Contents
Content Style Guide
The content style guide defines Generous Giving’s voice, style and tone when writing on behalf of the organization. You will find grammar and formatting rules aligned with AP Style, as well as words and phrases we do and don’t say. This includes Generous Giving’s personality, formatting rules and principles of our tone to be used across different mediums and situations.
We've also included a brief overview of our messaging below. Please see the full core messaging guide a for a deeper dive into our five personas and brand phrases.
Messaging Overview
Who is Generous Giving?
Generous Giving’s mission is to spread the message of biblical generosity in order to grow generous givers, especially among those entrusted with much. Founded in 2000 by The Maclellan Foundation, it was launched with a vision to stir a renewed, spirit-led commitment to generosity among followers of Christ through conversation.
Today, we host conversations about God and money in an environment that never asks you for donations or anything in return.
These experiences have led thousands to experience renewed purpose, stronger families, passionate marriages and deeper relationships with God.
Elevator Pitch
Generous Giving is a unique organization that inspires generosity without asking for money. We are known for an event called a “Journey of Generosity”.
Who are we speaking to?
- Modest Millionaire – Diligent, steady investors and firm in their faith, Modest Millionaires are the key players in our generosity mission because of their financial means and high regard for obedience and stewardship.
- Altruistic Entrepreneur – Enthusiastic, driven and successful, Altruistic Entrepreneurs like making big things happen. Their status and vision are rocket fuel for launching the message and mission of generosity to new heights.
- Ladder Climber – Like Altruistic Entrepreneurs, Ladder Climbers are successful and driven. Their laser-like focus on achievement has led them to early financial success, but they secretly know there is something more than their professional accolades. Generosity can help them find it.
- Child of Wealth – Children of Wealth are often at odds with the financial means they were born into. Though they want for nothing in materialistic terms, they are often challenged to forge their own identity and sense of accomplishment. Generosity is a virtue that can provide them and the families they come from much greater purpose and impact.
- Churches and Organizations – Churches and ministries grow by way of Spirit-led generosity. They are both direct benefactors of and catalysts for charity, making the topic of money seem like a conflict-of-interest in conversation. Our events can be instrumental in leading discussions about giving in a neutral setting with pure and positive perception.
Core Messaging Guide
Please review and use Generous Giving’s Core Messaging Guide prior to creating any content to reach our audience or communicate about our brand.
Voice
Voice Overview
Voice is constant. It describes our brand’s distinctive personality—and what our volunteers, partners and prospective participants should always think about when they think about Generous Giving.
The following positive and negative voice attributes outline how we want to be perceived by everyone from our highly engaged Champions to a prospective attendee that lands on our Facebook page. The below also includes things we should never say, no matter the context or situation.
Voice: Positive Attributes
How we should always be perceived:
- Joyful – we seek to communicate a sense of freedom and joy in everything we do.
- Safe and inviting – Creative elements should convey warmth and relationship.
- High-end and Professional – our wealthy, successful audience has high aesthetic intuition. We walk a fine line between quality and extravagance.
- Togetherness – We are a ministry by peers, for their peers. Our brand will communicate “we are on the journey together,” “we understand” and “you can trust us.” We focus on stories of transformation to allow for adult learning.
- Trusted expert on the topic of biblical generosity.
Voice: Negative Attributes
How we should never be perceived:
- We’re not manipulative, aggressive, or pushy when we seek to challenge our audience.
- We have no hidden agenda or catch. We want something for them, not something from them.
- We’re not wordy or lengthy in written or oral communication. We are brief and clear. Less is more.
- We are not preachy and don’t use “Christianese” that could isolate or evoke negative connotations for our audience.
- We are not exaggerative, over-expressive and we don’t use superlatives.
Tone
Tone Overview
Tone is dynamic. It adapts to different scenarios and delivers on the promise of our voice. It can be felt as an attitude or emotion create for our audience. The following are the five principles of our tone, or what we call The Five P’s of a transformational experience. These attributes embody our unique approach and are key to transformational life change.
