The Nonprofit FAQ

How effective is a newsletter as a development tool?

In March 1996, someone asked in the talk-amphilrev mailing list about newsletters as a fundraising tool: "As the only current member of a team of 2 in a social service agency ($3 million budget -- $150,000 raised by Development office in individual gifts), how effective is a newsletter as a development tool? 4 pages, some about our annual event which just occurred, some about programs. Followed up with direct mail appeal. Worth the time and energy?" Bill Krueger provided one answer: Yes. Almost invariably, if done correctly, newsletters can be a valuable fund raising tool. Some points to remember .... 1. Quality first. Poorly written/designed copy is a great turn-off. Make it informative as well as interesting. A little self-serving is o.k., but don't over do it. Remember, no newsletter is valuable if it doesn't make the reader want to read it. Doesn't have to be expensive ... just good. 2. Always enclose a BRE for gifts ... and don't be afraid to tie a fund raising appeal with the articles. For example, after writing about a program you provide, don't be afraid to also say how donors dollars can help that program. 3. Do you have a donor list to mail to? Newsletters work best with people already committed to your cause, but you can purchase/rent targeted lists and use your newsletter as a relatively inexpensive donor acquisition/public information tool. Bob Curley, of Join Together RI, another: As someone who writes these for a living, I'm tempted to sing the praises of newsletters to the heavens. Realistically, however, a newsletter is best suited for maintaining existing relationships -- vesting donors with a sense of ownership and involvement and keeping them up to date with how their money is being spent. A well-crafted newsletter *can* increase donor participation, especially when stories help to put a human face on your work. Too much rah-rah, however, can smack of self-promotion, which could turn donors off. My sense is that the success of direct solicitation through a newsletter is most effective when it links directly to one or more of the stories you are telling in the publication. If you tell a story about how 'Angie' has recovered from heroin addiction because of your program, for example, then include a BRE asking for a donation to 'help people like Angie.' The more passive the request -- simply putting in a blurb in the publication asking for money, or asking readers to cut out a card and return it with a donation -- the less effective it will be. Rare is the new donor who gives simply because he or she read the publication from cover-to-cover and says "Wow, what an organization!" Usually, a quick glance is all you can expect, so the same journalistic rules apply here as in a newspaper or magazine -- put the important stuff up front, and keep stories concise and focused. Charles R. Putney a third: My experience is that a newsletter is most useful after a community attitudes audit--after you know what the community does and does not know about the organization. When working with a mental health center we did a community assessment and learned, for instance, that a sizable percentage of people thought people worked in community mental health rather than in private practice only because they couldn't survive on their own. We then made sure the newsletter highlighted the experience and commitment of staff to community mental health. A newsletter works best in development when you know the attitudes and interests of present and potential donors. It won't generate money, but it creates a climate for giving. To know those attitudes and interests you have to ask. Cyndi Layne commented: I think we need to make a distinction between types of newsletters. Because I disagree strenuously with the suggestion that newsletters should not be sent until AFTER someone has made a gift. One type of newsletter contains mainly information about the fund-raising effort, projects at the institution, etc. This newsletter does indeed go to donors, not prospects. Another type of newsletter contains helpful financial/estate planning information. It's an ongoing, (usually) quarterly publication that forms the core of the education phase of your development program. You send this newsletter to prospects as well as donors, for instance: prospects age 45 and older; donors above a certain amount (this varies according to the institution); board members; key staff members; CPAs, attorneys and trust officers from the community; and the like. The bottom line in any marketing program is, of course, soliciting gifts. But with the financial/estate planning newsletter, the focus is much more subtle. You want the reader to benefit from the information whether or not they give you a dime. You don't include a BRE asking for a donation -- you include a BRE inviting the reader to request more information on the subject. This is also part of the trust-building process. A prospect for a major/planned gift has to learn to trust both the organization AND the development officer who represents it. The type of newsletter I've been describing doesn't operate independently, of course. You don't just send out the newsletter and expect it to single-handedly build trust, educate prospects, promote your mission and fill your coffers with charitably motivated dollars. The newsletter is PART OF your marketing program. But -- used properly -- it can be a powerful tool. It also gets expensive to mail out such publications to everyone, so target them as you would any other marketing promotion. I suggest you look at what you want to accomplish. If you want to keep donors apprised of the progress of your capital campaign, annual fund, whatever, then consider a "newsy" newsletter. And be judicious in the number of times you enclose a BRE asking for money. But if you want to build a lifetime relationship with a prospect; educate him in the subject of wills, trusts, retirement planning, estate taxes, etc., as well as charitable giving; promote your mission in a subtle, low-key and highly effective way; and ultimately increase your endowment through major/ planned gifts, then launch a financial/estate planning newsletter. And Bob Curley continued: Excellent points, Cyndi. I would add only this: Content is key. Readers will quickly see through shallow articles that are really a shill for donations. Take the job of developing story ideas seriously. Also, it is worthwhile to investigate if other non-profits in your area are doing similar work. These types of publications lose their impact if they are sent out by 10 different groups and contain similar, general content. One idea for getting around this: find an informational niche to fill.