Writing Engaging Content for Community Outreach

My 5-Step Content Creation Process – From Ideation to Publication (Got me 48k LinkedIn followers and 11k newsletter subs) 1️⃣ Plant Whenever I have an idea, I plant its seed in my Apple Notes or Notion. How I Get Ideas: ⦿ Client Work: When I run into a new problem, I write a practical guide on how to solve it. (Example: How to write headlines. Fast.) ⦿ Curiosity: I consume a lot of content outside of marketing and advertising. I’m especially into music, poetry, theater, philosophy, psychology, history, and film. This helps me find interesting ideas that I can later connect to marketing basics to make them more interesting. (Example: How Patagonia’s marketing connects to Aristotle) ⦿ Conversations: Random input from outside triggers new ideas. Sometimes it’s real-life conversations, but mostly posts and comments I read online. This helps me write more relevant content. (Example: Scriptwriting with AI.) 2️⃣ Water I usually wait between two weeks and six months for an idea to ripen. During that time, I slowly add to it – thoughts, quotes, visuals, facts, and other pieces of research that I come across. 3️⃣ Harvest Every time I need to write a newsletter (every two weeks), I pick an idea from my garden that feels ripe and try to turn it into something useful. My Three Pillars of Useful Content: ⦿ Savable: People can easily understand it, save it, and come back to it when they need it. ⦿ Stake: Useful content is vulnerable. The best posts make me close my eyes and count backward before hitting publish because they usually involve sharing personal work, ideas, or stories that might make me look dumb. But that’s what makes it interesting—nobody wants safe, cookie-cutter content. ⦿ Simplify the Complex or Complexify the Simple: Explain a difficult task step-by-step or take something basic and dive deeper, approaching it from a fresh perspective. 4️⃣ Trim ⦿ Cut the Fluff: Once I have a messy first draft, I start editing. I strip out all the fluff and obvious stuff. It’s tough, but I keep reminding myself, “Your reader is smarter than you. They’ll get it.” ⦿ Promo Post: I write a promo post for LinkedIn, promising my readers what they’ll learn if they check out the newsletter. This helps me focus on the main point, cutting out anything that doesn’t support that promise. ⦿ AI: I use GPT to find more examples, proofread, and help me nail the right words. (🤖 My favorite editing prompt "Carefully compress the sentence below. Eliminate unnecessary words and replace longer words with shorter ones, ensuring the sentence retains its original meaning, info, and tone.") 5️⃣ Distribute Once the newsletter is out, I repurpose it into short-form content for LinkedIn, Reddit, and Twitter. In total, it usually takes me 16-20 hours of work from the moment I pick an idea until it’s ready to ship, visuals and all. Well, I hope that was useful ;)

I was catching up with a communications colleague recently. While we were chatting, she received an email with the same subject line as so many others: "Quick comms request." I could see the frustration cross her face as the notification popped up on her screen. She receives so many of these messages, all with asks to profile work happening within the organization. Program team: "Can you post about our workshop series?"  Development: "Don't forget to highlight this funder partnership!"  ED: "Board wants to see more about our policy work in the newsletter." It's all good and worthy so she's lost her will to say "no" despite the volume. The problem isn't that nonprofits are doing too much work. It's that they're communicating about too much work, all at once, without a frame. Every program gets a mention. Every milestone gets a post. Every partnership gets a release. But, without an overarching narrative, it all lands as noise. Your community doesn't need to know about everything you're doing. They need to know what it all means—for them, for the people you serve, for the change you're trying to make. When you communicate without a plan, you're working twice as hard for half the impact. You're writing posts that get scrolled past, newsletters that don't get opened, annual reports that don't inspire anyone to give again. And your team knows it. They feel it. That's why those "quick comms requests" keep piling up. Everyone's trying harder because nothing's breaking through. Before you write another word, name three ideas you want your community to actually understand right now. Not three programs. Not three events. Three ideas about your work and why it matters. Then look at all those requests sitting in your inbox. Which activities, milestones, or stories actually support one of those three ideas? Use those. Give them context. Weave them into something meaningful. The rest? They can wait. (Or, maybe they don't need external comms at all.)

