Course overview

This course is designed to help participants master the art of crafting compelling donor communications. This course will explore how to transform data and information into a powerful case for support, teaching practical techniques to articulate mission and impact. You will learn to cut through the noise and deliver messages that resonate emotionally, inspire trust and motivate action. The course blends foundational principles with interactive, hands-on exercises, delivering a framework for purposeful, donor-centric communication.

Course aim

This course aims to empower participants to become more effective communicators in the fundraising sector. This course will give participants the skills to confidently and concisely articulate their organisation's mission and impact, ensuring their message inspires action and secures support through clear and concise communication.

What you’ll learn

• Identify and remove unnecessary noise from your communication to deliver a clear message
• Structure compelling stories that connect with donors on an emotional level
• Understand different audience segments and how to deliver tailored messaging
• Consider how different channels change the way messages are structured
• Translate data and mission-based information into a persuasive case for support
• Craft powerful calls to action that motivate and guide donor engagement

Targeted skills

This course will allow you to:

1. Feel confident that your communications will deliver a compelling message
2. Understand how to weave storytelling into your fundraising language
3. Create a consistent narrative across multiple channels
4. Engage donors emotionally
5. Create strong call to actions for different audiences and channels

Participant level

Intermediate

Who is this course for?

Marketing and communications professionals who are directly responsible for grant writing, securing donations and communicating across multiple channels. This would benefit those staff who are responsible for using communication channels to build a relationship with donors and beneficiaries.

Prerequisite knowledge

This is not for entry level marketing and communications professionals - participants should have some knowledge of different marketing channels and the characteristics of these. You should also have experience in writing content for different platforms and different audiences.

This course won’t explore

• Overview of different channels - this course will talk about how to structure messages depending on the channel but will not outline the channel itself in detail.
• Development of automated customer journeys
• Trigger-based communications
• Brand or tone of voice development

Delivery

1 x 3hr session via Zoom

Format:

• 2-page case study with questions as pre-reading
• Break-out rooms/groups, group discussions, survey and case study review
• Workbook will be provided before the course to use during the course
• Follow-up template to be circulated after the course

Meet the facilitator

Read Rebecca Merryfull's bio. (PDF)

Guidelines for enrolment

1. Make sure you have a login for the FIA Learning Hub. Click "Sign In" or "Forgot Password" if needed.
2. You can enrol a staff member if they already have a login.
3. If you require assistance, please email training@fia.org.au .

CFRE

Full participation in Donor Communications that Cut Through is applicable for up to 1.5 continuing education points in Category 1. B – Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.

FIA Code

This course relates to the following aspects of the FIA Code of Conduct:

Conduct towards donors:

A focus for this course is communicating clearly and with purpose. The focus on communicating clearly and concisely without resorting to exaggeration or misrepresentation, ensuring the message's simplicity comes from honesty, not from withholding information. This course focuses on treating donors with respect and appreciating the value that donors bring to for-profit organisations. Participants will look to empower donors with a clear understanding of their role in creating change, rather than pressuring them with guilt or urgency, ensuring that every call to action is respectful and honors the donor's choice.

Conduct towards beneficiaries:

This course is centred on a commitment to transparency and authenticity. This course is grounded in leveraging true stories of impact and genuine human need, rather than exploiting emotional vulnerabilities or using manipulative tactics. I focus on inspiring trust, demonstrating integrity and accountability, providing clear evidence of how funds are used and the real-world results they achieve. I will also focus on representing the stories of beneficiaries with dignity and respect.

Course overview

This introductory course explains not just how to write fundraising copy, but why effective fundraising communication works. Whether you write fundraising communications yourself, review copy produced by others, or work alongside fundraising copywriters, this course will help you understand the principles behind persuasive, ethical donor communication and storytelling.

You'll learn the fundamentals of fundraising copywriting, explore what motivates donors to give, understand how to recognise effective copy, examine the ethical responsibilities of fundraising communicators, and discover how AI can support rather than replace good fundraising writing.

Participants will leave with practical skills they can immediately apply across appeals, emails and donor communications, together with a stronger understanding of the thinking behind successful fundraising copy.

What you'll learn

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand how fundraising copy differs from general marketing and communications writing.
• Apply core principles of effective fundraising copywriting.
• Understand the basics of donor psychology, including the role of donor love, identity and wellbeing.
• Understand how to use emotion in ethical storytelling.
• Practice basic copy skills to write stronger appeals, emails and stewardship communications.
• Identify the characteristics of effective fundraising copy.
• Give constructive creative feedback that strengthens rather than weakens fundraising communications.
• Apply ethical principles to fundraising storytelling.
• Use AI appropriately throughout the writing process.

