How To Write Web Content:
A Template for Carbon-Based Fundraisers

by Paul Cheney on 17 May 2010

Persuasive writing is to fundraising as carbon is to life-forms. It’s not necessarily the whole picture, but it’s so viagra online essential that without it, fundraising probably wouldn’t exist.

Fundraising on the web is no different. Whether you’re writing a blog post, an email, or a tweet, every bit of your web content should have all the elements of persuasive writing. If your content isn’t meant to directly persuade your readers to donate, you’re still trying to persuade them to read and then take some sort of action (even if it’s as small as viewing another web page).

Here is a template you can use to write just about every piece of content you can think of on the web.

A Simple Template for Every Piece of Web Content You Write

This template can and should be used for every piece of content you write on the web. I’d tell you that it could be used for every piece of content you write period, but we’d all get pretty overwhelmed.

So for the sake of digestibility and underwhelm, we’ll just pretend this is about web Buy online Cialis content and nothing more. Furthermore, because nothing’s helpful unless there’s some sort of real-life application, we’ll pretend we’re writing your organization’s “about page.”

Of course, this is assuming you’ve determined that your website’s target audience is supporters of your organization, not the people you serve Cialis Professional (unless they’re also supporters), Buy Levaquin Online and certainly not your mom (unless she’s a supporter other than the motherly kind). If you haven’t noticed, The Blog Raiser is mostly about fundraising and we think websites and social media efforts should be targeted to supporters.

Sorry for all the caveats. Just wanted to give a little context before we got started.

Start With an Eye Popping Headline

Ok. As I said, we’re writing your about page. So why do we need a headline?

Because you just do. And because contrary to popular belief, your “about page” along with every other piece of content you’ll ever write online isn’t actually about you.

Instead your about page should be about the gap in the general order of the universe that your organization fills. In other words, your content is about [insert pressing community/social/environmental need] that can be solved by [insert a set of services].

Put that into a headline and you should come up with something similar to: [insert #] Ways To Solve [community/social/environmental need]: A [target audience]‘s Guide.

The headline is by far the most important part of any piece of content. A good headline gets the first sentence read by the people who need to read it. It also entices the reader with the promise of something more. To write good headlines you need to study good headlines. The next time you’re in the grocery store, take a look at Cosmopolitan Magazine.

If you can replace the main words (usually “sex,” “men,” and every once in a while “celebs”) with words that are relevant to your audience, you’ll most likely have a solid headline every time. I know it sounds stupid, but try it. I’m not asking you to be sleazy, I’m just asking you to use the headlines as a template. The same way you’re using this template. :)

Open With a Picture

The purpose of the headline is to get the first sentence read. But the headline is worthless if that first sentence drops the ball. Attention grabbing openings usually work best as word pictures or little anecdotes. Sticking to that about page, your picture might look something like this:

Martha [the human, dog, whale] suffers every day from [community/social/environmental need]. Each morning she gets up and faces [real-life examples of need].

For some reason, human beings love stories. Don’t ask me why…all I know is I’m just like everyone else when it comes to being a sucker for a good story. Openings that show a glimpse of humanity, even if it’s only in a few words, can work wonders for keeping your readers engaged.

Back Up Your Picture With Evidence

Now that you’ve got your picture, you’ll need to bring it down to earth with evidence. This is where you’ll put your bullet points citing interesting fempro statistics.

Martha suffers because [bullet points/narrative/whatever of startling facts and figures].

Whatever your evidence looks like, make sure it solidifies your picture. Good evidence will make your picture weighty with reality.

Write The Core

Once your picture has some weight to it, it’s time to make good on the promise in your headline. This is the core of your piece, and it should be as meaty as the platform you’re writing on allows. Here’s how that about page looks:

Here are seven actions you can take right now to help humans, dogs, and/or whales named Martha: [insert ways to help (probably correlating with your organization's set of services)].

The Closing

A good closing ties back into your opening. It pulls Buy Accutane Online Pharmacy No Prescription Needed everything together. Of Online cialis prescription course anyone who took composition in High School knows that. But the closing, when it comes to fundraising, does a little more than that. This is the place where you talk about what you have to offer.

If you’ve written everything up to this point well, you’ve resisted the monstrous temptation to talk about how great your organization is. In fact, you haven’t talked about your organization at all.

Well now’s your chance. Still practicing a hefty amount of restraint, you casually mention that your organization works Viagra Jelly day in and day out to help carbon-based life-forms named Martha:

We provide [insert services] to Martha in the same manner you would by yourself [in those 7 ways], but on a grander scale. (Don’t use the word “grander.” Remember this is just an example.)

Congratulations, you’ve just successfully tied everything together by showing what you have to offer. Now it’s time to tell your reader’s what to do.

The Call To Action

The call to action should automatically flow out of your closing. If you were talking face-to-face buy online pharmacy with an individual, this would be “the ask.” Since we’re writing, and may or may not be asking for money, we’ll use “call to action.”

This is where (you guessed it) you give your Tadalis SX reader some direction for what to do next. Call to actions work best in baby steps. So here it goes:

If you want to help [life-forms] like Martha, we want you to join us. The best way you can do that is by [baby step like signing up for newsletter/reading more about our services]. Go ahead and sign up by entering your information and clicking “sign up” below: [newsletter sign up].

Also, the call to action should be as specific as possible. Notice how I explained the details of entering your info and clicking “sign up.” If you really are asking them to sign up for a newsletter, you’ll want to explain the sign up process, even if it’s just a matter of clicking a link in their email. Give as much detail as you can without sounding condescending.

The P.S.

That’s it! Once you’ve got your call to action down, you’re finished! Or are you?

The truth is, most of the time (especially on an about page) the last thing you’ll need is a P.S. You don’t have to call it a P.S., but it’s important that most things you write have something at the end that can stick with the reader as they leave. We do this because some psychologist somewhere said that when we’re learning something, we always remember the Brand Cialis first, the last, and the unusual. The last thing, in this case, is the P.S.

So what does a P.S. look like on an “about page?” Try this:

P.S. If you’re really curious or just want someone to talk to, call us at [ED's number] and we’d be more than happy to talk with you or get you more involved in the work we do around here.

Did I forget anything? Let me know in the comments…

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