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Charities and non-profits are experiencing a volunteer crisis.
I don’t have a fix for the lack of volunteers. But I do have suggestions for making charities and non-profit organizations more efficient, so they can still deliver excellent programs and services with fewer people. I’ve been involved with charities and non-profits at every level, from contractor to project-specific volunteer to the board of directors. I have learned what drains their resources and frustrates their volunteers and leadership, leading to high turnover. Here are 3 ways to help your charity or non-profit run more efficiently and stay on mission. 1. Rewrite your bylaws in plain language
2. Create clear policies and procedures
3. Provide detailed, plain language manuals and guidelines
Bonus suggestionCreating or rewriting these documents can be a big task if they are not in good shape already. You may be able to find grant funding to pay a writer or consultant to help improve your governance documents.
Not sure how your documents stack up or how to improve them? I’d be happy to review them for clarity and usability. I can also take on the rewrites in collaboration with your board. Get in touch through my contact form. (This post was originally published on LinkedIn.)
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 Does your business or organization have forms that employees or clients need to fill in? I’d be surprised if it doesn’t. Everything from job applications to new accounts to requests for customer support use forms these days. How much time does your staff spend following up on incomplete—or incorrectly filled in—forms? How much business do you lose because prospective clients, suppliers, or employees lose patience filling in your forms?
I recently consulted with an organization that provides grants to charities and community organizations. They wanted a plain language review of their application form and the guidelines for applying for their grant. I was really pleased that this was where they chose to start their formal plain language journey. Forms are rarely given the attention they deserve, and the results can cost organizations and companies a surprising amount of both time and money. For example, a number of years ago Alberta Agriculture used plain language to revise their forms and found that “with 1,034,530 forms processed a year, and savings in staff time of at least 10 minutes per form ... the annual saving to the government is an astounding $3,472,014.” Plain language forms also increase fairness and access to justice. Many people attempt to settle disputes in small claims court without hiring an expensive lawyer. Court forms in traditional legal text can be nearly impossible to understand for someone with no legal background, but plain language forms allow everyday people to have their day in court. California rewrote its court forms in 2003 using plain language principles. A follow-up study using one form, a subpoena, showed that 90% of readers understood exactly what the plain language form was telling them to do, while only 60% of readers understood the traditional legal form. Even if your organization wants to improve its forms, few have any idea where to start. Here are some questions to ask yourself (and your team) when you review forms for plain language: What information are you gathering? The form should ask for all the information you need, and nothing more. People are becoming more concerned about data privacy, so before you ask for details like a social insurance number or date of birth, consider whether you really need them. Do the sections flow logically? Your form should begin with basic contact information and build from there. Look at the questions and think about the logical order they should be presented in. If it’s a long form, think about grouping questions on a similar topic into sections. Can the questions be misinterpreted? Forms are often littered with ambiguity because the organization is trying to keep the text brief. User testing is the best way to find out whether your questions are unclear. Does everyone fill it in the same way, or do some people not understand what you asked? If your forms have been in use for a while, look back at old submissions and see which questions got filled in incorrectly most often. These ones need clarification. Have you provided instructions? Very short forms are usually self-explanatory, but complex forms often need instructions to help people fill them out correctly. There are various ways to present instructions, and the best way depends on the complexity of both your form and your instructions. Brief instructions can appear right above the question they apply to. Instructions that may help the form-filler prepare the documents they need, or understand which information you want them to include where, can be listed at the beginning of the document. If you need to provide a lot of explanation about how to correctly fill in the form (like a tax return, for example), you may need a separate document that acts as a guide. If you create a guide, use a numbering system that helps readers understand which instruction applies to which part of the form. Do they know what you’re talking about? Jargon exists in most industries, and it can be a time saver when people in the know are talking among themselves. However, using unfamiliar terms in your forms will confuse and intimidate people. Avoid using in-house terms that are not common outside your organization. Look at your wording from the reader’s point of view. They may not know what your departments or programs are called, for example. By using everyday words or adding explanations, you give them a better chance of providing the answer you need. These are just a few of the ways your forms can be assessed and improved. Other considerations include how forms are filled in (on paper, online, in a document), how they are submitted (by mail, by email, online), and how you acknowledge and respond to them (auto-replies, confirmation emails, timelines for when they will hear back from you). Whenever possible, test your revised forms with representative users (preferably from outside your organization). It can be difficult to predict what people might find hard to understand. When you get your forms right, you’ll get far fewer requests for assistance, follow-up calls for updates, incorrect submissions, misunderstandings, and other time wasters. You’ll also create the impression of a professional, competent, well-organized business or organization. Need help with your forms? Send me a message and I’ll be happy to chat about them.  