How To Write A Nonprofit Newsletter That Gets Results

Across the globe, 69 per cent of nonprofits regularly publish and distribute an email newsletter. Even if your charity already has a newsletter, odds are it could it use a bit of a tune-up.

If you aren’t confident in your writing abilities, or if you’re not seeing the kinds of results that you’d like from your current newsletter, keep reading.

But before we get into what you should be including in yours, we think it’s import to first outline why creating a newsletter is a smart use of your time. 

Why Does Your Nonprofit Newsletter Matter?

If you don’t currently send out a newsletter, you might be wondering why this type of communication matters. There are lots of reasons to take your newsletter seriously, though, including the following:

• Build and Maintain Relationships: Sending newsletters regularly helps you to stay in touch with your audience and build stronger relationships with them.

• Provide Value: You can use your newsletter to provide valuable information about your charity, your cause, and the impact you’ve been able to make so far.

• Advertise Events: You can also use your newsletter to advertise upcoming events and fundraisers to improve turnout and see better results.

• Increase Donations: When it’s well-written, your newsletter is a great tool for soliciting donations.

• Encourage Social Sharing: By adding social sharing buttons to your newsletter, you can improve your social media presence and generate more engagement.

   

Clearly, a well-written newsletter can make a big difference when it comes to sharing information about your nonprofit and getting people invested in your cause.

So now you know why newsletters are such an important tool for nonprofits, it’s time to get into the specific ways that you can improve yours.

How to Create Better Charity Newsletters

The following tips will help you write great newsletters right from the start — or take your current newsletter to the next level: 

Start with a Great Design

A well-designed newsletter is a must if you want to build strong relationships with your audience and encourage them to continue opening your emails.

If you aren’t confident in your graphic design skills, consider investing in an email marketing platform. Not only will this streamline the distribution process, but it’ll also provide you with templates so you get a great design.

Write Great Copy

In addition to a great design, your newsletter also needs high-quality copy. When it comes to writing great copy for your newsletter, keep the following tips in mind:

• Use “you” language — write to your audience

• Keep sentences and paragraphs short

• Use simple, clear language

• Write an intriguing subject line that catches people’s attention

Always proofread your newsletter, too. Nobody wants to read a newsletter that’s full of typos and grammatical errors.

Send Newsletters Regularly

Stick to a schedule when sending out your newsletters. This might mean weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.

In general, remember that less is usually more when it comes to distributing newsletters. If you send too many emails to your audience, you might find yourself relegated to the spam folder, which certainly won’t help you to achieve your goals.

Focus on Formatting

In addition to prioritising your newsletter copy, you also need to focus on its formatting.

If your newsletter is full of big blocks of text or is hard to read because the fonts are so small, you’re going to turn people off and deter them from checking out what you have to say.

Avoid overly elaborate fonts, too. Curly or intricate fonts affect readability, especially when people are looking at small smartphone screens.

Include Impact Updates

If you’re not sure what kind of content to include in your charity newsletter, start by offering regular impact updates.

Let people know how their donations or volunteer hours have benefited others in the last month (or whatever time period works for your organisation). To make a bigger impact, include pictures or links to video evidence if possible as well.

Always Include a Call-to-Action

Every nonprofit newsletter (and every marketing email, for that matter) should end with a clear call to action.

Give people something to do after they’ve finished reading your newsletter. That might be making a donation, signing up to volunteer, registering for an upcoming event, or clicking on a link to a blog post.

Add Links to Other Content

Speaking of links to blog posts, make sure you’re including links to other types of content in your newsletter.

This helps to boost your website traffic and increases engagement on other platforms. It also creates new opportunities for people to expand their knowledge of your organisation and become more invested in your cause.

Exercise Caution with Images

Adding images can make your newsletter more engaging and appealing to readers. At the same time, though, images can also get in the way of your newsletter’s readability.

For example, if your images are too large, they can slow down email load times. This might cause people to feel frustrated with your organisation or cause them to delete your newsletter without reading it.

To avoid these issues, make sure image files are as small as possible. Use images sparingly, too — stick with one high-quality image rather than a bunch of low-quality ones.

Add a Link to Your Donation Hub

If one of the goals of your charity newsletter is to increase donations, be sure to include a link to your online donation hub. Accepting donations for nonprofits through your email newsletter makes it easier for people to contribute to your cause.

If you’re not already accepting donations online, now is the time to make that possible. There’s been a major increase in online giving over the last few years, so providing this option can make a big difference in your results.

Update Your Nonprofit Newsletter Today

A high-quality newsletter is a must if you want to improve your nonprofit’s digital marketing strategy. Keep the tips listed above in mind so you can level up your charity newsletter and see better results from your email marketing efforts.

But remember, even the best newsletter in the world won’t help you if you don’t have a simple and easy process for accepting donations. 

That’s where DonationHub comes in.

With DonationHub, people can donate to a variety of causes and easily manage them in one place without worrying that a middle man is taking a cut.

Check out DonationHub today to see how we can assist your nonprofit.