 different things, but when writing about money concentrate on one area only. Too many options and ideas can breed procrastination. If you ask for this money, for this project, by this date, you present the reader with a simple yes or no decision to make right now.

Be honest about core costs

We all know asking for money to pay postage, lighting bills and transport isn’t a great sell. While you shouldn’t try to hide the fact you need to pay for core costs, you can weave them creatively into your fundraising asks.

Write the truth – that these costs are core to making projects successful – rather than an optional add-on you’d rather not talk about:

“Will you give £50 to help support Simon for a week? Your money will go on simple everyday things like milk, soap and electricity. The bus fare for his support worker. The stamps we’ll use to send his housing application forms. Simple things for you, life changing for Simon.”

Turn objections into a reason to support

Before you write, give some thought to the specific objections you might face. Don’t just pluck ideas out of the air; think about your audience, their life situation, their politics, their assumptions.

What reasons could they give for not supporting you? The financial crisis; they don’t trust charities; the Government should be paying for that; one person can’t make a difference; Christmas is coming and I need to buy presents?

For each objection, write a response into your fundraising copy, helping to remove barriers to giving before they’ve even arisen.

“In a multi-media age where suffering across the world has never been brought so close, it’s easy to think one person can’t make a difference. That’s not how Simon sees it. He knows the £50 you give could help him change his life forever.”

Be specific, not general

Adding little details and specific costs for things adds a ring of truth to your fundraising copy.

Not only does adding specifics make your writing more believable, it helps your donors to engage with the outcomes that their money could generate.

Compare:

“Help us to train thousands of young people this Christmas.”

With:

“Your donation could pay the £24 fee Simon needs by 23 January to register for the mechanics course at his local college.”

Write about partnership

Try to avoid phrases that foster the idea that you are doing something on behalf of your donor, with their money. Your donor wants to feel they are making a difference themselves, not outsourcing a problem for someone else to deal with. Use language of working together, partnership or make a direct link between your supporter and the outcome.

Compare:

“Please give us £20 and we’ll put it to work helping people like Simon.”

With:

“Your £20 will help support people like Simon.”

Have a plan

It is likely you will ask for money and write about how it is spent a number of times over the year, and there could be more than one of you writing fundraising material.

A simple plan will help prevent you making simple mistakes like having too many “emergency” appeals in a year, asking for money for a project you’d previously said was nearing completion, using the same case study too many times, or having to dash off your Christmas campaign in a frantic rush.

At the beginning of the year, plan what fundraising asks you will make each month, the amounts you will ask for, how you will ask for them and when you will put your fundraising writing together for them. Build in some flexibility, and get everyone who writes fundraising material to agree to the plan.

It’s a numbers game

However you write about money, however you ask for it, and however you say you spend it, someone somewhere isn’t going to be happy. When you communicate with a lot of people lots of times, you’re bound to get negative feedback.

If your fundraising writing generates the support you’re looking for, the fact that you’re offending or annoying a few supporters along the way shouldn’t put you off.

If you try to please all people, all the time, your fundraising writing will not be effective.

Need help with your fundraising copy? Contact me today.

You can have the best impact statistics. Brilliant case studies. A fantastic structure for your publication.

But without applying the very basics of good writing, your charity communications won’t shine. Poor writing turns readers off, and weakens even the best content’s impact. Worse still, you might not be understood – and therefore ignored.

Use these five simple reminders to keep your writing on track.

1. Jargon free

You might talk about HJDs and JSPs and facilitating empowerment of your service users with your colleagues. But that language shouldn’t make it anywhere near your external publications.

We all tend to write in a charity bubble, where we assume our target audiences use the same terms and language as we do. They don’t.

Ask yourself, would your gran, or neighbour or bus driver get what you’re talking about – immediately?

There’s the obvious jargon like: “We facilitate improvements in health through the process of recruiting level three healthcare professionals and the construction of high quality healthcare environments.”

But look out for other charity sector speak such as: supporters, stakeholders, direct mail, statutory funding, best practice, public benefit, outcomes, impact, engagement, service users. None of these would be immediately understood by most of your readers.

Explain, or better get rid of, jargon and acronyms and use the simplest language, appropriate to your audience, if you want to create clear publications that make readers take notice.

2. Tight sentences

The best writing is often made up of short sentences. Every word should add meaning.

Every phrase in its shortest, simplest form. That way, your writing will be easy to digest.

After writing your piece, go through it again looking for opportunities to tighten, cut and simplify.

For example, “We spend more than £100,000 a year on running projects” is better than “Our gross expenditure on charitable activities is in excess of £100,000 per annum”.

Look out for phrases that add no meaning, such as “it was totally unique” (something is either unique or not) and “our office is located at” (no need for located). Never use a complicated word or phrase when there’s a simpler alternative (“use” instead of “utilise”, “enough” instead of “sufficient”, “because” instead of “due to the fact that”). Beware of useless phrases like “at the end of the day” and “at this moment in time”.

There are also very few instances where removing the word “that” would damage clarity in your sentences. Try a search-and-remove in your next big article, and you’ll see what I mean.

3. Active, not passive

Statements have more impact when you write them in the active voice.

“The Teenagers Trust improved the youth centre”, is active.

“The youth centre was improved by the Teenagers Trust”, is passive.

Remember: the cat sat on the mat (not: the mat was sat on by the cat).

One or two passive sentences are OK in a longer piece, but if you fill your article with them it will read like an essay. Your writing will always have a bigger impact if you’re not afraid to be direct.

4. Cut adjectives

Lots of adjectives weaken the impact of your writing. They force readers to wade through too flowery words and make your prose overblown:

“Leading doctors have issued a dire warning that the nation’s massive obesity crisis will have very serious consequences for essential medical services.”