When you want people to remember what you’ve told them, focus on a single, simple message. Many writers try to include too much information on too many topics in the same piece of writing, and readers end up not remembering any of it. Your brain simply can’t take it all in and file it away in your memory. Here are some tips to help you focus your emails and other writing on one subject at a time. Stay on topic If your message starts off with one subject and then moves on to other, unrelated things, readers may miss some important information. Many people’s inboxes are so full that they only skim the beginning of an email to see whether it applies to them and is urgent. If the part that is important to them is six paragraphs down, they may not notice it. If you have to cover several things with the same readers, there are two good options. Send multiple emails: Cover one subject per email and only send it to the people who really need to get it. This makes your message quick to read, clear, and easy to find later. List the topics first: If you want to provide information or updates on several things to the same people, you can put a numbered list at the beginning of your email that tells readers all of the topics covered below. Write the content in the same order you’ve listed it in so that readers can jump ahead if they want to. Use subheadings (with numbering that matches your list) in your email to indicate where a new topic begins. Don’t bury the lede A “lede” is journalist jargon for the most important aspect of a story. When newspapers or magazine articles take too long to get to the point, it’s called “burying the lede” and it’s a big no-no. Whether you’re writing a quick email or a detailed report, make sure your main point is the first thing readers see. (Reports often begin with an executive summary that serves this purpose.) In emails, focus on both your subject line and the first sentence of your message. Your subject line should clearly explain the topic of your email. Resist the urge to use funny or creative subject lines. People who see email an notification pop up, but can’t tell what the message is about, are less likely to make reading the message a priority. Here is an example of a buried lede and an effective one. Buried:  Clear:  Start a new thread
Have you ever tried to find something important in an old email, but you can’t find any emails that appear to be on the subject you’re looking for? Often, people start a new conversation by replying to an old email thread. When this happens, the subject line doesn’t reflect the new topic, and it can be hard to find the email when you need to refer back to it. Any time you want to discuss a new topic, start a new email thread with a clear subject line. Emails have become the most common “paper trail” for tracking past decisions, instructions, and discussions. It’s far from ideal, but since you know that this is likely to happen you should try to make those emails as clear and easy to find as possible. You may think that it's a waste of time to read through every email before you hit “send” to make sure that you’re only covering one subject and that the most important information comes first. But the amount of time that you’re likely to waste on reminders, answering questions, and searching for the right email thread later will probably far exceed the time it takes to write clearly in the first place. If your organization's internal communications aren't as clear and efficient as you would like, contact me about setting up a workshop to cover some plain language writing principles with your team. Better internal communications save time, prevent mistakes and improve staff morale.  Things have been changing at workplaces. A lot.
There are few workplaces that haven’t faced big changes over the past two years. Some of the most common changes have included:
So much has been changing so fast that many leaders have struggled to make sure their teams know what’s expected of them. Now that the pace of change seems to be slowing (we hope), let’s look at how to communicate to your team about what has changed. Put your rules and policies in writing: As I said above, it’s been hard for people to keep up with the constant changes. Once you decide on a policy, put it in writing so that people can refer to it when they want to know what the rules are. Make them as clear and simple as possible so that everyone understands what’s expected of them. Communicate whenever there’s a change: If you have updated a rule because the situation has changed again, send out a communication right away to let everyone know. Don’t expect the staff to keep checking for updates on their own. Make your policies accessible: Staff shouldn’t have to ask to see the policies. Put them somewhere all staff can access them, like your company intranet or a shared folder on whatever system you use (e.g., Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, shared server). When you send out an update, include a direct link to the policy in question. If you use more than one language in your company, get your policies translated before you implement them, or as soon as possible. Announce your “back to normal”: If you are reverting to your old way of doing something, you need to communicate that as well. You should direct your staff to the old policy that is being reinstated. It’s possible that some of them don’t recall the details, or never really knew them. For example, don’t assume that when people return to working in the office, they will automatically switch back to their original working hours. If people are no longer allowed to work flexible hours, your policy should say so and you should alert your staff to the change. You may feel like you’re communicating too often, but there has been so much uncertainty that many workers feel completely disoriented. Straightforward, clear information about the company’s next steps will be welcome. I'll be posting more tips for better business communications in the coming weeks. Be sure to check them out!  Your firm has a blog, and you’ve been asked to contribute. How hard can it be to write a short post now and then? Harder than you think! If you generally spend your day writing factums or contracts, switching to blogging mode can be quite a challenge. Here are some quick tips to make your blog posts more appealing to your clients and potential clients.
