Here is a great guest article by Alan Sharpe that will help guide you through writing more effective donation request letters. Use this simple yet important advice when crafting your storyline so you will get the best response and results.If your donation letter doesn’t tell a great story, it’s not a fundraising letter. It’s a […]
Fundraising Letter Tips
Fundraising Letter Tips – I have a brother-in-law who farms and drives a 16-wheeler for a living. When I told him that I start each business day with a blank computer screen that I must fill with at least 1,000 words by noon, he almost fainted.He says he could never do it because he wouldn’t […]
Engage Your Reader
People donate to nonprofits for many reasons ranging from wanting to make a difference in the world to simply gaining tax benefits. But when asking people for their hard-earned money, you must engage your reader. There are five important areas you mustn’t ignore. These are the foundation of any effective fundraising effort.How To Write An […]
Donation Request Letter Tips
Donation request letter tips from fundraising copywriter Alan Sharpe. Do your donation request letters lack a protagonist? The most compelling appeal letters feature a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, that captures the donor’s attention and makes the appeal human, moving and profitable.Using A Protagonist Boosts ResultsThe most memorable novels, movies and […]
Writing Appealing Donation Letters
Compelling donation letters are the specialty of master copywriter Alan Sharpe. Not sure how often to ask for a donation in your fundraising letter? Consider this joke about a couple who regularly mailed out donation request letters:Did you hear about the couple that won the Irish Sweepstakes?The husband enters the kitchen one morning and kisses […]
Fundraising Mailing Lists
Thinking about using fundraising mailing lists from a list broker? Here are some tips for raising more funds by increasing the size of your mailing.Last time I checked, there were 25,000 response lists and 50,000 compiled lists currently on the market. Among all of these lists, you’ll find hundreds that work for fundraising appeals. Actually, […]
Fundraising Letter Templates
Fundraising letter templates are a mistake. They insult donors. They mislead fundraisers. And they don’t work. You cannot generate sustainable income, build relationships and retain loyal donors by mailing fill-in-the-blanks letters. Here are some sound reasons for avoiding boilerplate appeals.1. They are, by definition, too generic On the website of one fundraising coach is a […]
Fundraising Letter Reply
Fundraising letter reply devices–also known as reply coupons, donation coupons, reply slips, response forms and gift forms–are the instruments that conclude your request for funds. If your reply device doesn’t work, your appeal letter doesn’t work–and you don’t get the gift.Here are some tips for getting your reply devices right.General Guidelines* Assume the reply device […]
Donation Letter Tips
Eight Tips For A Successful Donation LetterThe art of writing effective fundraising donation letters can be learned. I learned it and so can you. Here are eight tips for writing your own donation appeal letter.Successful fund raising letters share a number of things in common. Once you know what these things are, your letter is […]
Writing Fundraising Letters
Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer, instructor, coach, author and newsletter publisher – this is one of his helpful articles on Writing Fundraising Letters.Successful fundraising letters are exciting to read. They take you to crack houses, battlefields, logging protests, prisons, floods and other places you will never set foot yourself. Effective donation request […]
Voice Your Donation Request
Guest article by Alan Sharpe, a professional fundraising letter writer, instructor, coach, author and newsletter publisher – Voice Your Donation Request.Fundraising letters are about people. People talk. So your fundraising letters should include the voices of people.In a novel, the characters come alive only after you hear them talk. What they say, how they say […]
Raising Funds By Mail
Here is a helpful guest article about Raising Funds By Mail by Berwyn J. Kemp ,a development consultant who helps nonprofit organizations obtain funding.A good annual direct mail solicitation program can produce unrestrictive operating funds for your nonprofit organization year after year. And such an annual direct mail program, if done right, will produce more […]
Increasing Donor Gift Size
This guest article by Alan Sharpe will offer great insight into increasing donor gift size by a leading expert in his field. Using this helpful fundraising letters advice could help you see a much greater return. Check here for advice on making your appeal letters more compelling.How to Increase the Size of Donor Gifts from […]
Cardinal Rules For Writing Fundraising Letters
This is a great article about the eight cardinal rules of writing fundraising letters by Mal Warwick, an expert on donation request letters. The article goes into great depth about how to structure your appeal and is well worth a detailed read. Mal also talks about the exceptions to these cardinal rules of writing fundraising […]
Powerful Postscripts In Fundraising Letters
Your postscript is one of the most important parts of your fundraising letter. It usually stresses the point of your letter and asks for action. Some donors read it first. Some professional writers write it first.Since the P.S. is one part of your letter that you can be confident your donors will read, you need […]
Fundraising Letter
Writing a fundraising letter is not that difficult. However, you need to know what works and what doesn’t before you invest your time composing your donation request.Fundraising letters have some general rules of thumb:Keep in mind whenever you are asking for money that you are providing a service.Tell people what you’ve done and what you […]
Fundraising Donation Request Letters
Fundraising donation request letters work best if they have AIDA. Learn a lesson from professional direct mail copywriters. They follow a time-tested format in their sales letters, one that you can also follow when writing direct mail fundraising letters for your non-for-profit organization. All you need to remember is AIDA.Fundraising Donation Request Letters – Use […]
Sample Fundraising Letter for Multiple Sclerosis
If you are looking for a sample fundraising letter for multiple sclerosis or for a sample donation request letter that you can copy, here is a good example. At the bottom of the sample letter are links to a lot of other sample letters and donation request tips on what to say. Be sure to […]
Donation Request Letter Examples
Here is a selection of donation request letters to use for ideas on writing your own donation letter. Discover how to write fundraising letters that really work by packing them with real emotion backed by a powerful call to action. Voice Your Donation Request – Increase results by adding voices to your donation request letter […]
Appeal Letter Tips
Here are some appeal letter tips from Jeane Vogel, who is a fundraising consultant in St. Louis and has written numerous donation appeal letters for her clients. Her firm, Fund Raising Innovations, specializes in developing appeal letters, grant proposals and non-profit strategic planning.The Art Of The Appeal LetterWhat’s the best way to raise money? Face-to-face, […]