Instead try the more impactful: “Doctors have warned that obesity will have serious consequences for medical services.”

Mark Twain rightly said: “When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them – then the rest will be valuable.”

5. Prefer verbs over nouns

“We aim to increase engagement with young people and foster crime reduction.”

Overuse of nouns can make your writing feel formal and crowded. Flipping your sentence to make them into verbs can give your writing more pace, while also making it clear.

“We aim to engage young people and reduce crime.”

For some charity communicators, the very idea of creating this year’s annual review will send shivers down your spine. After all, didn’t you just sign the last one off a couple of months ago?

For others, it’ll be an opportunity to play with ideas, to create, and to get right under the skin of their organisation and show its best aspects to the world.

Most sit somewhere in between. And we all need a bit of inspiration from time to time.

To get you started, I’ve scoured the charity sector to uncover the 6 key ingredients that can make your annual review work.

1. Digital integration

Five years ago, the very idea of an online annual review meant being able to download a PDF of the printed document from the charity’s website.

Things have changed. Now, some kind of digital or online integration is a ‘must do’. In fact, some larger organisations have made annual review micro-sites their main review, with the printed version the minor addition.

And what’s not to like? Publishing online allows you to include videos and animations, making once static information come alive. It allows the reader to click around the annual report in the way that most suits them (while behind the scenes you can measure what information most interests your readers).

You can provide calls to action (donate, volunteer, leave your email) that can be completed right away. And you can use other social media to send viewers directly to content in your annual review that is directly relevant to them. With whizzy dynamic and colourful annual reviews, you can make your information – and your brand – look great.

Top examples:

• Retrack – This overseas homelessness charity has taken the simple but effective option of creating a digitised, dynamic PDF for their annual review. It is a good looking document that you can download from the website, but it contains internal links. You can navigate around the PDF using the links, and it also links out of the annual review to YouTube videos and to areas of the main Retrack website. Simple and cheap, and a good starting strategy for any charity wanting to get started in this area.

• Saferworld – This peace research and policy charity has also taken a simple approach to their online annual review. Readers begin at a dynamic online graphics-led contents page, which draws out further information into pop-up boxes. Behind it sits a very detailed and involved annual review, so this more accessible mini version is welcome.

• British Heart Foundation – The layout of this online annual review is simple and clear, with very basic navigation. There’s a good mix of case studies with great photography, solid but short information and whizzy infographics keep you engaged. The end of the review offers you a number of places to go, including downloading PDF files of key statistics and achievements for UK countries, grants made, and inviting you to donate and share – as any good website should.

• Livability – This faith-based disability organisation’s online annual review can’t help but attract because the video-content begins as soon as you arrive. There are great some great dynamic graphics, and good case studies. But what makes this website special is that it’s clearly designed to be accessible to people with learning difficulties: it’s written simply, with bold headlines and easy-to-understand signposting for what to do or where to go next. All charities have something to learn from that.

Read about the other 5 key ingredients

2. Good images

3. Highlights of the year

4. Case-study led

5. Reporting against aims or targets

6. Innovative ideas

First, the bad news.

In charity communications, there’s no such thing as the general public.

If you think your charity’s target audience is “everyone” you’ll be setting yourself an impossible task of communicating effectively with all of them.

Your copy will be so much more effective, engaging and compelling if you are really clear who you need to communicate with, before you start writing, and then write directly for that target audience.

Here are four top tips to help you:

1. Picture your reader

This may feel silly, but it really works. Find a catalogue or magazine and cut out a picture that most closely represents your ideal reader. They should be the same age, gender, ethnic background and, judging by clothes perhaps, same background or social status as your key target audience.

Stick the picture to a sheet of brightly coloured A4. Give your supporter a name, an occupation, family situation, hobbies and interests. The more information you can write down about your reader, the better.

Now, when you start writing, have your new friend on the desk in front of you. Write for them and them alone. Force yourself to write for this one person.

Writing and reading can be an intensely personal affair. Try to write as if you’re addressing one person. It just so happens that what you write could be read by thousands.

2. Tone

Write in a tone that works for your target audience. If you were speaking face-to-face with them, how and where might you be most likely to deliver the same message? Over a pint in the pub? At the school gates? As a tutor speaking to a student? In a caring or mentoring setting? Politely addressing a business leader in a suit? Feet up and fluffy slippers on at home, sharing a cocoa with a good friend?

Try to write in the same tone as you would use face-to-face. Perhaps polite and deferential to a business leader; more friendly and conspiratorial at the school gates; totally relaxed and friendly with a good friend; firm, wise and fair, like a teacher or mentor; a say-it-like-it-is honest mate, over a glass of wine.

3. Get the language right

Think carefully about the actual words you use. Check over your copy to ensure you’re only using language that your target audience would use themselves. The more your reader feels they’re hearing from someone like them, the better.  Don’t slip into the tendency to over-write, in flowery laborious language, just because you’re creating something.

In particular, look for your own organisation’s jargon. Not just the obvious stuff like “stakeholders” and “second-tier”, but also phrases and acronyms that have become so common among you and your colleagues that it might not occur to you that those outside your building, or the charity sector, might not have a clue.

If possible, get someone who is as close as possible to your target audience to read over the copy. Ask them to highlight anything that stopped the flow of reading, even for a second.

4. What do they need to know?

Your reader wants to know what your message has to do with them. Think about what your reader might get out of your writing. Why should they take your action? What is in it for them? Is it something concrete like a product, a new opportunity, improved skills or knowledge? Or something less tangible like feeling good about themselves or contributing to a concrete change?

Don’t assume an “opportunity to contribute” will be regarded as a good for itself. Why would your reader want that opportunity to contribute? How will it make them feel? How will it improve their life? That’s what you should highlight.

Need help with working out your audience and getting your messaging right? I can help. Contact me now!