Boring donor stories? Swipe these 4 standout ideas
Most schools showcase philanthropy in some way for their print alumni magazine. And that’s great!
It’s important to show the individuals and organizations that support your school’s mission — and the ways that support has an impact.
Still, the way many magazines tell these stories sometimes leaves something to be desired.
Trust me, I know.
I spent years telling bone-dry stories of donors with forgettable quotes like “It’s a privilege to support an institution that has given me so much,” and “Giving back just made sense,” and ZzzzzzZZZzzzzz you get the point.
So when I look at the magazines I get today, I’m always interested in philanthropy stories that make the topic feel fresh, joyful, and meaningful.
Today, I want to share a few ideas I think are worth adding to your toolkit.
1. Capture broad donor impact in one creative image
“Gifts at work” was an incredible ongoing section in the now-defunct Legacy magazine from the University of Minnesota Foundation.
In a single image, it captured the impact of multiple gifts from both companies and individual donors.
I love this spread because it highlights the collective impact of philanthropy.
It shows how gifts to different but related areas can work together to advance the institution’s mission.
It’s also incredibly reader-friendly: it gives donors (both corporate and individual) credit with brief, clear annotations, and it plays to print’s strengths with beautiful design and creative storytelling.
Finally: don’t let the on-the-page simplicity fool you!
These can be challenging to pull off, but in my view, they’re an incredible way to showcase the 30,000-foot view of philanthropy’s value to an institution and its community.
2. Use an arresting infographic
First, here are the stats: Research has found that infographics are significantly more likely to be read than a written article and that recall of infographic data is 6x better than data presented in text alone.
So that’s why I love it when numbers — like giving day results! — are presented in a digestible, visually appealing way.
Here’s one recent example from GW Magazine (a Capstone client!) that I think is really sharp.
While stories about philanthropy are often designed to tug at our heartstrings, an analytical, numbers-driven approach like this one can be quite powerful.
3. Make your pitch
Magazines are often a way to do the “soft” work of building a relationship with a reader, maintaining that connection over time, and illuminating the strengths and values of an institution.
Requests for support — a specific proposal to fund a project, for example — are typically reserved for one-on-one conversations.
But as the Kansas State University Foundation’s Good for K-State magazine shows, they don’t have to be!
The always-brilliant Shane Shanks and his team created a really cool “pitch sheet” spread where they follow a basic proposal structure: showing the problem, explaining why their institution/approach is the answer, and demonstrating the concrete ways donor support can help accelerate the work.
In this case, the problem is the dearth of women in aerospace engineering. The story shares how Kansas State is doing particularly well relative to its peers. The pitch offers the chance to support a couple different scholarship-related areas — and a QR code to give immediately.
And while I am a Noted QR Code Skeptic, the request is so clear and specific that I think it makes perfect sense in this case.
4. Create a conversation
Western Magazine (also a Capstone client!) offered a twist on a donor profile: they brought together a donor and scholarship recipient for a conversation.
I love this because the conversational format feels more transparent and human than most donor profiles.
It also draws out common ground between two men who attended WIU more than 50 years apart — a reminder that shared values can bridge even the widest generational gaps.
Stories about donor philanthropy can be challenging. But done well, they can be irresistible to your reader and a boon for your institution.
