The Polite, Personal and Profitable Niche You Probably Passed Up

“Finding the right work is like discovering your own soul in the world.”
- Thomas Moore

In Issue #236

Main Essay: The Polite, Personal and Profitable Niche You Probably Passed Up
by Mary Guinane McNamara

People often misconstrue the term “nonprofit” to mean that an organization is broke or operates on a shoestring budget. Perhaps it’s that same misconception that makes copywriters shy away from working in the nonprofit niche for fear their efforts would be personally fulfilling, but their wallets left unrewarded.

In hopes of clearing up a few of the mysteries surrounding the fundraising niche, I wanted to share why I’ve dubbed fundraising the “Polite, Personal and Profitable” niche of copywriting.

Though I’ve specialized in fundraising copy for many years now, my first forays into copywriting were as a generalist and I dabbled in many different niches. Like many copywriters, I found the cold calling routine a necessary evil in drumming up my first clients. It wasn’t until I began calling potential clients in the fundraising arena that I stopped dreading the process.

Perhaps it’s because the bigger problems of the world are sitting on their desks – hunger, cancer and homelessness to name a few – that those who hire fundraising freelancers are so kind. There’s a definite camaraderie among those who serve the nonprofit arena and a shared view that others in their niche are partners in making the world a better place.

Whether copywriters are hired directly by nonprofit organizations or agencies who handle fundraising direct mail clients, they benefit from the politeness of the niche by being considered a welcome member of the team and not just another person calling up to sell something. And, unbeknownst to many, large nonprofit organizations mail millions of pieces each year…something that’s impossible to do on the shoestring budget many assume they have.

It’s those many problems of the world (from which none of us are completely safe) that fundraising copywriters are asked to craft appeals. To do so, writers must be open to digging a little deeper emotionally than some are comfortable doing. Face it, it’s impossible to write about the need for money to help a child fight cancer and not be emotional!

But, fundraising copywriters don’t have endless pages to convince their reader to give and often no list of tangible product benefits to offer in return for their response. The finesse in fundraising copy is to write about someone else’s needs in a way that answers the donor’s desire to give rather than receive…and often in 700 words or less!

Finally, copywriters who master writing fundraising appeals get the best of both worlds…work that is personally fulfilling and profitable. Because percentage-based fundraising is frowned upon and considered by many to be unethical, fundraising copywriters don’t receive the royalties of other niches. But, with experience and shorter copy projects, writers can easily become very prolific doing work that is quite enjoyable.

My first projects as a newbie in the niche took many, many hours getting to know the client and nervously reworking initial drafts. These days, while I spread the research, writing and proofing of a project out over a few days, my total time investment in a single letter is often less than a day’s work at a handsome hourly wage.

While other niches tout their sales numbers and shout mailing results from the mountain tops, the fundraising niche is rather quietly raising billions of dollars each year. Most of us would have to win the lottery to be able to donate thousands of dollars each year to our favorite charities, but fundraising copywriters are able to add to the coffers of their clients with every project. And, don’t we all want to know that a job well done can truly make a difference in the world?

Mary Guinane McNamara is a freelance fundraising copywriter and the author of, “How to Make Money as a Freelance Fundraising Copywriter” an ebook edited by Bob Bly. She has provided copy for organizations such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, MADD, Friends of the World Food Program, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Toys for Tots and many others. To learn more about copywriting in the fundraising arena or to sign up for her blog for freelancers and fundraisers, “Solution Sandbox” visit www.twacopywriting.com.

Resource Referral: A New Addition To The CP Mentoring Team

I am not only thrilled to introduce you to my colleague, Mary Guinane McNamara – but I also want to welcome her to the Copy Protégé Mentoring Program…as a new mentor who will work specifically with people who want to specialize in writing for the fundraising niche!

Between us, Krista and I have experience in about a half dozen of the most popular niches in copywriting, not to mention about four decades or so of business experience. But neither of us knows the fundraising niche nearly as well as Mary does. She has a real passion for it – and has worked with dozens of beginning writers already, showing them the ropes of breaking in, finding the right voice for the pitch, and all the nuances that come with writing for this niche.

Not to mention, she’s a darn good copywriter.

All the criteria for being a great match for our program in our book!

So, by special request, Mary agreed to clear some room on her busy docket and take on just four people into our three-month intensive coaching program.

You get all the same benefits of being in The Copy Protégé Mentoring Program – plus, you get to work with one of the top fundraising copywriters in the industry.

So don’t delay. Send your writing sample and goals for the next six months today. Write “I want to work with Mary” in your subject line and send your materials to us at admin@copyprotege.com.  And I also have a few more spaces in a group that’s going to get started the first week of May. Write “I want to work with Monica” in your subject line and send in your materials to the same address if you’d like to join that group.

And yes, Virtual Mentor is coming! Thanks for all your helpful feedback, comments and encouragement. We are about two weeks away…and counting.

Quick Career Tip: Redefining Work

For years, I was offended that people didn’t think of what I do as work. It seemed too easy to them. I mean, I work from home…when I want. Or I travel all over the world, never worried about  how much “vacation time” or “sick time” or “personal time” I am allotted. 

But most perplexing to them was that I actually enjoy what I do. Whether I’m writing, coaching – or lately – working on developing new products and launching new businesses, all with copywriting and direct marketing principles at their core, but often in completely new fields and directions.

I am truly carving out a career – and a life – that reflects who I am. And to a lot of people, that just isn’t their idea of “work.” Work is supposed to be hard…boring…arduous. Something we complain about. An unpleasant but necessary evil.

Nonsense.

If you are going to cast off a job you hate – and take on a career that is a better expression of who you are – you’re going to have to also cast off this notion of pain and suffering as a precursor to success. And take on instead the idea that work should be pleasurable. It is the daily activity that gives our life meaning. And ultimately, it is one of the most concrete expressions of who we are meant to be in the world.

When I was in my mid-twenties I read a book that gave me a completely different idea about the part that work would play in my life. It was Thomas Moore’s Care of the Soul – and it had a chapter about work as an expression of the soul that felt really right to me. I just discovered (a year after publication!) that Moore dedicated an entire book to this idea – and I can’t wait to get it! It’s called A Life at Work: The Joy of Discovering What You Were Born to Do. If it stands up to the rest of his writings, I am guessing it is exactly what you need to hear if you are making make the transition from work that depletes you to work that is an expression of your very soul.