Last week in an internal team workshop, I asked the group a question: “If you're not creating content on LinkedIn, why not?” They came up with ten reasons - everything from “I don’t know what to say,” to “I feel awkward putting myself out there,” to “I don’t want to seem like I’m bragging,” or “I’m not sure anyone would even find it interesting.” Here’s what stood out: Every reason started with “I.” It was all about them - their doubts and discomfort. So, I offered a small but effective shift that can take the pressure off and make showing up feel a whole lot easier: ✨ Make your community the star of your content ✨ What does that actually look like? It means shifting the spotlight from you to the people, stories, and moments that exist around you. And doing it in a way that still reflects your values, your expertise, and your perspective. Here are a few ways to do it: ✅ Highlight your team Share the work they’re doing behind the scenes. A project they’ve delivered, a promotion they’ve earned, or even a moment of growth you’ve witnessed. ✅ Celebrate your clients Tell the story of a client who’s achieving great things. It doesn’t have to be a case study just a quick insight into the work they’re doing, their success, or a shift they’ve made. You don’t need to name them unless appropriate. The focus is on their journey, not yours. ✅ Share industry insights Got back from a conference or event? Talk about what you learned, the speakers that stood out, the side coffee or wine chat, or the trends you're noticing. ✅ Acknowledge your network Say thank you. Recognise someone who gave you advice, introduced you to a new way of thinking, made a connection for you, brightened your day or helped you get unstuck. ✅ Feature your collaborators and community Whether it’s a podcast guest, a project partner, or someone in your community, spotlight them. Share what they do, what you learned from them, or how they’re making an impact. If you’re holding back from posting because it feels too self-promotional or too awkward - try this instead: 👉 Pick one person in your community and shine a light on them this week. 📷 Need some inspiration? One person who does this incredibly well and with absolute consistency is Jonathan Mamaril. Jonathan’s approach to content on LinkedIn is a standout example of what it means to shine the light on others. Whether he’s actively bringing people into a conversation, featuring a podcast guest, spotlighting community member, acknowledging a collaborator, or celebrating someone in his broader network, his posts are thoughtful, intentional, and generous. It’s inclusive. It’s community-focused. And it's a great reminder that sometimes the best way to show who you are is to lift up the people around you. #linkedin #community #locallink

A Covenant with Our Community: Evolving with Your Needs One of the most important things in content creation, I've learned, is a covenant with your community. This goes beyond respecting and including everyone - it's about genuinely listening and responding to what you need. Our resources, Discord community, and site were built from the ground up based on your feedback. But it's also about the tone and presentation of our content. Recently, I've noticed a shift in what our community values. As layoffs slow but the number of affected individuals remains high, the need for immediate, supportive reaction content has lessened. Instead, tangible ongoing support for those struggling to find work has become more crucial. I'm focusing on three key pillars for our community: 1. Concrete Support and Resources: Continuously updating and providing effective resources, even though the success rate remains challenging. Our goal is to improve your chances and provide tangible help. 2. Enriching and Fun Content: Posting analytical, interesting, or purely fun content about games that offer a break from job-related stress and foster engaging discussions. 3. Innovative Support Strategies: Introducing new formats and events that can offer fresh support for those still looking for work. For instance, we've adjusted game work support posts to allow repeat entries for organizations still dealing with layoffs. I understand that some support posts can feel patronizing, especially after months of struggling. My commitment is to focus on concrete, helpful content while ensuring no one feels invisible. If you see others offering support that feels insincere, ineffective, or both,, consider that they may genuinely be trying their best and provide constructive feedback. We're all in this together, and my goal is to evolve with your needs, providing quality content and unwavering support. Let's continue to build a community where every gamer feels seen, heard, and valued.

