207 ways to write better fundraising [BOOK REVIEW]

Very Good Copy: 207 Micro-Lessons on Thinking and Writing Like a Copywriter by Eddie Shleyner

It has 207 chapters, all of them short. The longer ones are 4-6 pages. Most are shorter. Some much shorter, like “Length,” here in full: “If your copy is fascinating, the length is irrelevant.”

If you want to write better fundraising, which I know you do, this book is a great start. Or middle. Or even late-career boost.

The cool thing about this book is you can read it any way you like: Start at the beginning and read through to the end. Or open it at random and read a chapter or two. Either way, you’ll learn a ton of useful things about writing.

Here’s just a sample from the book:

• Making The Reader feel something is central to good copywriting, which is why it helps to be sentimental as a writer, sensitive to life’s nuances, moved by tenderness and sadness and nostalgia…. If you zoom in close enough, these moments become stories we can all understand and, yes, feel.
• …when possible, write three bullets, or three benefits, or three steps. Three is the magic number. If you can, avoid presenting information in twos or fours. It’s harder for The Reader to remember.
• The cross-out test: 1) Write your copy. 2) Cross out any references to your [organization] and its [mission]. 3) Write in the name of [a similar organization and their mission]. If the copy still fits, you have a problem — and some editing to do.
• Image captions are the second-most read copy after headlines….whenever you fail to caption an image …. You’re wasting valuable real estate

And here’s one that’s not at all about fundraising, but it’s wonderful:

• Want to change someone’s life? Prop them up before they’re great, before they have anything except potential. Prop them up for the humanity of it — and they’ll remember you, maybe forever.

If you don’t subscribe to the Very Good Copy newsletter, you should. It’s one of the best out there.