Writing Fundraising Letters
Direct Sales & Website Copywriting Newsletter (For Part I, Click Here)
3.) Writing Fundraising Letters – Part I
By: Edith Nee
(Edith’s last fundraising letter for a national organization got a 9.01% response rate and a 247% increase in donations. In fact, donations are still coming in after one year! If you would like results like that, just send an email to: DPierce@website-copywriting.com )
The Secret of Writing Fundraising Letters that Touch Hearts … and Open Pocketbooks
Your donor gets 5 or 6 appeals in his mailbox each week. They are all
from worthwhile causes: the roof of his local library is leaking … the
local homeless shelter is running out of blankets and beds … 150,000
flood victims in India are desperate for food and medicine …. Which
one should he respond to – if any at all?
This would all depend on how well your message tugs at his
heartstring. In the next few issues of our newsletter, you’ll uncover
copywriting secrets which will help you do just that – touches your
donor’s heart and open up his pocketbook.
Here’s Secret #1 … Make Your Reader A Star
An important key to writing successful fundraising letters is being
“reader focused.” This means above all else, your reader’s interests
must always come first in your mind. And, you need to make your
reader the star of your copy.
You can do this by doing two things. First, focus your copy on
addressing your reader’s one and only concern which is “how is my
money going to help a real live human being (or in some cases,
animals)?” You start by presenting the problem in a powerful manner.
Then, you show how your organization is able to solve the problem –
with the donors’ help, of course.
This does not mean that you should talk about your organization and
its accomplishments exhaustively. You need to build your
organization’s credibility on a subtle level without intruding onto
your reader’s star status. In fact, your copy must clearly show that
your reader is the only one who can help solve this problem.
The second thing you can do is to make your reader feel valued,
important and recognized. You can do this by sharing the credit with
him for everything. Give him 100% of the credit. You take 0. You
can even do this in advance for whatever you want to accomplish.
Recognition is a powerful incentive. Use it every chance you get, in
every way you can think of.
In our next issue, you’ll learn more secrets on how to create a high
response fundraising letter….
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(For Part I of this issue, Click Here)
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