No, you shouldn't stop mailing your nonprofit newsletter! I know. It's REALLY expensive. And I know. It NEVER raises the kind of money you expected it to raise. Trust me. I get it more than you might expect. When I ran Annual Giving for a children's hospital one of the things I inherited was a newsletter program that was losing $40,000 a year. The org had conducted an audience survey before I got there. 20,000 pieces mailed. 91 survey responses. I was never great at math, but even I know those numbers are pretty bad. We talked about just killing the newsletter. But that would have been attacking the symptom instead of solving the root issue. The real problem? Twenty years of doing it wrong. Here's exactly how we turned it around: Step 1: Diagnose the Real Problem Stop blaming "print is dead" or "donors don't read." Our newsletter failed because we told stories that made US look important, not stories that made DONORS feel important. Ask ourselves: Does every story answer the question "why do you need me?" If you're showcasing how great you're doing, you're doing it wrong. Step 2: Rewrite Your Message Framework Donors need to hear three things in every communication: • You matter (not we matter) • You invested wisely (prove it with transparency) • We still need you (create ongoing engagement) Reframe every accomplishment as THEIR accomplishment. "Because of You, Douglas Can Visit an Imaging Center Without Crying" beats "We Open New Imaging Center" every single time. Step 3: Cut the Bloat We slashed our newsletter from 8 pages to 4. Lead story went from 1,200 words to 500. People don't read—they skim. Make it skimmable. Step 4: Add Personalization We added a personalized cover letter and reply device based on past giving behavior. This let us segment for better delivery and measurement. Same budget. Smarter allocation. Step 5: Make It Look Like Mail People Want to Open We ditched the self-mailer for a standard envelope with a live stamp. Yes, postage increased marginally. But it stopped looking like junk mail. The Result: From a $39,549 loss to a $56,705 profit. Nearly a $100K swing. Same budget. Your newsletter doesn't need to die. But if it's not making the money you expect, it probably needs to stop being about you and become an impact piece focused on your donors and what they make possible.

Most people treat newsletters like one giant task. That’s why they burn out or never ship at all. AI doesn’t just make writing easier. It makes workflows repeatable. Here’s how to actually use AI in 2025: 1 – Mindset Setup This is where quality starts. You get out what you ask for. - Break “write newsletter” into substeps - Build clear workflows for each phase - Ask GPT specific, detailed instructions - Treat AI like a smart partner, not magic - Know what you want before you prompt Don’t chase inspiration. Build systems. 2 – Research Phase This is your content fuel. No good output without great input. - Use Exa & Perplexity for semantic search - Pull timeless studies from PubMed - Curate best-of newsletters and case studies - Track trends via Alerts, Twitter, Google News - Auto-fetch sources into a “Research” inbox AI can’t create without context. Feed it well. 3 – Drafting Phase This is your writing engine. Clarity beats clever every time. - Define tone, length, format in your prompt - Include outlines, references, past examples Use section templates that scale: ☑︎ Mini-posts with 3 bullets + insight ☑︎ Deep Dives on 2 stories ☑︎ Quick Hits + Product Picks Prompt once. Reuse forever. 4 – Polishing Phase This is how you level up. From first draft to publish-ready. - First pass: fact-check, structure, logic - Second pass: rewrite in your voice + tone Run an AI quality checklist: ☑︎ Remove filler and “AIese” phrases ☑︎ Enforce disclaimers, tags, voice rules - Auto-generate subject line + preview text Clean copy = credibility. 5 – Publish & Iterate This is your compounder. Each issue gets easier and better. - Schedule send through your email tool - Review timing, output, and click metrics - Refine your prompts and checklist weekly - Store all assets in a “Newsletter Playbook” - Next issue: copy → paste → update → done Good newsletters don’t get written. ↳ They get built. Don’t start from scratch every week. ↳ Start from a system. That’s how pros write high-quality newsletters with AI. Want to learn more about AI? 1. Scroll to the top. 2. Click “View my newsletter.” 3. Join 400k+ free daily readers Follow Louis Shulman + Martin Crowley. ♻️ Repost to help someone ship faster with less stress.

