By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
A picture is never worth a thousand words. After all, why do newspapers and websites contain more words than images? Because pictures are insufficient on their own. Would you date someone whose nice photo you saw online, if that’s all you had to go on? Of course not. Pictures are not worth a thousand words.
Pictures can’t tell a story on their own. They need a narrative. They need words to help them out. That’s why you must put captions under the photographs in your donor newsletters. I’m not talking about stock photos that your designer places on pages for artistic effect. I’m talking about the newsy photos, the photos of your work, your volunteers, your latest event, the people you help, the photos that must communicate news or facts to your donors.
Photos in donor newsletters need a caption to explain what the photo cannot. And that’s the secret of a great caption. It moves your story along by describing the news behind what the donor is seeing without simply describing what the photo already illustrates.
For example, if your newsletter features a story about therapeutic horse riding for young people with Down syndrome, you could simply place a photo of a young man and a horse somewhere on the page and hope that your readers figure out the relationship of the photo to your story. I recommend you don’t do this.
Or you could place a simple caption under the photo that says, “A young man with Down syndrome and his horse.” This I also recommend you don’t do, since this caption merely describes what the reader can already see in the photo.
Instead, you should caption this photo with a line or two that describes what the reader cannot see. For example: “When Brian Phillips rode his first horse three years ago, Brian could not speak. But today, Brian says: ‘Horses are awesome! Trigger is my best friend, next to my Mom, that is.’”
Look for the news in your photographs, the meaning behind each picture that you know but that your readers do not. Look for the who, what, why, where, when and how in each photo, and then communicate that to your readers in a pithy caption that explains the photo and encourages readers to read the article. The article that has the thousand words.
If you need help crafting original, compelling donor newsletter stories, take a look at one of the resources below.
You might be interested in…
 Mail Superiority.Learn the proven, step-by-step process for raising funds and friends cost effectively, year after year. |
 Handbook Number 15Increase Your Income and Boost Donor Loyalty with Donor-Centered Newsletter Stories. Reap the long-term benefits of putting donors first in your donor newsletters. |
 Handbook Number 25Testimonials. Find, feature and format other people’s words to overcome donor skepticism, prove your point, build trust and attract donations. |