1. Think like a client Put yourself in a potential client’s shoes. They don’t care about an 80-year-old precedent being overturned. They care whether it means they need to change their company’s contractor agreement, or whether it will help them to contest their grumpy Aunt Francesca’s will. 2. Start with the punchline Your first paragraph should make your main point. Don’t build up to it, because online readers want to know right away what the article is about and why it’s relevant to them. If you take too long to get to the point, they’ll simply click away. Follow journalists’ inverted pyramid approach, which starts with the most important information first, and then adds key supporting points next, followed by less important details or background. 3. Offer something of value Lawyers are expensive, and people are reluctant to spend that much if they don’t know what to expect in return. Think of your blog like a sample table at the supermarket. It’s a chance for potential clients to get a taste of your vast knowledge and the kind of help your firm can offer. Don’t hold back the goods because you’re afraid they won’t think they need you any more. Sharing knowledge for free sets you up as a respected expert and makes you the person they call when they are ready to pay for legal advice. 4. Drop the legalese Blogs should be written in plain language, in an approachable and friendly tone. Using a bunch of legal terminology (especially if it’s in Latin) will drive readers away, not impress them. Connect what you’re talking about to your readers’ everyday lives and you will connect with your readers. Use real-world examples to explain confusing concepts. People respond better to stories they can picture themselves in. 5. Keep it brief A blog post should generally be short—around 500-1,000 words. Most people reading blogs don’t want to spend more than a few minutes getting through a post. You don’t want your blog to become a TL;DR.* If you have a lot to say about a topic, consider breaking it down and writing a series of posts, each about a sub-topic. This helps your readers to find the specific information they were looking for, and keeps them coming back for more. 6. Time to get started! For many bloggers, the biggest problem is staring at a blank screen trying to decide how to begin. Brainstorm some ideas for posts. Think about questions you frequently get from your clients. Answering some of these is a great place to start. Write a short outline with your main points, and then put them into a logical order. You're already half way there! Once you get comfortable with it, blogging can be a great way to share your ideas with your clients and the community. If your firm has a blog that could use a boost, let’s talk about setting up a workshop or webinar where your bloggers can learn more about what makes a good law blog. If nobody in your firm has time to write for the blog regularly, maybe you need a ghostwriter to provide articles for you. Contact me to learn more about that option, too. * Too long; didn’t read—which means that the reader saw the headline and was interested, then maybe skimmed the internal headings, but was put off by the total length of the article and didn’t bother reading it.  Service providers earn a living by knowing things that other people don’t. Whether you’re a lawyer, financial adviser, social media marketer, or hairstylist, your specialist knowledge is what makes you valuable to your clients. So it may seem like a bad idea to give that knowledge away for free. I mean, if people can learn what you know without paying anything, why would they hire you?
The fact is, there are probably lots of other people offering the same service as you. But many of them don’t know as much about it as you do, so you should let everyone know that you’re the expert they’re looking for. To attract clients, you need to show them that your services are going to be high quality—essentially, that you know your stuff! By giving away tidbits of knowledge that your clients or potential clients will find helpful, you position yourself as an expert in your field, and also as a helpful person who understands what your clients need. For your clients, it shows that you care about them. For potential clients, it tells them that they can trust you to do a good job. Here are a few ways to give away your expertise that can generate new business: Start a blog: Blog posts about topics related to your business are a good way to touch on a small subtopic and keep your website fresh. Has some current event affected your clients? Give them an update on what they should think about doing. Do you get the same question often? Write a blog post that answers it. Remember to share your posts on social media so that more people see them, including potential new clients. If blog posts are too long for your liking, post on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram instead. Just do it regularly and make it helpful. Give a webinar or seminar: Putting together a presentation on a topic that you know a lot about is a great way to convince people that you’re a sought-after expert. Part of your message can focus on when expert advice or services are necessary, so that you alert attendees to when they should contact you about your services. But this isn’t a sales pitch—give them information they can use on their own, or help them to understand a topic that they might be confused about. Offer free consultations: If someone isn’t sure how to find the right service provider, they often get a few quotes and choose based on price. Of course, they often end up disappointed with the results. Having a conversation before there’s any commitment is very helpful for both parties. A free consultation gives you a great opportunity to explain to potential clients what you can do for them. Once they hear about the work you’ll do, they may understand why your quote is higher than some of the alternatives. Send out a newsletter: If you’re good at keeping to a schedule, consider having a monthly (or even weekly) newsletter that your clients can subscribe to. You can write short articles about timely topics and send them links to articles you’ve found that would be of interest to them. A newsletter doesn’t have to be a lot of work, but it does take some commitment on your part to send it out regularly. Make videos: Whether you choose YouTube, TikTok, or Facebook Live, video gives your prospective clients a glimpse at the person they would be working with. Nothing displays your personality quite like video. And if showing your face to the world is a bit too daunting, you can post explainer videos to help viewers understand something about the business you work in. Giving away your expertise usually doesn’t result in instant sales. This is more of a long game, but one that pays off. If you want to start giving out free advice to attract and retain clients but you just don’t have time to produce content yourself, I’d be happy to help you out. Contact me to discuss the knowledge you want to share.  What does your business sell? Professional services? Products? Technology solutions? Nope! Whatever business you’re in, you only succeed if you sell trust first.