You can have 30,000 followers and still feel invisible. Here's how to build a very strong community on LinkedIn. It took me 5 months of consistent posting to realize this: Followers ≠ community. A strong LinkedIn community is when: 🖤 People check on you when you don’t post. 🖤 Your comment section feels like home. 🖤 People stick around even when your post is not 100/100. So how do you build a strong community? I use what I call The 3C Rule: 1. Conversation (not broadcast). Don’t post like a professor giving a lecture. Stay. Reply. Ask back. Your comments should feel like a living room, not an exam hall. 2. Contribution (not competition). Shine the light on others. Celebrate them with heart. When people see it’s not all about you, trust sticks. 3. Consistency (not intensity). A single weekly ritual (Q&A threads, shoutouts, check-ins) builds more belonging than 10 daily hot takes. Bonus Juice: → End your post with open-ended questions. It turns your comment section into a group chat. → Create sweet rituals. A Friday shoutout, a monthly gratitude post, Or a recurring 'rant day'. Rituals are GLUE. And the ultimate test: If you disappeared tomorrow, would people scroll on? Or would they notice your silence? (Ponder on it...) Because at the end of the day, people don’t only stay for your content. They stay for CONNECTION. PS: What other community building hack do you know? Let’s learn from each other ☺️

Day 5 of my Week of nonprofit comms trends that will matter in 2026. The old storytelling model (where organisations write polished stories about communities) is fading. What’s replacing it is simple and powerful: Stories told by the people who lived them. Here are 4 ways nonprofits can shift toward community-led storytelling: 1. Collect stories as voice notes. People speak more naturally than they write. Let them tell their story in their own voice, then transcribe. 2. Use local languages when possible. A single isiZulu or Kiswahili quote can communicate more truth and dignity than a polished English paragraph. 3. Hold monthly storytelling circles. Bring community members together. Ask them what they want the world to understand. Record with permission. 4. Share stories back with participants before publishing. Let them correct tone, nuance, and meaning. It’s their story. not ours. This isn’t “content creation.” It’s relationship-building. Trend 6 tomorrow, so hit subscribe to be notified of the next post. (Or if you can't wait, check out the link in the comments for my full Substack article with all 6 trends and references for reports that I researched.)

Here are some best practices I keep in mind when creating content for my community. ▪️Before you start creating, take a moment to understand your community. What are their pain points, Interest, and goals? When you really get to know your audience, your content will resonate on a deeper level. It’s like knowing what jokes make your friends laugh, content should feel that personal. ▪️ Keep it Real and Relatable: People can spot fake from a mile away. Your community wants to hear from the real you, not an AI version. Share your stories, struggles, and successes. Authenticity builds trust, and trust is the foundation of any strong community. ▪️Engage, Don’t Just Broadcast: Start by being an active participant in your own community.  Encourage conversation and interaction by asking questions, responding to comments.  It’s about creating a dialogue, not a monologue. Quit using your community as a dumpsite. ▪️Quality Over Quantity: It’s better to post one meaningful piece of content than to flood your community with fluff. Take the time to create something valuable, something that sparks thought or solves a problem. Your community will appreciate it. ▪️Consistency is Key: Show up regularly. Whether it’s weekly updates or daily posts, consistency builds anticipation and trust, plus also helps create a good community culture. But remember, consistency doesn’t mean focusing on the quantity and churning out content, it means maintaining your presence and continuing the conversation. ▪️Learn from Feedback:  If something isn’t working, don’t be afraid to try something else. Your content strategy should evolve with your community’s needs. don’t be afraid to ask your members on what they like and what they don’t.........listen to them. ▪️Make It Fun: Not everything has to be serious. Throw in some lighthearted content, humor, or even a fun meme or quiz. I have seen this work wonders in ramping up engagement. “ life is already hard, don’t make it harder”. ▪️Provide Value: Always ask yourself, “What’s in it for them?” Your content should provide clear value, whether it’s knowledge, entertainment, support, or inspiration. When your community knows they can rely on you for value, they’ll keep coming back. ▪️Celebrate Wins Together: When your community achieves something whether it’s personal milestones or group goals, celebrate it! Shout out members, share their stories, and make it a big deal. These moments create a strong bond within your community. PS: Don’t Forget to keep it real and relatable 🤭 PSS: This is an excerpt from the full article I wrote on Why Content matters in Community Management. Read it here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/djvV6F2N