4 Ways To Amplify Your Appeal Letter
'Tis the season for EDs and Development Directors to begin crafting their organization's year-end campaign. If you are like most, your campaign will include an appeal letter from the ED or Board Chair that will walk the fine line between, "Look at how amazing we are!" and "Please, please, please give us money so we can keep the lights on. Please."
If you have ever written such a letter–or had to sign it, fold it, and stuff it in a handwritten envelope 200+ times–you know how much work goes into this aspect of your campaign. Given your investment of time, energy, and papercuts, shouldn't you get a great a return?
Before you waste any more paper and ink on a lackluster, formulaic appeal letter, check out this list of ways to upgrade your correspondence and receive more contributions in return.
1. Name Names
Fundraising is ultimately about building relationships. But it is difficult to cultivate a relationship with someone if your letter greets them with a generic salutation, such as Dear Friend or Dear Donor. Moreover, the psychology of giving tells us that folks are more likely to open their wallets if they feel like they, and they alone, are being asked to give. If they perceive they are part of a group of people being asked–as a generic letter might imply–they will just leave it up to other people to donate.
Presumably, if someone is on your mailing list, you have their name. You can use mail merge in Microsoft Word to create and print personalized letters. The additional expense of printing these letters versus copying them en masse at your local office supply store is a worthwhile endeavor.
2. Show, Don't Tell
Instead of telling your recipients that your program has enriched the community in some way, how about showing them through storytelling? Stories have the power to inspire and motivate people to act, in a way that statistics cannot. To wit:
This year, we distributed more than 1,000 sets of pencils, scissors, glue, and crayons to schoolchildren in need. Their teachers tell us that these students are better prepared than ever.
versus...
When Rachel arrived for her first day of school this year, she was thrilled to open her backpack to find all the tools she needs to learn. She has pencils to ace her math test, crayons to illustrate her stories, and folders for keeping her homework organized. Because of your support, Rachel knows she can be a star pupil.
3. Don't Ask for a Donation
I know. This sounds counter-intuitive. Hear me out. Instead of asking your dear reader to "make a tax-deductible contribution" to your organization, invite them to join you in the good work you are doing. For example:
Can you help a local family put a nutritious dinner on their table tonight? Your gift of $15 can feed a family of four.
Would you join us in keeping milfoil out of Lake Lorelai? Your support would mean that we could educate boaters about the dangers of invasive species.
You can bring much-needed support to communities in times of crisis. Just $18 can provide a hot meal, warm blanket, and other simple comforts to someone displaced from their home.
This can make your prospective donor feel more engaged: they are not simply writing a check...they are changing the world!
4. Make It Easy to Give
Easy is subjective, of course, but you should offer your recipients at least two ways to give. Whatever methods you might suggest, you should facilitate those processes as much as possible.
For example, many people still prefer the old standby of writing checks, so you ought to include a return envelope. I once heard a seasoned fundraiser say that not including an envelope is like putting a pool of crocodiles between the donor and their contribution.
For other people though, writing a check requires an act of Congress, and possibly an errand to buy stamps. Yet more pools of crocodiles! Consider alerting them to an online or mobile giving option.
Bonus: Put 'You' Before 'We'
Here's something that might put a little spring in your step today: it's all about you! Well, not you per se, but 'you' as in the person to whom you are writing. It is very easy to fall down the rabbit hole of "we did this and we did that; we will do this and we hope to do that." In the examples I offered above, I modeled this best practice as much as possible. Sometimes a 'we' is unavoidable, but you should try to make the letter about the recipient and the positive impact they can have their community.