Sound weird? It used to be that you could place a few ads in the media telling people how great your product or service was and they would take you at your word. That is no longer true. These days, a brand’s reputation and messaging need to withstand much more scrutiny. If you aren’t trusted, your product—no matter how great—won’t sell. Trust is earned, not given With the rise of spammers, scammers, and misleading offers, it’s no surprise that people are reluctant to give companies the benefit of the doubt. In today’s marketplace, trust needs to be earned. If your terms of use, product descriptions, contracts, or website are hard to understand or overly complicated, people will tend to assume that you’re hiding something. Having clear information, policies, and agreements builds trust because it helps people understand what you’re offering, what it will cost, and what will happen if something goes wrong. Here are some things to keep in mind to make sure your business is earning trust. "You build trust by acting in a way that demonstrates the values you claim to represent." It’s about authenticity Yes, it’s a bit of a buzzword, but authenticity is just another way to say trust. When people feel like you’re being truthful with them, they’re more likely to pay attention to what you say. That means telling your story with character and integrity. For example, if a company presents itself as a champion of the environment but then gets charged with violating pollution laws, it will lose its authenticity and the public’s trust. Basically, you build trust by acting in a way that demonstrates the values you claim to represent—by being authentic. It’s a conversation Marketing is no longer a simple matter of broadcasting your message to your target audience. It’s now a two-way street, where customers feel that companies should listen and respond to their opinions and concerns. Social media has made this interaction a must. Any company that pushes out messages without responding to comments quickly loses the trust of its audience. Companies that ignore complaints made in public will soon find themselves facing a lot of accusations. Hoping that tough questions go away is no longer an option. On the other hand, starting a conversation can build a lot of trust: treat your customers well, and they will tell the world about it. Testimonials and reviews are some of your best opportunities to let people know how your product works in the real world. And because they don’t come from the company itself, they are easier to trust. It’s planned Building trust starts at the top, right in the C-suite. Operating with integrity, deciding on the business’s values, and offering a product you stand behind is the backbone that your strategy will be built on. When it comes to public perception, though, most of your efforts will go into communications and marketing. Here are some ways you can use your communications strategy to build public trust in your business:
If you could use some help presenting your business to the public to build trust, let’s connect and see if I can help.  Plain language is an approach to communications that focuses on making information easy to read, understand, and use. Adopting plain language in your business may sound like a lot of work, but the returns are often far beyond anything the business imagined. Here are some areas where using plain language can help your business’s bottom line.
1. Product information: How easy is it to do business with you? Your website should be so clear that potential customers understand what you offer, how much it costs, and how to purchase it, without needing to search for information. This requires a combination of strong, clear writing and intuitive design—both parts of plain language. Once someone clicks away from your website, you’ve likely lost the sale. 2. Contracts and agreements: Contracts have a longstanding reputation for being impossible to understand without the help of a lawyer. They don’t need to be this way! A plain language contract lets everyone understand what they’re being asked to agree to. It inspires confidence and trust in your business, because clients won’t worry that you’re trying to trick them. Royal Insurance of Canada had a 38% increase in sales when plain language was used in their homeowners’ insurance policies. –Northwest Territories Literary Council 3. Customer inquiries and complaints: If your website, agreements, and marketing materials are clear and easy to navigate, customers and potential customers will find the information they need on their own. This saves your staff countless hours of answering email and phone inquiries and being asked the same questions again and again. Also, making your policies clear to begin with (instead of burying them in legalese fine print) means that people understand what they’re getting. This will reduce the number of complaints, returns, and requests for refunds. 4. Forms: If you collect information using forms (for subscriptions or registrations, for example), they should be clear and easy to fill out correctly. This will cut way back on the number of mistakes in them and the need to follow up one-by-one to get the information you need. Alberta Agriculture used plain language to revise their forms and found that "with 1,034,530 forms processed a year, and savings in staff time of at least 10 minutes per form … the annual saving to the government is an astounding $3,472,014.” 5. Staff communications: How much time do your employees spend reading poorly written, unclear, or unnecessarily long emails, reports, updates, and procedures? How complicated is the process of booking vacation time, filling in insurance claims, or submitting their hours worked? Plain language can reduce the amount of unproductive time that staff spend on internal tasks, and also improve morale by making it easier for them to do what they were hired to do. Starting with one or two key documents or communications tools can put your business on the path to less wasted time, more sales, and a stronger bottom line. Get in touch with me to discuss where to begin. |
AuthorMichelle Waitzman, plain language specialist, shares her tips and perspectives on clear, powerful communication. Archives
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