Whether it be answering phones, planning a fundraising campaign, or stuffing envelopes for your next mail-out, chances are you wear many hats at your nonprofit. If writing advertising copy also lands on your list, here are a few tips that can hopefully make the process easier — and more importantly — an effective way to raise awareness and donations.

Regardless of which medium you’re writing for (print, web, TV, or radio) the same fundamental rule applies to all copywriting: Every brand has its own core value (and yes, you should look at your nonprofit as a brand, especially when you’re advertising). The general public is inundated with advertising, products, and pitches on a daily basis. People don’t have the time to figure out what your brand stands for. It’s up to you to make your brand stand for something and precisely define what your core value is.

I’ve found that strong writing always starts with a simple concept and a basic structure. Keep this in mind when you’re defining your core value. Do you help children? Provide shelter for the homeless? Rescue animals? Whatever it may be, a core value is generally one sentence and defines exactly what your organization does.

A Volvo is safe, Coca-Cola is refreshing and relief is spelt R-O-L-A-I-D-S. If you look at successful advertising campaigns, no matter how creative they can get, they all stem from the organization’s core value. Sure there are a lot of funny commercials out there, but if they don’t ring true with the consumer and display a strong reason to buy (or donate) they fall flat.

Think of your core value like a foundation of a house. Your idea, whether funny, emotional, or even just straightforward, should always be built on a strong core idea. Once that’s established, be sure to stick to it. The best copywriting advice I ever received was an example that involved 5 tennis balls. Throw all those balls at a person and chances are they’ll only catch one or two. The same goes for advertising, don’t throw too much information out there and always stick to your main point.

Be sure to keep your writing simple and concise. A good example is the tried and true “elevator pitch”. The elevator door opens and there stands your ideal donor. It’s the chance of a lifetime but you only have the length of the elevator ride to convince them to donate. The elevator pitch is not a hurried presentation, rather it’s a succinct overview meant to capture the attention of your audience.

So you’ve got a solid core value; you’ve based your concept on what your non-profitnonprofit stands for; and you plan to keep your message simple and to the point. From there it’s time to craft your ad into something that works.

Here are six tips that will help along the way:

1. Know your audience. Understand who you want to target. Who are your donors? What are they like? What do they want? If you can tailor your advertising to your specific audience, you’ll be much better off.

2. Start with a good hook.Most people have the attention span of about 8 seconds. If you want to be successful you need to break through the clutter and grab your audience’s attention right off the bat. Your objective is to hook them, and have them pay attention to your advertisement until the end. Your hook can be shocking like a staggering statistic, heartfelt like the voice of a child in need, or even humorous….if you can pull it off.

3. Give ’em the benefits. Some nonprofits struggle with this one. Is it better to push the benefits of what the organization can do, or what the donor can do? I prefer the latter because it makes it more personal for your audience and at the same time you can still explain what your organization does to help. For example, “Donate now and we’ll do X,Y,Z…”; is a little less personal and makes it harder for your audience to visualize themselves helping the cause. Saying, “By donating, you will help with X,Y,Z…”, puts the audience in the driver’s seat and makes more of a personal connection. 

4. Give ’em the facts. Donors want to know how their dollars will help and where their money is going. Be direct, be honest, and make this clear.

5. Have a sense of urgency. If at all possible, try to create a sense of urgency in a reasonable, credible way. If you have a legitimate reason “Donate now to help the city’s homeless this winter”, or “Adopt a pet today; animal shelters are dangerously overcrowded,” you could see a much stronger response to your adverting.

6. Have a call to action. Always end your ad with a simple way for the donor to connect with you. If possible, I recommend avoiding phone numbers or addresses. An easy to remember website is the best route and be sure to always use the same call to action in all of your advertising. If you’re doing a bigger campaign and using a few different mediums, a good rule of thumb is to stick to the same theme in all of your advertising. If your idea is based on an emotional response to donate toys for children this Christmas, keep it consistent throughout all of your advertising.

Most importantly, remember that your advertising does not have to be overly creative, funny, or award winning to be successful. If you have a good cause, a strong core value and a message that is simple with a solid reason for the audience to donate, you should be fine…and let’s face it, everyone gets annoyed when an ad tries to be really funny or really creative. Usually these types of commercials fail miserably.

Every advertising campaign you help to create will help to build your organization’s brand. Once you’ve defined that core value, use it for everything you do. It’ll go a long way to build trust and recognition with your audience.

Good luck!

Ted Peterson is a writer, currently working in the Development Office at the University of British Columbia. Prior to his life on campus, Ted was a senior writer for a variety of Vancouver radio stations, and later worked in media relations for a public relations agency.