The Five P's
- Peers – The most significant influence in touching people’s hearts is peer influence. Facilitating environments where peers share their experiences without preaching to one another creates a unique and safe place for others to consider their own generosity journey.
- Permission – People tend to avoid discussing money. We have found that when permission is granted in a safe environment, there is most often an eagerness to wrestle with the issues of dealing with money in a God-honoring way. Many times, those who have been entrusted with much feel isolated or alone because, by definition, they are a small minority.
- Pressure-Free – We never permit the solicitation of money or the marketing of favorite ministries while speaking to people about living a more generous life. The second is to never prescribe specific percentages. We trust the Holy Spirit and God’s word will take people where he wants them to go in their understanding and application of generosity. We do not ever want to hinder someone hearing God’s voice because our voice was in the way. Rather, we want to help facilitate environments where people wrestle with God on these issues.
- Prophetic – The culture in which we live is contrary to almost all of Jesus’ teaching. We unapologetically carry this counter-cultural message with grace and truth, and invite people to wrestle with the teachings of God’s word on these issues of money, possessions and giving. We embrace the tough teachings and compelling examples in scripture of generosity.
- Provocative – We tell provocative stories of real-life people living extraordinary lives of generosity, joy and sacrifice. These stories not only help illustrate what generosity might look like in our day, but they also point to the ultimate example of generosity: Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Style
Style Overview
Style is what our content looks like. This includes formatting, grammar rules, capitalization and more. This section overviews the editorial rules and standards we adhere to, so our content is free from errors and looks consistent.
Grammar and Formatting
Official Stylebook: AP Stylebook
AP Style is designed for journalists and also for short-form writing, which is what Generous Giving communicates in our printed and digital content. For style-related questions not included in this quick reference guide, check out this link for more basics. For more in-depth questions, reference the AP Stylebook online.
Numbers
Numbers: Spell out one to nine. Use figures for the rest. Use figures in technical writing (page numbers, dates, etc.). Also spell out numbers if they’re the first word in a sentence. “Seventy days ago, I went to the store and bought one apple and 17 brownies.”
Phone numbers: Use hyphens. Do not do anything special to the area code. 407-555-3333
Percentages: Use the figure, and spell out percent. “Last month, 71 percent of Generous Giving employees said they like the Gators more than the Wildcats.” If you’re using a percentage in a table or chart, use %.
Time and Date
Time: Use a.m. and p.m. There is a space between a.m. and p.m. and the number. If it is on the hour, do not use :00. For 12 a.m. and 12 p.m. use noon and midnight. If an event stretches between a.m. and p.m., you need both. If it does not, mark it on the last time stated. “I was at Session 1 of an Online JOG from 9:30 to 11 a.m., and I have Session 2 from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.”
Dates: Spell out months. Use figures for days. Use May 10, not May 10th or 5/10.
Dates with years: If month, day and year are present, the year is set off with commas. “On February 16, 2019, Heather got married.”
Years: No apostrophes between a numeric year and the letter s. “1970s.” If you omit the first part of the year, include an apostrophe. “The ‘80s.” If you spell out a decade, capitalize. “Generous Giving was just a dream in the Nineties.”
Capitalization
General: Capitalize proper nouns. We also DO capitalize He, Him, His in reference to God.
Capitalize: Bible, Holy Spirit, Kingdom, Champion, Generous Giving, Celebration of Generosity, Facilitator Training, Champions Circle, GG Connect, Torchbearers Gathering, Table Topics.
Don’t Capitalize: host, volunteer, biblical, trainer, generosity, scripture, church, prayer.
Headlines: Use title case, which capitalizes every word except: articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, for), words fewer than five letters, or prepositions. “The October Celebration of Generosity Site Visit at the Omni”
Commas
Commas should be used in a series for clarity. In a simple series, a comma before the last item isn't essential for clarity, so AP Style doesn't use a comma in that instance. In series with more complexity, a comma may be needed for clarity, so AP Style allows a comma before the last item, as shown in the second example below.
“Turn to page 37 in your booklet and read bullets one, two and three. Afterward, we’ll watch the Erkmann and Barnhart stories.”
"The elements in planning for the Celebration of Generosity include food and beverage, AV, program development, signage, attendee communication, and follow up."
Other
Lists: Keep bullets uniform in style within a piece of content. Keep punctuation at the end of each bullet in uniform. For example, if your first bullet point has a period in the end, add a period to the end of all bullet points. Only introduce periods in the end if you have a complete sentence in your list.
Acronyms: Put an acronym after a phrase the first time it’s used, and then you can use it stand alone. I went to a Journey of Generosity (JOG) last March. It was the first JOG I had attended.
Accepted Acronyms: JOG, COG, GG (Please reference our Key Terms for a comprehensive list of terms and acronyms.)
Quotes: Periods and commas go inside quotes marks. A quote within a quote uses one quotation mark. If the ending punctuation mark does not apply to what is quoted, it goes outside of the quotes. “I was inspired by Tim Keller’s devotional at the Celebration of Generosity,” she said. “I was impacted when he asked, ‘What are you scattering and gathering?’”
Titles: Italicize and capitalize books, movies and paintings. “I watched Mary Poppins yesterday.”
Personal titles: Only capitalize titles when they come before a name. “I just met Chief Operating Officer Pete Marra.”
Formatting
Explore a life with Jesus-like generosity.
Uncover a generous heart. Step into a life of purpose.
Generous Giving exists to help us all dig deeper into what it means to live with Jesus-like generosity. We explore generosity in a learning environment that never asks you for money, donations, or anything else in return.
Generous Giving exists to help us all dig deeper into what it means to live with Jesus-like generosity. We explore generosity in a learning environment that never asks you for money, donations, or anything else in return.
Appendix
Generous Giving Key Terms
Core Audience - Generous Giving operates to serve and disciple followers of Jesus as they progress on the lifelong journey of generosity. While we serve individuals and groups in all demographics, Generous Giving’s core audience is 40-65 year-old generous, success-oriented, Christian couples who have been entrusted with much. Historically, GG defines this as $250k+ per year, or a net worth of $2 million or more.
Emerging Leaders (EL) - Generous Giving’s secondary audience, consisting of emerging leaders who are under 35 and on track to have careers that will enable them to be entrusted with much. The majority of these efforts take place at professional programs with the highest concentration being MBA students.
Transformational Experience - Generous Giving offers transformational experiences such as the Journey of Generosity, online Journey of Generosity, and Celebration of Generosity.
Volunteer - An individual who engages in any activity that helps spread the message of Generous Giving. Activities may include inviting, convening, facilitating, or promoting within an individual’s sphere of influence.
Champion - A Volunteer who has opted into the Champions Circle.
Champions Circle - An annual program that invites Volunteers into focused, fulfilling engagement in which they are effectively supported and meaningfully celebrated.
Host - One who convenes a group to experience a Journey of Generosity together. Responsibilities include choosing a location, sending virtual invitations, and providing food and beverage.
Facilitator - Equipped during a Generous Giving Facilitator Training, the Facilitator leads the Journey of Generosity experience, guiding participants through the curriculum and conversation as the JOG takes place.
Additional Resources
10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Sending a Communication
We use these 10 questions for any communication we produce. We ask them to make sure we are creating a consistent brand experience for our audience, and to make sure our communications strategy is inviting the audience to a specific action.
- Have we effectively integrated our purpose and core messages?
- Does it look like us?
- Does it sound like us?
- Have we adequately identified the segments to receive this?
- Is it clear what we want FOR the individual as a result of this?
- Is there a clear invitation for the recipient to DO something?
- Is this the appropriate medium and timing for communicating this?
- Is this (can this be) connected to other efforts?
- Is there an effective plan for follow up?
- Would you want to receive this?