Your mission is powered by people. Give them a reason to stay. Most nonprofit comms feel like a series of transactions instead of a genuine connection. I’m here to help you build a relationship engine instead. Every month, The Supporter Connection delivers practical, high-ROI strategies to help you:💪 STRENGTHEN LOYALTY: Build deeper connections with donors, members, and volunteers through consistent, meaningful communication.🎭 TELL BETTER STORIES: Borrow tips from my background as an Actor + Fundraiser to find the emotional hook that inspires long-term commitment.⚙️ FOCUS ON WHAT WORKS: Get result-driven insights designed for small-to-midsize teams who need their comms to work as hard as they do. Join a community of mission-driven leaders moving from transactions to true connection.
The Rewrite: Giving a show postcard extra punch
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Tips for writing promo postcards that convert I’m a theatre person (yup, the kind that uses the -re ending. Guilty.). I was an actor in New York after college… (Here I am doing a little Off-Off-Broadway theatre.) …and my first fundraising job was with a community theatre. Even though acting was two careers ago, theatre is still near and dear to my heart. So when I saw a show promo postcard underselling an incredible play, the writer and the theatre nerd in me couldn’t help but give it a rewrite. The RewriteThe postcard was advertising a production of What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck. The production’s timing, October 2024, was perfect. But the postcard copy wasn’t doing the show justice. Specifically, Schreck discusses how she became intimately familiar with the text of the Constitution in high school. She earned her college tuition by competing in constitutional debate contests. She became intimately familiar with the power of the document, though, when she realized how it—and specifically, one sentence in the 14th Amendment—had impacted four generations of women in her family. Schreck also outlines a hopeful vision of how we could improve the Constitution for future generations. And the play ends with Schreck engaging in an actual constitutional debate with an actual high school debate student. There’s a lot in the news right now about the Constitution and how we got here as a nation. Here’s a show that comes right before the big election that will help you take a step back to follow the story of a 15 year old earning her college tuition by competing in Constitutional debate competitions across the country. Join beloved company member [Name] to follow one woman’s journey to understand how we can form a more perfect union–and what it all means to YOU. How many times have you heard a pundit declare “that’s unconstitutional!” this week? Were they right? Are you sure?
In this riveting one-woman show, beloved company member [Name] illuminates the darker implications of our centuries-old founding document. She begins her journey as a 15-year-old participating in constitutional debate competitions. Along the way, she explores the devastatingly human impact the Constitution had on four generations of women in her family.
Laugh, hurt, and hope as you discover what the Constitution means to you–and to future generations.
Postcards have limited real estate, so you need to make sure every word is pulling its weight. Let’s break down the main tips from my beautiful graphic.
Try these tips on your next promo postcard, and let me know how it goes! P.S. I'm running a promotion for new subscribers this month, so it's a great time to share this newsletter with a friend and encourage them to sign up! I'll write one year-end appeal email (for free!) for up to 5 new subscribers. P.P.S. Speaking of year-end appeal help, I still have slots to help a few organizations with their appeals. A strong appeal can easily have 100+ communications, so let me take the writing off your plate! Interesting Nonprofit LinkIn the spirit of debate, here's an op-ed about how using potentially triggering words in your nonprofit communications can obscure your message with different supporter groups. And here's a response saying the real issue is the way censoring nonprofit language is impacting organizations' ability to do their work. You'll need a free subscription to read these articles (I promise I won't always share Chronicle of Philanthropy pieces, but the word nerd in me is here for a semantic battle). Nonprofit Good NewsGroups of Ghostbusters megafans around the country have been converting cosplay into charitable donations. They've raised hundreds of thousands for various causes and brightened faces in places like hospitals and fire stations. Even better, Sony, which owns the rights to Ghostbusters, has supported the groups by donating auction items and putting up matching gifts. I guess we all know who we're gonna call now. See you next month! Lee O'Connell, nonprofit content and copywriter If someone forwarded this to you, you can snag your own subscription here. |
The Supporter Connection Newsletter
Your mission is powered by people. Give them a reason to stay. Most nonprofit comms feel like a series of transactions instead of a genuine connection. I’m here to help you build a relationship engine instead. Every month, The Supporter Connection delivers practical, high-ROI strategies to help you:💪 STRENGTHEN LOYALTY: Build deeper connections with donors, members, and volunteers through consistent, meaningful communication.🎭 TELL BETTER STORIES: Borrow tips from my background as an Actor + Fundraiser to find the emotional hook that inspires long-term commitment.⚙️ FOCUS ON WHAT WORKS: Get result-driven insights designed for small-to-midsize teams who need their comms to work as hard as they do. Join a community of mission-driven leaders moving from transactions to true connection.
📣Last email’s poll results 📣 It’s unanimous, y’all, polls are a go! Look out for this month’s poll after the main article. I shared in my last email that I’m focusing on nonprofit communications that help build stronger relationships between an organization and its supporters. To do that, I try to ground my writing in three simple ideas: Write from a person. Write to a person. Write about a person. This month, I’ll break down the first one: how to write from a person. First of all, I get it....
If you follow award show season, you may have noticed Huntrix—the fictional girl group at the center of the movie K-Pop: Demon Hunters—has been topping the best song nominations and awards. (I promise I am not here to get “Golden” stuck in your head… oops.) As someone who listened to the soundtrack on repeat for months last year, I can tell you that the honor is well-deserved. To quote another parent friend of mine, the soundtrack is, fortunately, "all killer, no filler." But inside one of...
If you’re like me, you got A LOT of nonprofit emails in November and December. And many of them communicated similar things Support our cause Help us reach our goal Your gift will be matched Give before the deadline Don’t get me wrong. These emails came from worthy organizations with missions worth supporting. And many sent stories in addition to cut-and-dried asks, which is great! But if you’re getting a half-dozen or more of these emails every day for two months, it feels almost...