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The Nonprofit Communicator

Cindy Dashnaw has spent more than a decade honing her writing and communication skills, becoming a successful nonprofit freelance copywriter. A copywriter takes the ideas of businesses and translates them into attention grabbing, persuasive copy for the target audience. They must work across many different platforms, including blogs, social media, newspapers, and media, as well as needing to be able to conduct thorough and accurate research and conduct insightful interviews. She recalls when she realized her passion for writing while sitting in a statistics class as a freshman at Indiana University. She found herself thinking “Oh my goodness, what have I done? Math is not for me!” A colleague recommended she pursue a public relations degree instead. 13 years later, Dashnaw graduated with a degree in journalism.

Dashnaw explained why she chose to work for nonprofits, say “It feels like I’m making a difference without planting trees.” She helped me understand how becoming a copywriter for an agency or choosing the freelance route seem similar in many regards. First and foremost, they are still the same job, aiming to persuade an audience. Working for a specific agency will help you to master their preferred style. There is also a certain level of job security when working for a company. In Dashnaw’s experience, as a freelance writer, you will most likely need to tailor your writing to that of the agency contracting you, while keeping your particular “flair”. While freedom and flexibility are to be desired, she also noted that freelancing will require a lot more effort in obtaining clients to write for. Copywriting as a freelancer does provide variability, though, allowing you to find a specific niche to write about. It’s okay to not know what your niche is when you start out as a writer. While she admits to how proud and honored she was to write copy for the Democratic party in Texas, it also helped her realize “political copywriting was not my specialty,” though she notes that she was “thankful to use my public relations education background.”

Dashnaw was thankful to get married and have a second income to help support her and her family as she branched out into freelance copywriting and away from marketing and political campaigns. A close friend of hers was starting their own public relations business and invited Dashnaw to come work for them. This decision led Dashnaw to develop her communication skills regarding approaching potential new clients. “You have to [do] tons of outreach and you get very little return when people don’t know you,” advised Dashnaw. As you build your portfolio and network to build potential clients, Dashnaw says you need to keep up with your writing and reading. She describes herself as a “voracious reading snob,” preferring to read mostly classical literature. “Grow your vocabulary and practice using it every chance you get,” Dashnaw emphasized.

One of the first steps that an aspiring copywriter can take to begin preparing for future career opportunities, is to simply start writing and build a portfolio. A portfolio should consist of different styles of writing that have been edited and reviewed and polished. The more samples you have, the better a potential client or employer will be able to determine if you are a good fit for their company. Dashnaw recommends creating a blog for this purpose, as it is an easily accessible and updateable method of keeping track of your work. Her next recommendations come in the form of networking. She insists for anyone wanting to meet potential clients, find other writers to provide help and information, or to just be in a group of likeminded individuals, on joining copywriting and freelance writing communities, especially the Freelance Content Marketing Writer Facebook group. Perhaps you will find a client that doesn’t quite suit your style, but maybe you know someone through your group that would fit like a glove. In her experience, helping other writers in this way can often lead to this type of interaction being reciprocated, landing you more work that you might be better matched for.

Networking can take time. Finding work, whether through an employer or as a freelance copywriter, can be exhausting. As Dashnaw mentioned, reaching out to companies involves a massive amount of time and effort. You need to research a company to find out whether they would be someone you want to write for, identify a specific project that company has worked on, then find someone in the hiring department or in the public relations office. Next you will need to craft an email or message. At this point, Dashnaw’s advice would be to “introduce yourself, comment on the work they have done, then pitch your services.” It can take days, weeks, or even months before ever hearing back from a potential client. She also recommended sending a follow-up email after a couple of weeks, with the initial email attached. In her experience, a prospective company may not have need of a writer right then, but “everyone needs writers at some point,” notes Dashnaw, who emphasizes staying positive and believing in your skills and abilities.

From the moment our conversation began, I could tell Dashnaw was a true professional. She seemed comfortable and well-practiced with interviews and wielded exquisite communication skills. Dashnaw is a mother of two, both of whom are in their twenties. Though she is in her middle years, Dashnaw still sports fiery, shoulder-length curls and a welcoming smile. Her professional attitude was enticingly jovial, making conversation easy and smooth. This is a career path for anyone that has a passion for writing and finding just the right words to perfectly transmute the intangible into captivating copy to sway the masses. Thanks to her kind words of encouragement, invaluable advice, and eagerness to lend a hand to the next generation of copywriters left me feeling confident in my goals of becoming a copywriter.