Dear

Great tips to spice up your communications

Monthly effective ideas that will add power to your charity's communications, build up your supporter base and boost donations... and they won't cost you a penny.

Your website

I see a lot of charity websites and I'm surprised at how many simply do not show enough information. I know it's said you shouldn't have tons of text on a page, and that's right. But get the balance... there should be enough detail to inspire confidence in your work, so that it helps compel the reader to some form of action.

Keep it easy

Lots of you have really got it together on the donation process, if so, you don't need to read this. But if you've yet to make the best of it, please... make it very easy for people to donate to your charity, especially direct from your website. If donors have to download a form, complete it and post it to you, it's going to put many people off. Here are a few ideas:

From your website: There are simple online methods that you can bolt onto your website, such as PayPal and Charity Checkout. Well worth the effort.
Online sites: Register with the likes of JustGiving, CAF, MyDonate, Charity Choice, etc and link direct to your own page on their websites.
Cheques, internet banking: Again, keep it simple and give them the information they need without lots of clicks.
Cash: Get donation envelopes and cash collection forms printed for events so you can claim Gift Aid… which will also help you capture e-mail and postal addresses.

eNews

Less is more in an email, especially in eNewsletters. Limit the number of articles, keep news items to snippets and provide links to further reading. Use human interest stories – focus on people and the social impact you achieve for them. Don't only write about 'we' and 'us' – use 'you' and 'thanks to you'.

Use the best photos you can get your hands on - perhaps ask visiting volunteers for access to their pics and select the best ones. Build an image bank for future use.

Here are four great eNews tips from Mad Mimi.

Not just digital

This will surprise some of you, it did me. Some research I read last year showed that, while first-time donors prefer to donate online, after that they like to respond to a printed and mailed appeal or newsletter. So don’t put all your communications into one online basket… although printed newsletters can be expensive (actually they don’t need to be) they can be very powerful and are active for a lot longer.

Look out for new ideas

Each month we'll list some great sources of information and articles to help you boost your communications:
• Online PR UK (lots of great articles)
• nonprofit.about.com
• Starting out on Twitter
• 6 tips for managing your facebook page

Volunteers

Some charities only have paid employees, but in the small non-profit sector, that's not so common, and we all rely on good ol' volunteers. Try to build up your team of skilled volunteers… because if you don’t, you could find that you become the bottleneck to the growth of your charity. You cannot do everything, neither in volume of work, nor in the specific skills needed. The key ones include a graphic designer, web designer, social media bod and book-keeper. You could add a jobs page to your website and tell all your supporting churches/organisations of the help you need.

Know your digital

A lack of digital knowledge could be a threat to the growth of your charity... check out this useful article from Charity Digital News.

I'm Phil Dowding, publicist and photographer, MD of PR agency Dowding2 and director of UK charity Child of Hope... helping businesses and small non-profits to communicate better.