“Leaders bring vision, faith and courage to coordinated effort.” Lorne Sanny – The Navigators
One of the constant and never-ending jobs of staff at the Pregnancy Center is to write letters or emails to their donors, volunteers, and churches. There are thank you letters to donors and churches and emails to engage and inspire volunteers during this pandemic. Then there are newsletters to your mailing list, and fundraising letters. The list goes on and on.
Mind Mapping
Something that has helped me in my writing and brainstorming is using a Mind Map.
A mind map is a graphical way to represent ideas and concepts. It is a visual thinking tool that helps structure information thereby helping you to better analyze, comprehend, synthesize, recall and generate new ideas.
In a mind map, as opposed to traditional note taking or a linear text, information is structured in a way that resembles much more closely how your brain actually works. Since it is an activity that is both analytical and artistic, it engages your brain in a much, much richer way, helping in all its cognitive functions. And, best of all, it is fun!
How to Draw a Mind Map
- Start in the middle of a blank page, writing or drawing the idea you intend to develop. I would suggest that you use the page in landscape orientation.
- Develop the related subtopics around this central topic, connecting each of them to the center with a line.
- Repeat the same process for the subtopics, generating lower-level subtopics as you see fit, connecting each of those to the corresponding subtopic.
A Mind Map Example
Here is an example of a mind map of ideas for donor letters based on the Lorne Sanny quote above.
I hope this might give you some ideas for crafting writing prompts to help you with all those letters and emails you must write on a regular basis.
In addition to the mind map ideas above, I have also created a list of topics or prompts that might be helpful. We can all use a little inspiration from time to time. Click here if you would like to download this mind map.
47 Donor Prompts
- How Technology Empowers Us at the Pregnancy Center
- How we use Social Media
- How we engage our community
- Who are the most-needy in our community
- How our clients use social media
- How we spend your money
- What I learned at the Heartbeat (CareNet) conference
- When I feel frustrated . . .
- Book shopping – Buy these books
- I want to brag a minute about
- Is being pro-life and non-judgmental mutually exclusive?
- What we can learn from listening to the opposition
- Why it is worth investing in our educational programs
- What we do instead of advertising
- Why you won’t find __________ at the Pregnancy Center
- Does _______ matter to you?
- Pro-life trends that impact your ministry
- We can handle criticism, especially if you help us grow.
- Where do you see us falling sort?
- We asked 10 volunteers why they have chosen this ministry.
- Listening better and how it will strengthen your relationships.
- What we do when there are no clients
- And you thought you knew everything about us
- Is there more going on here than immediately obvious?
- The big picture about (company/site/project)
- Revisiting . . . .
- Meet the founders
- The one big guiding principle that explains sour path of action
- How we are thriving/surviving through the pandemic
- What hindsight has taught us
- What you don’t know about me – yet
- Where I’m from: An interview with our staff about their origins
- What your kids can teach your about _____________
- The biggest challenge I’ve yet to accomplish
- Ask us anything
- Shared wisdom from __________
- Your best questions answered
- Interview with ____________________
- The people who work here
- Why you won’t find ____________ at our ministry
- Collaborate with us on _________________
- Bring a friend to the fundraising banquet and here’s how you both benefit
- Our take on ____________
- Things I wish I knew before I started
- A client’s journey through the Pregnancy Center
- Why we choose to minister as opposed to manipulate
- What speaking the truth in love looks like at the Pregnancy Center
25 Volunteer Email Prompts
- Letting go
- Just when you think you are done
- When it all goes wrong
- My 5 biggest mistakes in the counseling room
- Revisiting . . .
- The essential guide to ______________
- Helpful websites
- Letting go
- What do you do to recharge?
- Interview with _____________
- Another perspective on your current situation
- Does ____________ matter to you?
- Confessions from past mistakes
- Where do you see us falling short?
- We asked everyone in the office for one personal failing of their
- We’re sorry and here’s how we’ll make it up to you
- What to do when you are not seeing clients
- Collaborate with us on a selfie project
- And you thought you knew everything about us
- Ask us anything
- A completely different take on ______
- The biggest challenge I’ve yet to accomplish
- Your best questions answered
- Finish strong – What we know about helping you finish strong with clients
- How to recover from _____________