It’s that time again! Time to write your year end appeal. How much more can be said about such a traditional fundraising technique? Well, I’ve written at least one annual appeal letter every year for the last 15 years straight and I learn something new every time. I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but I’ve seen great results, too. Here are the things that I think are key:
Start early: My goal has always been to get the appeal out by Halloween. Why? Because then you have the time to follow-up with phone calls, e-mails, and personal visits before the holidays swamp us all. If you’re not able to do that, don’t sweat it. Just be sure to get it in the mailbox at least a week before Thanksgiving. Once December hits, following up becomes harder and harder.
Tailor the letter to the audience: Also called “segmenting” in direct mail, this is basically grouping your donors and creating a letter that speaks specifically to them in some way. So, if you have volunteers, segment out that list and write a letter that incorporates gratitude for their services. If you have businesses on your list, see if you can create a letter that speaks to their interests. Other possible segments are: lapsed donors, monthly donors, and past and present board members.
Make it look like a letter: I know this sounds crazy, but a letter is the expected and traditional way that nonprofits ask for money. Donors have been trained. If you deviate from the letter format and get all creative, you will likely get less of a response than you would with a plain letter on stationary. Everyone loves to get a personal letter, so make your look as personal as possible.
Two to four pages work better than one: I know, I know, you are trying to be concise and keep it short for busy people, but the fact is that people’s perception is that you don’t have much to say unless it’s at least two pages long. AND though we work very hard on our letters, the fact is that very few of them actually get read from beginning to end, so…
Make it easy to read and skimmable: Be sure to use a larger (at least 12 point) font that is easy to read. Have nice big margins and short paragraphs. And most importantly, use bullet points, bold type, and underlining to pull out key passages. You might also notice that many professional fundraising letters have a “p.s.” to re-state the ask or a key point. There’s some evidence that the p.s. is the first thing that gets read, so make it good.
Include a call to action: You have to tell people what you want them to do. Put another way — to get money, you have to ask for it. And as many people are going to skim your letter, you have to ask on each page in a direct and compelling way.
A story, a statistic, three bullets: My rule about content is that it should contain a story (however short) about the people you serve, a concrete statistic about the need for your work, and a three bullet points that illustrate the results of your work. This is my own little rule, but not a formula. The point is that you have to illustrate to the reader why your organization, why now in a inspiring and engaging way.
Integrate, Integrate, Integrate: No fundraising effort is a stand-alone piece any more. Your year end message has to be communicated in a consistent way through all of your other channels of communication. Think of it more as a campaign than one letter and make sure you let the reader know all of the ways that she can make her gift.
So, what will I learn this year? What can you add to my “Have-To” list?
p.s. Please write me back. I’d love to hear from you!
