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Successful Non-for-Profit Fundraising Letters Share Eight
Qualities
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By Alan Sharpe
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You'll be encouraged to know that the art of writing effectivefundraising letters can be learned. I learned it. So can you.
Successful fundraising letters share a number of things incommon. Once you know what these things are, your letter isalready half-way written. Before I share what they are, let meexplain what I mean by a "successful" or "effective" fundraisingletter. I mean a letter that generates a gift, certainly, but Ialso mean a letter that builds upon the relationship you havewith your supporters. You can easily craft a guilt-inducingletter that brings in a donation for now but repels a donorforever. Successful fundraising letters take the long-termapproach, knowing that donors need to be nurtured and educatedover time.
So here are some things that all successful fundraising lettershave in common. Include as many of them as you can in eachletter you write.
1. Is personal
Effective fundraisingletters sound as though they are written by a human being, notan institution. Unlike grant proposals or special events, theyare person-to-person pieces of communication. With the exceptionof a phone call, fundraising letters are the closest thing thatyou can get to a face-to-face meeting with a donor.
2. Is conversational
Again, unlike grantproposals and charity auctions, effective fundraising lettersread like a conversation (though admittedly a monologue) betweentwo people. Wouldn't you agree that good letters involve thereader? Like you, I believe that effective letters involve thesupporter in the message whenever possible without soundingcontrived.
3. Is addressed to a person by name
Don'tsend form letters to make friends. Friends don't mail formletters. They send personal letters. Letters addressed to theirfriends by name. My wife never sends me a letter that begins,"Dear Friend." Neither do my friends. I realize thatpersonalization costs more. But personalization is the rightthing to do. And it boost response, which is a bonus you get fordoing the right thing.
4. Describes the case for support in humanterms
The best fundraising letters translateinstitutional needs in terms of people, not programs,remembering that people give to people to help people. Soinstead of saying "we need $10,000 for our general fund," asavvy fundraising letter says "our soup kitchen aims to helpover 100 needy toddlers this Christmas Eve, and your gift todaywill make that possible."
5. Is donor-centred
The best-receivedfundraising letters say "you" more than they say "we." As JeffBrooks, senior creative director at the Domain Group, says,"Donors are interested in you because of what you help them do.You are their agent in their personal mission to make the worldbetter. That should be the topic of all your fundraising. Notthe inner workings of the organization. Not the accomplishmentsof notable others. Not the need for raised consciousness orphilosophical buy-in."
6. Asks for the gift
I've read lettersthat were so high-pressure that I kept my donation in my pocket.And I've read others that were so vague that I wasn't sure ifthe sender wanted my gift--or expected it. In the fundraisingprofession, we say that if you don't ask, you won't receive.Which is a true statement most of the time, because sometimesyou'll receive gifts unsolicited. But with a fundraising letter,you need to ask for a donation, and more than once in theletter, if you expect to cover your costs.
7. Educates donors
The best fundraisingletters leave donors better-informed than they were before theyopened the envelope. They give donors more reasons to supportyour cause by describing how your organization helps itsconstituents, how a donor's past gifts are changing lives, or inother ways reinforcing your case for support.
8. Appeals to the heart
Donors give tocauses that win their hearts and their minds, usually in thatorder. Good appeal letters stir feelings of compassion, mercy,empathy, altruism and more so that the donor identifies withyour cause on more than a cerebral level.
© 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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