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Year-End Fundraising Letter Appeals: 10 Tips to Give Them a
Boost at Christmas.
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By Alan Sharpe
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Year-End Fundraising Letter Appeals: 10 Tips to Give Them aBoost.
If your non-profit organization is like many others, you receivehalf or more or your contributed income at the end of the yearas part of what used to be called the "Christmas Appeal." Inrecent years it has come to be known as, in politically correctNorth America at least, the "Year-End Appeal" or "SeasonalAppeal."Which means your year-end appeal letter can make orbreak your year, financially speaking. Here are some tips on howto craft a winning year-end fundraising letter appealpackage. 1. Keep it simple
One non-profit ministry that I shall not name mailed theiryear-end appeal letter in a poly bag along with their donornewsletter. They had been late in getting their newsletter inthe mail and so, to save on postage, they mailed it along withthe seasonal appeal letter. The campaign bombed, and bombed big.Donors, as far as we could tell, read the full-colour newsletterand ignored the letter that came with it. So my advice is this:keep your year-end appeal simple and focused on one goal:securing a year-end donation. 2. Be creative
You will be competing with other organizations in themailbox. Every charity sends an appeal at Christmas. So standout by mailing something creative. When I worked with DoctorsWithout Borders as their fundraising letter writer, they maileda Christmas card to donors that donors then signed and returnedto the organization with their gift. Doctors Without Bordersforwarded the card to a volunteer doctor or nurse who wasserving overseas, and whose name was on the card. The cards weregreatly appreciated by the volunteers (many of whom werehomesick at that time of year). The cards also involved donorsin a way that warmed their hearts and motivated them tocontribute. 3. Look back with thanksgiving
Use your year-end appeal fundraising letter as a way tothank donors for their support during the past year. Don't listthe names of every staff person you hired or promoted, or go onat length about happenings at head office. Instead, tell atleast one heart-warming or compelling story that illustrates invivid terms how your donors' gifts changed lives. Use quotesfrom the people that you serve wherever possible. They addcredibility and human interest to your letter. 4. Lookahead with anticipation
Also use this Christmas appeal letter to present your visionfor the coming year. Show donors how their gift this "HolidaySeason" will make a difference next year for your organizationand the people you serve. 5. Use a seasonal theme
Try to tie your appeal to the season. Giving, presents,exchanging greetings, snow, "goodwill toward man" and otherthemes are popular at Christmastime. If you can tie your appealto an emotion or sentiment that is already prevalent at the endof the year, and do so in a relevant way without being overlysentimental, do so. 6. Accentuate the positive
Please don't appeal for donors to get your books out of thered and into the black. If you have a negative cash flow atyear-end, don't ask donors to correct it. They will see yourpredicament as your fault. Donors are not motivated to eliminatedebt (unless it's Third World debt). But they are motivated tochange the world through a gift to your organization. So presentyour appeal as an opportunity for the donor rather than a rescueoperation for your chief financial officer. 7. A specialword for Christian charities
Avoid the "God gave us an unspeakable Gift and so shouldyou" approach in your Christmas appeal letter. Instead, show inconcrete terms how you will use a donor's gift to further thework that your Christian donors care about, using a biblicaltheme if possible.
??2005?Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online andin print provided the links remain live and the content remainsunaltered (including the "About the author" message).
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