Your help is urgently needed. If you're considering not reading the rest of this article, it's not too late to change your mind. Now is the time to once and for all put an end to the exploitation of boilerplate fundraising clichés, and make a real difference in the life of one despairing writer. I am counting on you.

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Senior associate editor at Bridal Guide Elena Donovan Mauer, who's worked with many writers who transition from in-house nonprofit writing to freelance journalism, stresses the importance of this distinction. "Don't write in your nonprofit press release voice! You must be versatile," she says. "Just because you're excellent at your job doesn't always mean you can easily adapt to another. Glamour might have a conversational tone -- you know, girl-next door, chit-chatty -- and you might be used to writing dry, professional press releases. If you can't deliver the writing style the editor wants, you likely won't get assignments."

In the transition from in-house nonprofit writing to freelance journalism, you may encounter certain preconceived notions from editors: In-house nonprofit writers rely on jargon and clichés, and they are inexperienced, biased, and have hidden agendas. These suggestions will help you overcome these preconceptions and make the necessary changes to your writing style so you can break into editorial writing.

Write What You Know
Having worked at a small DC-based nonprofit called Office of Management and Budget Watch (OMBW) for three years before transitioning to journalism, Genevieve Smith knew about the DC political landscape. Smith enjoyed her work at OMBW but wanted to write about her other interests, including arts and culture. She moved to New York and landed an internship with Harper's, where she helped fact-check and research the front-of-book sections. Her political expertise enabled her to contribute in meetings at the publication (run very much like a nonprofit, with its small staff). Smith jokingly recalls feeling like the in-house "DC expert" when editors would ask for explanations of obscure policy. She gained the trust of Harpers' editors by using her existing knowledge. As a result, Smith landed a freelance research job with one of Harper's senior editors who was working on a book project at the time.

Rabia Shirazi, president of Realize Ink (a communication and marketing consulting firm for nonprofits), went from the newsroom to in-house with an NGO, then back to freelancing. She suggests building on research you may have already done for an NGO, and converting the in-house piece to a marketable feature. "For instance, if you've already written a feature for your organization's newsletter highlighting the benefits of the Earned Income Tax Credit on a particular family, add to that a few outside experts on the topic -- a psychologist, an accountant, an expert author on the topic -- and the story can be pitched to a consumer magazine like People," she says.

But, Mauer recommends building your clip file with bylines in smaller-scale media outlets before pitching People, Glamour or The New Yorker, as "some editors can be close-minded and are only impressed with magazine or newspaper clips."

Another way to build a portfolio is through trade publications. Gordon Mayer, vice president of the Community Media Workshop at Columbia College Chicago, had extensive knowledge of housing issues. Before transitioning to freelance writing, he spent seven years at a national advocacy organization that promoted community reinvestment. When he began his transition, he spoke with the real estate editor at the Chicago Tribune, who was looking for a background piece on trends in one of Chicago's neighborhoods where Mayer's nonprofit had done extensive work. The editor said that he felt it might not be appropriate for Mayer to write that piece because of a conflict of interest. So instead, Mayer kept his freelance writing to trade publications and wrote book reviews for City Limits, a publication of the Center For An Urban Future.

Write How You Know
In-house nonprofit writers are great at connecting to potential donors on a personal level. And because of that, they generally know how to write great features and human-interest stories.

Joseph Barbato, co-author of Writing For A Good Cause (a book about writing fundraising material) isn't surprised by the nonprofit writer's predisposition toward human interest writing. "A writer with a penchant for human interest will be attracted to nonprofit writing," he says. "Such a writer often has a highly developed sense of compassion and empathy. Those traits make him or her natural for telling stories about the ways in which nonprofits can make a difference in the lives of people."

Barbato also points out that nonprofits, such as colleges, hospices, museums, social action agencies, are essentially "the staging grounds, if you will, for much that is of great human interest in our society."

Shirazi, who transitioned into freelance journalism by writing human-interest features, agrees. "One of the best advantages an in-house nonprofit communications post affords is the opportunity to refine your storytelling skills." Having come from left-wing/ partisan nonprofits such as Amnesty International, EngenderHealth, UNFPA, and AIDS Walk, Shirazi pitched the style of her writing, rather than its content. Regardless of the political nature of her in-house writing, Shirazi knew how to relate to readers on a deeply human level. To start, she freelanced pieces for Focus on the Family detailing the challenges of being a single parent. While this particular outlet represented ideals very different than her own (Focus is a right-wing publication), Shirazi found a common ground through her own experience as a single mother.

Shirazi succeeded in expanding her portfolio by penning more human interest stories -- including an artist feature for Vertigo and "Real Wedding" pieces for Modern Bride -- which helped her get freelance work with consumer publications. She suggests pitching human interest features to women's and family/ parenting magazines and other tightly-focused niche publications, as well as The New York Times Magazine and Readers' Digest.

Write Who You Know
Like any other industry, networking and making contacts are the surest ways of getting the work you want. Most of the nonprofit writers interviewed for this piece began their freelance career through someone they knew.

"The DC political journalism world is small, especially online publications where editors are all young people working in the same circles," Smith says. She knew the editor of the American Prospect Online and used that contact to start writing articles on voter fraud and executive policy.

There are other ways to go about this transition if you don't know an editor personally. "If you don't have friends who are editors, try your local newspaper, a reputable Web site or another publication that's open to new writers," Mauer says. She suggests checking out mediabistro.com's "How to Pitch" articles for advice. Other associations that provide network opportunities for writers transitioning from nonprofits into freelance work include Media Alliance, a resource center for nonprofit writers, political activists, and community organizations.

Utilizing the skills they have coming into freelance writing, nonprofit writers have plenty of ways to prove their versatility. "A good writer is a good writer," Mauer says. "As long as the person has a great story idea and can put it on paper, it doesn't matter what their background is."

[Daniela Zeltzer is the corporate communications director at XCVI, and can be reached at daniela DOT zeltzer AT gmail DOT com.]