Who is this course for?

This course is designed for:

• Beginning fundraising copywriters who want to understand not just how but why.
• Communications and marketing professionals moving into fundraising who need to shift from a consumer to donor mindset.
• Fundraising coordinators and executives who are not copywriters but write donor communications as part of their job.
• Fundraisers who commission, review or approve copy for donors.
• Communications staff who work alongside fundraising teams.
• Anyone wanting a solid grounding in fundraising copywriting principles.

This course is not intended for:

• Experienced fundraising copywriters.
• Advanced direct response copywriters.
• Senior fundraising creatives seeking advanced copy techniques.

Delivery

2 × 4 hour sessions via Zoom.

Meet the facilitator

Read June Steward's bio.

Guidelines for enrolment

Note: The FIA website provides access to both the Member Portal and the Learning Hub. These have separate logins, so your username and password may be different for each.

New Staff Member

Please ask your organisation's nominated contact to add you to the Member Portal or email members@fia.org.au. Your details will sync within two hours.

To access the Learning Hub

Once you've been added to the Member Portal, click Reset Password / New Staff Login to activate your Learning Hub access.

If you require assistance, please email training@fia.org.au.

CFRE

Full participation in Copywriting Essentials is applicable for up to 7 continuing education points in Category 1.B – Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.

FIA Code

This course relates to the following aspects of the FIA Code of Conduct:

FIA Code 4.0 Conduct towards donors by informing professional marketers and communicators in the NFP sector about their obligations when writing with the intention to achieve a particular outcome. FIA Code 5.0 Conduct towards Beneficiaries by considering what is acceptable, ethical, and effective copywriting.

Course overview

Take your copywriting craft to the next level, emphasising fundraising and other direct response campaigns.

Learn how to write clearly and emotionally to benefit your readers and your mission. You will also learn the real-world practicalities of writing copy to a deadline, for a specific audience and with your organisation's needs and complexities in mind, with the primary focus on direct response communication for appeals and activism campaigns.

What you’ll learn

• Understand how to prioritise information and audience needs
• Know what copy makes an audience respond or turn away
• Understand the opportunities and restrictions of specific channels (e.g. digital, direct mail, video, outdoor advertising)
• Be better equipped to manage the needs of your organisation's donors, case studies, beneficiaries and internal stakeholders.

Who is this course for?

• Anyone who writes copy and contributes to messaging for fundraising, campaigning or other supporter communications
• Anyone working for a charity, not-for-profit or supplier to the fundraising sector who is responsible for writing copy and communications
• Anyone who’d like to be more confident when briefing or assessing copy provided by other writers.

Delivery

1 x 7hr session via Zoom.

Meet the facilitator

Read Mary-Anne Plummer's bio. (PDF)

Guidelines for enrolment

Note: The FIA website provides access to both the Member Portal and the Learning Hub. These have separate logins — your username and password may be different for each.

New Staff Member

Please ask your organisation’s nominated contact to add you to the Member Portal or email members@fia.org.au. Your details will sync within two hours.

To Access the Learning Hub

Once you've been added to the Member Portal, click “Reset Password / New Staff Login” to activate your Learning Hub access.

If you require assistance, please email training@fia.org.au.

CFRE

Full participation in Copywriting for Impact is applicable for up to 7.5 continuing education points in Category 1.B – Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.

FIA Code

This course relates to the following aspects of the FIA Code of Conduct:

FIA Code 4.0 Conduct towards Donors by examining how communicators in the NFP sector can find themselves challenged to meet their ethical obligations to donors, and the needs of their employers.
FIA Code 5.0 Conduct towards Beneficiaries by considering scenarios where this conduct may be challenged, and support attendees to navigate any challenges ethically and appropriately.

Course overview

Supporter Care teams often speak to more supporters than anyone else in an organisation, yet their role is frequently positioned as reactive or administrative.

This course reframes Supporter Care and relationship roles as strategic drivers of retention, trust and long-term value. It explores what supporters expect, what truly delights them, and how everyday conversations can strengthen loyalty. Drawing on Australian charity case studies and frontline experience, participants will learn how to design proactive engagement moments, improve conversations, and better articulate the measurable value of Supporter Care or Relationship Management actions internally. The session blends strategic thinking with practical application and is suitable for anyone responsible for supporter relationships.

