Have you been thinking about jumping into the world of nonprofit writing but don’t know where to start?

Well– for those of you who hate numbers and analytics, nonprofit writing might just be the perfect fit. Instead, writing for a nonprofit requires you to pull out the more personable content…you know, ethos. 

I was recently able to talk with the Executive Director of Dorchester Paws, Maddie Moore, who shared some very important pointers for new writers in the nonprofit side of businesses.

Just to give you a little bit of an idea, Dorchester Paws is a no-kill, non profit organization located in Summerville, SC committed to the rehabilitation of animals who come to them injured or surrendered until they eventually find their forever home.

Now, some of you may be wondering how writing could be that important to an organization like this… trust me, it is.

Here are my three pieces of advice for new writers looking for an easy way to start producing content for a nonprofit.

1. Understand the process of writing and receiving grant proposals.

This is definitely one of the key aspects of writing for a nonprofit.

The first thing you need to know is that grants are always going to be specific to your organization’s needs. Usually, you will be asked about your mission, your vision, your history, why you’re requesting the funds, and what you’re going to use the funds for.

Then, you have to put together a budget, which is from your normal operations budgets, that explaining how you will use the specific funds that you’re asking for.

When writing grant proposals, don’t forget: you are not writing for corporate America. Nonprofits are not concerned with analytical business data. Your job is to pull on the emotions of your reader and in some ways, tell a story.

Nonprofit writing is much more personable. I know that probably seems a bit strange. When I think of a grant proposal, I don’t immediately think personable, I think numbers and specifics.

Lucky for you, that’s not the case!

When writing a grant proposal, you really want to focus on appealing to your potential partners’ emotion in explaining how the funds you are asking for would help your organization. They are not interested in: “Hey we need this amount of money can you provide it?”. They want to know WHY and HOW the money you are asking for will help your organization – – in other words, how it will be used.

Something to keep in mind: If the organization you work for is small, be prepared for this process to take up to 3 times of applying before you hear back- which is essentially 2 to 3 years in the nonprofit world. Each time you apply, they will tell you to re-write the grant. This is especially important because the grant board is giving you a new opportunity each time to tell them about your organization, and you definitely want to keep their attention.

In other cases, you might have to be invited to apply for a grant with the funds your organization needs.

2. Know how to write an LOI.

Sometimes possible partners will want you to write an LOI, a one page letter of interest or intent telling the grant board about your organization. If your mission aligns with what they are trying to fund that year, they will invite you to apply.

3. Be prepared to produce content on social media.

Although Dorchester Paws’ needs on social media are unique to their organization, many nonprofits use social media as a platform to write and post relevant content about their organization.

Based on what I learned from Dorchester Paws, you might find that the nonprofit organization you work for shapes the content posted on social media platforms based on their target audience and the platforms’s level of flexibility with what types of content can be posted.

Here’s is what you could expect:

• Instagram is great for reaching younger constituents through posting visuals, graphics, and videos.
• Instagram is not as helpful with linking out to recourses because it only allows you to input a linktree.
• Facebook is great for reaching possible partners and older constituents.
• Facebook allows you to provide more written content and gives the option to link out to a blog, donation link, etc..
• Twitter is more limiting because of the restricted amount of words allowed in a post.
• Regardless of the platform, the content within all posts will be based on relevance of the topic or situation.

Continue Your Research.

Each nonprofit organization is unique in it’s own way and may have slightly different requirements or needs than Dorchester Paws’ — so keep up the research. However, with the tips I have shared, you will be right on your way to building your skills and knowledge of writing content for a nonprofit!