Fundraising Letters

A good fundraising letter is one secret to attaining a successful fundraising campaign.  You do not have to be an acclaimed writer to be able to achieve this. But, you do need to keep in mind a number of time-tested techniques that have been proven to be effective in donation request letters. This would save you the cost of having to learn “what doesn’t work” the hard way.

Much like a sales letter, a fund raising letter has to appeal to its reader. Thus, before taking the time to write, take the time to get to know your donor. Have a general idea of who your donors are. Write in a way that would make it easier to connect to them. Also, keep an updated list of past donors. When writing to them, remember to thank them first before asking for more support. If possible, remind them of how their contributions have made your past fundraiser a success.

The fact that some people do not take the time to read such letters should not prevent you from writing a good one. There are remedies for this. First, get their attention. Write teasers on your envelop to encourage them to actually open it. On the other hand, state your intention in big, bold letters. Second, go straight to the point. Your letter should be informative, but not boring. Talk about your organization; your achievements, plans, and how they can help you achieve your goal. It is okay to list suggested contributions. Remember, every contribution is service provided. Third, though your readers might not read everything, make your letter long still. You will be able to state all your concerns and those who will just skim through it would get more points. Lastly, it would help to write post scripts. Aside from being your final effort to appeal, it will also create urgency.

Speaking of urgency, do try to get your readers to act on your appeal immediately. Otherwise, they might forget to act on it altogether. Give a deadline. You could, for example, state when you would need the money for the fulfilment of an upcoming project. To push the envelope, so to speak, it is a good idea to provide a return envelope.

What would be a bad idea is to oversell. Do not go too far by exaggerating. Rather, write from the heart. A fund raising letter written from the heart would also appeal to the heart. Hit this right and you will have a very promising outcome. How do you make this approach work for you? Well, that is a story for another article.  

More About Fundraising Letters ...

> Writing Good Fundraising Letters

> Fundraising Letters Structure

> Fundraising Letter Sample