As a newsletter editor, you'll sometimes feel like you're stranded on a desert island, without a good story idea anywhere in sight. Actually, you're swimming in a sea of material, if you know where to look. Here are 18 ready-made story ideas to choose from, for your donor newsletter:

1. Program stories. Pick a program, any program. What has it accomplished lately? Is it growing, shrinking, updating, changing in any way? Do you have handy an anecdote that reveals how successful the program has been or can be? If it's a new program, what made you think it was worth doing in the first place? What are your hopes for the program? Talk about why the program MATTERS, not so much about how it works.

2. Tips. As specialists in your field, you have a unique body of knowledge. Some of it might be helpful to others. "The 10 Warning Signs of Childhood Depression." "A Dozen Things You Can Do Today That Will Save the Environment Tomorrow." "Is a Charitable Remainder Trust Right for You? A Checklist From an Expert."

3. Previews and reports. What's ahead? What are the latest findings from the authorities? "Looking at Next Year: Where We See Healthcare Headed." "New Urbanists Meet to Plan City of the Future: Will You Want to Live There?"

4. Client case histories. Show how your programs have changed individual lives for the better. And don't go all "happy face." Include conflict, tension, doubt, and obstacles, as well as triumph: it makes far more interesting reading.

5. "Staff are people, too" stories. What are the people on the front lines really like? Do their personal histories reinforce the credibility of your organization? "New Director of Projects Learned Her Business Building Bridges in Southeast Asian Jungles."

6. Milestones. "How 46 Donors Celebrated Our 20th Anniversary: Making $20,000 Gifts in Their Wills." "What We've Accomplished (Thanks to You, Our Donors) In the Last Five Years: A Timeline."

7. Research and development. What's coming down your pipeline? The world is ever changing: What programs are you planning to meet new demands?

8. Publications. What do you have to offer? Guides, brochures, checklists, white papers, reports, talking points, PowerPoint presentations, downloadable PDF files, an e-newsletter, information on your website: anything a donor, prospect, or client might consider useful is potential news.

9. How-to pieces. What do you know how to do that a reader might be interested in? "Listing Your Historic Home on the National Register: Easy To Do, If You Do It Right." "How to Lose 20 Pounds in Two Months the Safe and Sane Way, Without Feeling Hunger Pangs."

10. Financial news. People are surprisingly curious about your finances. If for no other reason, openly discussing your financial information signals donors that you have nothing to hide, that you've been wise stewards of their cash contributions. Skepticism about nonprofit business practices has never been higher, polls find. Fight back with transparency: lift the veil on how you spend your money. A good practice: in every issue of your donor newsletter run a pie chart that shows the breakdown of your expenses (assuming, of course, that your administration and fundraising costs are within reasonable standards).

11. Photos with captions. And never without a caption. Because many "readers" only read easy, brief items of text such as captions and headlines. Your captions are a major opportunity to slip in information.

12. Columns. In the preceding chapter I disparaged the "Letter from the executive director's desk" convention. But only because these letters usually land on the front page, a prime position they seldom merit. But letters from the ED do have their place. They can be a from-the-heart, me-to-you behind the scenes look into the most pressing issues facing the organization, for instance. Other types of columns include "Frequently Asked Questions," "Q&A," "Myths & Facts," "A donor talks about why she gives," "Letters," "Heard on the blog," or guest columns.

13. The "Update" story. Here's a perfect example of an update story from the Ducks Unlimited Canada member magazine: "The West Nile Virus: One Year Later." Ducks Unlimited Canada owns this story. Their mission: preserving the wetlands needed by migratory waterfowl, yet now there's a complication: a fatal disease lurks in these very same wetlands. Stay tuned.

14. The "Did you know?" story. These reveal surprising, relevant facts. This cover item from the Conservation Law Foundation's newsletter, for instance: "On August 15, 2003, as over 100 power plants remained shut down on the second day of the Northeast’s massive blackout, visibility increased by as much as 20 miles because the concentration of light-scattering particles caused by sulfur dioxide emissions was reduced by 70 percent." In less than 50 words, the donor's reminded poignantly of what the fight's really about: healthier air.

15. Press releases. If you think it's news to the outside world, then it's likely to be news to your donors as well.

16. News about you. If you attract media coverage, draw attention to that in your own newsletter. It can help build your organization's image and reputation.

17. History. A timeline, for instance, can be the best, fastest way to show a long record of steady growth and achievement, something that attracts many donors.

18. Offers. Tours, special events, classes, invitations to sign up for an e-newsletter: the list of offers you can make is endless. Offers are important, as you learned earlier in the book. If they're good offers, people respond to them, which in turn helps build relationships. Who wouldn't appreciate this offer made by the San Antonio Area American Red Cross in its newsletter: "Are your CDs paying you 1-2%? Would you like a 10% return?"

Due credit and thanks: the preceding checklist is partially based on one created by Robert W. Bly in his Advertising Manager's Handbook.