Fundraising & Campaigns
Appeals, capital campaigns, Giving Tuesday, peer-to-peer, major gifts, events that raise money, donor retention.
Every story is a play worth studying.
What we publish and how it looks. The rules our editors, contributors, and photographers work to.
Five sections, one scoreboard.
Every story belongs to one section and uses only that section's color.
Money, Data & Research
Giving trends, benchmark data, grants and foundations, tax and policy changes, budgets, tech and tools.
Culture, Galas & People
Profiles, the gala circuit, philanthropists and families, celebrity giving done right, style at charity events.
Leadership & Strategy
Executive directors, boards, hiring and burnout, governance, mergers, the business of running a nonprofit.
Impact & Community
On-the-ground programs, measurable outcomes, grassroots and diaspora giving, volunteers, local heroes.
Accuracy first.
Four rules that apply to everything we publish, including contributed posts.
- Accuracy firstEvery statistic links to its original source, such as a study, a Form 990, an annual report, or a press release. No unsourced numbers.
- Real names, real resultsWe name the organization, the person, and the specific result. Vague wins are not stories.
- Clear labelsSponsored content is labeled Partner Content. Affiliate links and conflicts of interest are disclosed.
- Dignity alwaysPeople served by nonprofits are partners with agency, never props.
Nine formats, one standard.
Each format has a purpose, a length, a structure, and an image package.
- 01
The Cover Story
Longform feature or profile · 2,500 to 4,000 words
The flagship. One big idea or one remarkable person, reported in depth.
- 02
The Huddle
Q&A interview · 1,200 to 2,000 words
A conversation with a leader, donor, or rising star, edited tight.
- 03
Game Film
Case study · 1,200 to 1,800 words
A campaign broken down play by play so readers can copy it, ending with a Steal This box.
- 04
The Playbook
How-to guide · 1,000 to 1,800 words
Practical, step-by-step advice a development director can use Monday morning.
- 05
By the Numbers
Data story · 600 to 1,200 words
One dataset or report, made clear and interesting, with brand-palette charts and no stock photos.
- 06
The Brief
News · 300 to 600 words
Fast, accurate coverage of sector news. Plain headline, one real image or a typographic card.
- 07
The Gala Report
Event and society coverage · 400 to 800 words plus gallery
Who was there, what was raised, what it looked like, with named and consented subjects.
- 08
Draft Picks
Lists and roundups · 800 to 2,500 words
Curated lists of rising leaders, campaigns, tools, and grants, with our selection criteria.
- 09
Locker Room Talk
Opinion and essay · 700 to 1,200 words
A strong, argued point of view that states the counterargument fairly.
Every article, top to bottom.
The order every story follows, from the tag to the next read.
- 01
Section tag
A pill in the section color, black caps. One tag per story.
- 02
Headline
Serif setup plus a one to four word caps payoff and a period, six to twelve words. News headlines stay plain. Specific beats clever.
- 03
Dek
One italic sentence, 15 to 25 words, that says why the reader should care.
- 04
Byline and date
Name and role, date, and read time.
- 05
Hero image
Chosen from the format's image package, with a caption and a credit.
- 06
Body
Short paragraphs of two to four sentences, a subhead every 300 to 500 words, and a link to every source.
- 07
Pull quote
Bodoni italic with an accent rule. One per 800 words, three at most.
- 08
Stat callout
An oversized number, a one-line label, and its source. Two at most.
- 09
The Takeaway
A closing box with three things a reader can act on.
- 10
Keep reading
Three related stories, same section first.
Headline and SEO rules
Features use the signature caps payoff. News headlines stay plain. No clickbait, no questions as headlines except in Locker Room Talk, and no puns that hide the subject. Every story carries a separate SEO title under 60 characters, a meta description under 155 characters, and a lowercase slug of three to six words.
Real people, shot like cover stars.
Five image families. Warm, true-to-life skin tones, clean whites, gentle contrast, and no heavy filters.
- 01
Accent-backdrop portrait
Our signature. The subject against a seamless backdrop in their section color, soft key light, genuine laughter or calm confidence, chest-up or three-quarter.
- 02
Environmental portrait
A leader in their real space, such as the food pantry, the classroom, or the boardroom. Natural light, uncluttered background.
- 03
Documentary
Programs in action. Candid, warm, eye-level. People doing, not posing or suffering.
- 04
Event and society
Gala arrivals, candids, the room at its peak, table and floral details. Rich and celebratory.
- 05
Still life and data
Clean object shots on solid color and charts in the brand palette. Our answer to stock photos.
| Use | Ratio | Pixels |
|---|---|---|
| Article hero | 16:9 | 2400 × 1350 |
| Portrait card or cover | 4:5 | 1600 × 2000 |
| Inline image | 3:2 | 1800 × 1200 |
| Thumbnail or list grid | 1:1 | 1200 × 1200 |
| Social share | 1.91:1 | 1200 × 630 |
| Stories and Reels | 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 |
| Gallery | 3:2 or 4:5 | 2000 px long edge |
Export WebP with a JPG fallback in sRGB, under 400 KB for heroes and 200 KB inline. Keep faces and key action inside the center 70 percent so every crop works.
Captions, credits, and alt text
Every image is captioned with who, what, where, and when. Credits read Photo: Name for The Game of Giving, or Photo: Courtesy of Organization. Every image carries alt text that describes what matters in one or two sentences, and charts state their main finding.
Dignity first.
How we photograph the people nonprofits serve, and where AI images are allowed.
- Partners, not propsPeople served are shown as capable partners with names and voices, never as objects of pity. No poverty imagery.
- ConsentSigned consent for identifiable people. For anyone under 18, written parent or guardian consent, first names only, and never a school, address, or location.
- Crisis and griefNo images of people in crisis, grief, or medical situations without explicit consent and a clear editorial reason.
- RightsOnly images we own, commission, license, or have written permission to use. Never lifted from social media. No other organization's logo without permission.
- AI-generated imagesAllowed for Playbook heroes, still lifes, concept art, and backgrounds. Never for news, events, or anything presented as a real moment, and never depicting real, named people or real organizations. Always credited Illustration: AI-generated.