In Donor Newsletters, Avoid Cliche Photos, Says Direct Mail Fundraising Letter Consultant

If you want to guarantee that your donors will ignore
your newsletters, illustrate your stories with cliché
photos. Here are the top four:

1. People cutting a ribbon with an oversized pair of
cardboard scissors.

2. Ground breaking ceremony in which a bunch of
suits with hard hats pose with their feet on
shovels.

3. Oversized check being passed from donor to
executive director.

4. Someone receiving an award, gripping the hand of
the presenter, and grinning at the camera.

If you want to guarantee that the media will ignore your
event, invite them to one of these ceremonies. The
only thing the media despise more than press
conferences are ribbon-cuttings, ground-breakings,
check-passing ceremonies and “grip and grin”
photos, says publicity expert Joan Stewart.

Be like Queen’s University and do something different.
The college in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, held a
groundbreaking ceremony in which the Principal
climbed into the seat of an excavator, drove it onto the
field before the gathered dignitaries and media, and
brought the shovel down into the ground and back up
again full of dirt. That’s different. That’s the
kind of photo that will grab the attention of your donors,
and the media.

Think long and hard and you’ll come up with creative
alternatives to cliché newsletter photos.

Instead of a check-passing photo, take a photo of
someone receiving what the gift funded.

Instead of a ribbon-cutting photo featuring your
leaders, why not take a photo that features your
donors? Let’s say you mailed a special appeal letter
six months ago, asking for funds to build a
wheelchair-accessible ramp at your summer camp for
kids. The
money came in, the ramp is complete, and the project
was a success.

You could run a story in your newsletter with the
headline, “New Wheelchair Access Ramp
Completed,” accompanied by a photo of the
ribbon-cutting ceremony with this
caption: “Our
executive director cuts the ribbon during the opening
ceremony for our new wheelchair access ramp.”
Boring. The focus of the story is the ribbon and the
ramp, not the benefits of the ramp (who it helps) or the
cause of the ramp (the donors).

Instead, you could take a photo of a camper
descending the ramp all by herself in her motorized
wheelchair. Surrounding the ramp are the volunteers
who donated their time, and a representative
sampling of donors who gave their gifts. They are all
waving and applauding as the girl makes her way to
the bottom of the ramp, ready to break through the
inaugural
ribbon at the bottom with her legs (much the same
way Olympic runners do with their chests).

The headline reads: “New Wheelchair Ramp Gives
One Camper—and Many Donors—a Big
Lift.”

The photo caption reads: “INCLINED TO MAKE A
DIFFERENCE: Dozens of Camp Wikiming volunteers
and donors celebrate as 13-year-old Kirsten Jacobs
enjoys the fruit of their love, labour and
generosity—the new wheelchair access ramp
to Lansing
Hall.”

About the author
Alan Sharpe publishes Direct Mail Fundraising Today, the free, weekly email newsletter that helps non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors. Alan is the author of Breakthrough Fundraising Letters and 25 handbooks on direct mail fundraising. Alan is also a speaker and workshop leader who delivers public seminars and teleseminars on direct mail fundraising. Sign up for Alan’s newsletter at www.RaiserSharpe.com.

© 2007 Alan Sharpe. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the author” message).

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