|
|
Fundraising Letters
based on a seminar presented by Perry Willis
at Success '97 (notes taken by
Stacy Van Oast)
General Tips:
- Keep in mind whenever you are
asking for money that you are providing a service.
- Tell people what you've done an
what you plan to do to achieve progress and success.
- Longer letters do better:
- you can address all concerns and
potential concerns
- different kinds of readers and
long letters are OK for all:
- those that throw unopened
envelope away - length of letter irrelevant
- those that read only beginning
and ending - length of letter irrelevant
- skimmers can pick up more points
from a longer letter
- passionate readers love long
letters
- Make the letter
compelling
- Paragraphs and bullets should be
no more than 3 sentences or items; break longer ones in half
How to write a fundraising letter:
- Good news - always start the
letter with a series of good news bullets to build momentum and make entire
letter entertaining and informative
- use foreshadowing to tease
reader and keep him reading
- create a "widow" at the end of
the first page (a thought that's finished on second page) to make reader turn
the page
- Describe what you want to do
next
- tell what you're going to
do,
- why you're going to do
it,
- how you're going to do it,
and
- what results you
expect
-
List contribution amounts
- Remind readers that their
contribution is your budget and that your successes have been possible because
of their past contributions - Thank them!
- Use P.S.'s for skimmers
- may titillate skimmers and get
them to read the entire letter
- to create urgency
*Expect results of $1.50 to $2.00 per letter
mailed.
*Fundraising letters are easier to produce than newsletters and
you can share news and the same information. If you can't do both a newsletter
and a fundraising letter, it's better to just do the fundraising
letter.
*Fundraising letters create a continuity of membership; the more
letters you send, the amount per person should go up
*3-5% of people
every month will respond
*Regular fundraising letters will get people in
the habit of giving
*Ask for monthly pledge (100% of credit card pledges
are fulfilled; 70% of others are fulfilled)
*Under promise and
over-deliver
|
|
|
|
|
