This post covers:
what a copywriter does
6 ways a copywriter can take your nonprofit to the next level
What does a copywriter do?
A copywriter writes with the purpose of getting someone to DO something.
While we generally think of copywriters as being ad writers (think Mad Men), in 2020 copywriting is much broader than that.
Today, customers - and donors - expect the brands they follow to be highly visible and to provide them with lots of free content - things like blogs, videos, podcasts, freebies, social media posts, and more.
This is called content marketing.
And while your goal as a nonprofit is to get people to give rather than to buy, the basic principle is the same: every webpage, blog post, email, and social media post is nurturing your relationship with your followers - building trust and inspiring passion for your vision and mission.
For a business, the goal is to convert that relationship into sales. For you, the goal is to convert to donations.
Because of that, everything you write for your organization is copywriting. It’s all about moving your followers further along the road to becoming faithful donors.
It’s not about manipulating emotions; it’s about tapping into what’s already there. It’s about connecting with your readers’ highest ideals and dreams for the world - and showing them how your organization can make those dreams come true.
You’re not interested in throwing loads of content out onto the internet and seeing what sticks. You want to make a meaningful difference. Rather than adding to the noise online, you want to be intentional.
You want a consistent strategy that matches your voice and your goals.
You want SEO-friendly copy that works for you 24/7.
You want content that compels people to click, comment, and share.
You want writing that connects with potential donors at the place of their deepest desires for their lives, their community, their world.
You want the power of story woven together with facts in a way that is both beautiful and effective.
This is where a copywriter comes in. After all, your main focus is and should be the mission of your organization, not keeping the hamster wheel of content creation spinning.
Hiring a copywriter allows you to grow your audience and donor base online - without sacrificing your soul and your mission to the urgency of the internet.
Here are some specific ways a copywriter can help.
6 Ways a Copywriter Can Boost Your Nonprofit's Reach
#1: Give outdated content a new life.
You’re probably sitting on a wealth of resources you’re not using: paper and digital files full of info, visuals, stories, facts/stats, videos.
A copywriter can repurpose old material and update it for all of your channels. Turning outdated content into new and beautiful blog posts, Pinterest pins, tweets, freebies, newsletter content, and more is a simple and cost-effective way to breathe new life into your online presence.
#2: Drive traffic to your site with fresh blog content.
Some facts about blogging from HubSpot:
Businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don't.
Marketers who prioritized blogging received 13X more ROI than companies that did not in 2019.
But there’s also this:
In 2019, bloggers spent 65% more time writing blog posts, with the average post taking three and a half hours to write.
The fact is: if you commit to posting SEO-friendly blog posts consistently, your nonprofit will yield dividends in website traffic, influence, and donor base.
But there’s no getting around the fact that it’s time-consuming.
A copywriter can bridge the gap between your blogging goals and your time & money constraints - and ultimately get you more of both.
#3: Take your video & podcast ideas and Turn them into ready-to-record scripts.
Got a vision of a video course you can use to educate your followers, volunteers, donors, and more? Interested in podcasting but not sure where to start?
You most likely already have a wealth of resources you can upcycle into podcast episodes. A copywriter can organize the material and write transcripts. She can also take your course vision and flesh it out with research, outlines, and scripts that bring your vision to life.
(On the flip side, if you’ve already got a podcast, but you’re not writing up blog posts for each episode, a copywriter can help. Many people still prefer reading to listening!)
#4: Optimize your content for Search Engines.
You’re not interested in learning SEO (and you probably don’t have the time, anyway). That doesn’t mean you don’t understand the importance of it. But you’re a big picture visionary, and learning the nitty-gritty of SEO is not your jam.
An SEO-copywriter can take your existing website copy and content and align them with SEO best practices to get your cause more attention. She can help you set up and track analytics, so you know who your audience is, how they’re finding you, and what’s working and what’s not on your site.
#5: Finally get that email welcome series knocked out.
You’ve read the research and know that a 3-email welcome sequence can yield a 33% increase in long-term engagement. So why do you keep putting it off? (Oh, right, that jam-packed calendar!) A copywriter can knock it out in no time.
While you’re at it, why not get your entire email strategy back on track?
Nonprofit donors prefer email to social media. So why are you spending so much time on Facebook? You don’t own your content on Facebook, and you don’t control who sees it.
A copywriter can help you put solid marketing strategy into action with emails that reach your core audience.
#6: collect and tell engaging stories.
Great nonprofit stories open the door to larger conversations about your cause and mission. That’s why stories about real people lead to double the donations as stats and facts alone can.
A storytelling copywriter makes this super simple.
Here’s how I do it:
I interview donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries about their experience with your org. I transcribe those interviews, create a database of them, and then use them to craft blog posts and more with them.
You get to use and reuse those stories again and again in speeches, op-eds, emails, social media posts, and more. It’s an investment that pays for itself many times over.
Takeaways:
A copywriter aims to get the reader to take action.
In the age of content marketing, almost all writing for a business or nonprofit can fall under a broad category of copywriting. All of your content has the goal of building a relationship that translates to a donation.
A copywriter can
give old content new life.
drive traffic to your site with fresh blog content.
take your video and podcast ideas and turn them into scripts.
optimize your content for search engines.
finally get that email series written.
collect and tell engaging stories.
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