Course aim

To equip charity professionals with the mindset, tools and strategic lens to elevate Supporter Care and relationship management from reactive service to proactive, measurable supporter engagement.

What you’ll learn

• Understand how Supporter Care contributes strategically to retention and supporter experience.
• Identify opportunities to move from reactive service to proactive engagement.
• Apply practical techniques to improve conversations and increase engagement.
• Develop simple ways to track and demonstrate the value of Supporter Care actions.

Targeted skills

1. Proactive stewardship design
2. Storytelling within frontline interactions
3. Internal influence and value articulation
4. Cross-team collaboration
5. Outcome tracking and performance framing

Participant level

Intermediate

Who is this course for?

• Supporter Care and Donor Services teams
• Relationship managers
• Supporter Experience leads
• Fundraising managers wanting to elevate frontline engagement
• Organisations looking to reset how relationship-building responsibility is shared across teams

We strongly encourage organisations to send two participants – one from Supporter Care and one from fundraising. Supporter Care teams hear directly from supporters every day, while fundraising teams design the strategies that shape those relationships. When both roles attend together, it creates powerful opportunities to connect frontline insight with fundraising strategy. In previous sessions, this approach helped teams break down internal silos and identify new ways to collaborate across programs.

Prerequisite knowledge

They should have had a conversation with a supporter before.

This session won’t explore

• Detailed CRM training
• Full marketing automation and journey design
• How to make an ask training (e.g. for Majors)
• Technical telemarketing compliance frameworks

Delivery

Online. 3-hour preference.

• PowerPoint presentation and case studies
• Sector examples
• Live reflection questions
• Breakout discussions
• Worksheets and action planning templates
• Optional dashboard examples for tracking Supporter Care impact

Where possible, a charity partner will join to share lived experience and implementation insights.

Meet the facilitator

Megan Maya's bio.

Kate Thorpe's bio.

Guidelines for enrolment

1. Bring one example of a good and bad supporter interaction.
2. TBC – could provide pre course survey to understand course participants and ensure we are tailoring content.
3. For questions about enrolment, contact training@fia.org.au.

CFRE

CFRE points pending confirmation.

FIA Code

FIA Code of Conduct Integration

• Conduct towards Donors

Course overview

To connect and make a lasting impression, we must become better storytellers. We know a good story when we feel one. Through compelling narratives and shared values, these stories inspire trust and action.   Join this course and learn the science behind great stories and how to choose and tell your own with impact.

Impact Institute's Mark Jones and Paula Cowan will unpack the art and science of storytelling, providing a framework that participants can use to develop a story with purpose. Uncover your stories that establish credibility, showcase competence and cast forward with insights stakeholders find compelling.

The balance of teaching, coaching and practice modes helps participants build authentic Origin, Trial and Destiny stories and receive tailored feedback. The content draws on the BeliefonomicsTM storytelling principles and delivers practical and applicable story types for influential stakeholder engagement.

You’ll come away not only with a story bank but also a framework for taking your thought leadership up a notch.

What you'll learn

By the end of the session, you will:

• Recognise problems in brand communication
• Identify story types from the BeliefonomicsTM framework that are relevant to your brand and personal brand journey
• Apply storytelling structure and techniques to your brand and personal brand communication
• Develop a story bank for realistic scenarios

Targeted skills

• Stakeholder engagement
• Communication
• Listening

Who is this for?

Organisation Leaders and senior managers who seek to influence stakeholder decisions.

Delivery

1 x 3hr session via Zoom.

Meet the facilitators

Read Mark Jone's bio (PDF).

Paula Cowan's bio (PDF).

This course won't explore

• Comprehensive brand strategy
• Copywriting skills

Guidelines for enrolment

1. Make sure you have a login for the FIA Learning Hub. Click "Sign In" or "Forgot Password" if needed.
2. You can enrol a staff member if they already have a login.
3. If you require assistance, please email training@fia.org.au.

CFRE

Full participation in Storytelling for Impact is applicable for up to 1.50 continuing education points in Category 1.B – Education of the CFRE International application for initial certification and/or recertification.

FIA Code

This course relates to the following aspects of the FIA Code of Conduct:

FIA Code 4.10 and 4.11 Conduct towards Donors by considering how elements of digital fundraising apply to fundraising.