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How to Write Fundraising Letters That Motivate Donors To Make
Donations to Your
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By Alan Sharpe
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Motivating strangers to give their money away is one of thehardest jobs around. It's difficult to do face to face. And it'seven tougher to do in a letter. But it can be done. And yourchances of receiving gifts in the mail increase once you employsome of the tested methods that are used by leading non-profitorganizations around the world.
Make your message relevant Your appealletter needs to talk about what's important to your donor. Likeyou, donors listen to what interests them. They watch whatinterests them. And they read what interests them. There is noreason that what is important to you and what is important toyour donor cannot be the same thing.
Let me give you an example of an organization who got it wrong.A national association raises awareness, provides services andsupports individuals affected by diabetes. Research shows thatjust about every one of their donors either has diabetes orknows someone close to them (father, wife, brother, cousin) whodoes.
And yet this national organization continues to mail appealletters to its donors describing diabetes in the most basicterms. "Over two million people in our country have diabetes,"said a recent letter. "Approximately 10 % of people withdiabetes have type 1 diabetes," said another."
If you lived with diabetes and donated to this organization,these appeal letters would be irrelevant to you, wouldn't they?First of all, you already know about diabetes. And secondly, youdon't care that "Approximately 10 % of people with diabetes havetype 1 diabetes" as much as you care that you have it. What thisorganization needs to do is start writing fundraising lettersthat speak to their donors where they are now.
That means crafting letters that help their donors live fulllives even though they have diabetes. That means positioningthemselves in donor's minds as the single best source ofinformation for people who have or are affected by diabetes.Doing that would increase their relevance--and their donations.
By making your fundraising letters more relevant to yoursupporters, you will stand out amidst the many appeal lettersthat your donors already receive from other charities.
Use "make-a-difference" language Donorsact like investors when they give their money away. They want toknow that their gift will produce a return on investment,however intangible. What you are aiming to do with"make-a-difference" language is show why the world is a betterplace because of your organization.
In my local newspaper each Christmas, for example, a men'sshelter runs a small display ad that features a photo of ahomeless man seated at a dinner table at the mission, eatingChristmas turkey. The headline reads: "Christmas dinner: $2.75."The message is clear. Give a gift of $2.75 and you'll showcompassion in a practical way to a homeless person thisChristmas. You can literally "picture" the difference yourdonation will make. Try to paint a picture like that with eachfundraising letter you drop in the mail.
Empower your donors Ever heard of "donorfatigue?" It's the phrase that fundraisers use to describe thefeeling of hopelessness that some donors get by readingfundraising appeals from dozens of worthy causes. The weight ofthe world's troubles produces in some donors a sense offutility, believing that their small gift can't possibly changethe plight of so many people worldwide.
The way to prevent donor fatigue is to write fundraising lettersthat empower your donors. "Donors are interested in you becauseof what you help them do. You are their agent in their personalmission to make the world better. That should be the topic ofall your fundraising," says Jeff Brooks, senior creativedirector at the Domain Group, a direct marketing firm thatserves non-profit organizations.
Show how past donations are at workAnother powerful motivator is proof that a past gift made adifference and continues to do so. Tell the story of the toddlerwhose life was saved by the speedy reactions of a nurse.Describe how two bikers left a life of crime and gave up drugsthanks to the intervention of your volunteers.
What you are aiming for with the printed word is the "feel-goodfactor." "When we communicate with our donors, we need tocontinuously let them know how their gifts make the recipientsfeel. That sense of making a meaningful difference in a needyperson's life or helping to make a needed change in the world isthe gift we give our donors," says Jeff Nickel, group vicepresident for Grizzard Signature Group, a direct responsefundraising agency.
Appeal to head and heart Many donors areultimately motivated by their emotions more than theirintellect. But to attract and keep loyal donors, you need toappeal to both head and heart. You need to write with passion,appealing to each donor's sense of compassion and empathy. Butyou also need to write with clear-headedness, too, mentioningthat gifts are tax-deductible, explaining how much of a donationgoes to programs and how much covers administrative expenses,sometimes listing the rational reasons for supporting yourcause, and so on.
Raising funds by mail is not a science. Methods change becausesociety changes. People change. But these principles have workedfor decades, and still do. Put them to work in your nextcampaign and see what happens. Drop me a line and let me knowhow you get on. Reach me at alan@sharpecopy.com.
© 2005 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint thisarticle online and in print provided the links remain live andthe content remains unaltered (including the "About the author"message).
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