The Develop for Good (DFG) style guide exists to help create content guidelines and manage communications across all DFG content mediums. This guide should be used as a reference when writing for DFG.
Our voice is professional, positive, and straightforward
Develop for Good is a mission-driven organization that serves students, mentors, nonprofits, and donors, who work together using technology to make the world a better place. Our voice directly reflects this - we're professional, informative, and warm, not pretentious. We're positive and inspiring, but not overbearingly cheery. We're direct and straightforward, not unnecessarily verbose.
Do
Develop for Good uses technology to advance the missions of nonprofits and empower our volunteers to commit their skills for social good.
Don't
Develop for Good aims to accelerate the digital transformation of the nonprofit sector while empowering the next generation of leaders in tech to commit their skills for social good.
| Tone | Neutral | Supportive | Inviting | Educational | Celebratory | Helpful |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use Case | Informing the user of something that is happening or happened | When a client, volunteer, or mentor has been rejected | Persuading mentors, clients, or volunteers to apply to projects | Describing the mission of what Develop for Good has done and impact created | Delivering good or exciting news to a volunteer | Recommending action/next steps |
| Example | Account registered | Unfortunately, we weren't able to pair you to a project. We wish you the best and thank you for your time. | Have a project you'd like to propose? |
Get Started | Develop for Good is a nonprofit organization that supports student volunteers as they develop products for nonprofits. | Congratulations! You've been paired to a product. | We recommend checking out programs similar to ours: |
Cater to the platform
Pick an appropriate tone for a given medium of communication: email, Linkedin, Instagram...
Do
Write celebratory/inviting captions to share organization wins, publicize application deadlines
Don't
Use neutral captions for press
Avoid using directional language
Don't use directional language (eg. ‘left’, ‘below’, ‘click here’) to guide the user. Directional language isn’t accessible to all potential users, and doesn’t work well for localization purposes.
Do
Visit Volunteers to learn how you can get started.
Don't
Click the option to the left to find how volunteers can get begin.
Be clear and concise
Our website caters to a global audience of students and nonprofits. It's important that our copy is easy to understand and quick to read. Keep these tips in mind: