What makes a fundraising letter effective?
Mal Warwick
April, 2006
MOST
FUNDRAISERS apparently think fundraising letters are all pretty much the same.
Here's how their definition of a fundraising letter seems to run:
A fundraising letter is an appeal from a nonprofit organization, describing
needs and requesting charitable gifts to fill them.
Right?
Wrong! Wrong on every count.
Banish that ill-conceived and misleading definition from your consciousness.
Better yet, copy it down onto a sheet of scratch paper, cross it out with bold
strokes of your pen, slice it up with scissors, and deposit the whole revolting
mess in the nearest wastebasket.
Now you're ready to get started on the right foot!
Okay now? Read this next part carefully:
An effective fundraising letter possesses three attributes:
- An effective fundraising letter is an appeal from one person
to another.
- An effective fundraising letter describes an opportunity
for the recipient to meet personal needs by supporting a worthy charitable
aim.
- An effective fundraising letter invites the recipient to take specific and
immediate action.
I'm sure you noticed that one all-important word is missing here: money. Money
— a request for a charitable gift — is an indispensable element
in the overwhelming majority of fundraising letters. Omit that request for funds,
and your letter will fail the most basic test of effectiveness. What's worse,
you'll almost certainly fail to raise much money.
But the action requested in a fundraising letter doesn't always consist of
sending money, at least not right away. The specific action requested might
be to complete and return a survey . . . to use a set of stamps, name-stickers,
or greeting cards . . . or to authorize regular bank transfers. There are hundreds
of possibilities. The letter-writer's first responsibility is to determine what
that action is. That's always the writer's responsibility when writing for results!
And understanding that duty leads to what I call the First Commandment of Fundraising
Letter Writing:
When you set out to write a fundraising letter, make sure you know precisely
to whom you're writing and why — and be certain your letter makes that
point just as clear to them as it is to you.
That "point" — the equation that expresses the who, what, why,
when, and how of your appeal — is what I've fallen into the bad habit
of calling the "Marketing Concept." So let's take a stab at a working
definition of this ungainly term:
- The Marketing Concept embodies the purpose for which you're writing: to
secure a gift of $500 or more, for example.
- The Marketing Concept identifies the person to whom you're writing: a donor
who's previously given your organization at least one gift of $100 or more,
to extend the example.
- The Marketing Concept incorporates the benefits the person you're writing
will receive as a result of responding: in this example, great satisfaction
from knowing how much your organization can accomplish with $500, plus special
recognition for giving such a generous gift.
The First Commandment, then, is to work out the Marketing Concept before you
write a single word — and then to be sure every word you write speaks
to that concept.
Fundraising letters: One size WON'T fit all
In fact, fundraising letters are of many different types, serving a broad variety
of ends and thus involving a great many different Marketing Concepts. To write
an effective appeal, you must first determine the target audience and specific
purpose you want to serve:
- Are you writing to people who've never before supported your organization,
asking them to join? That's an acquisition (or prospect) letter.
- Is your letter to be mailed to new members or donors, welcoming them to
your organization? I call that a welcome package; others may describe it as
a welcome packet or kit.
- Are you writing to previous donors, appealing for additional gifts for some
special purpose? That's a special appeal.
- Are you writing to proven donors at the end of the year? That's a year-end
appeal.
- Are you writing to some of your most generous donors, seeking large gifts?
I refer to an appeal of that sort as a High-Dollar letter.
- Is the specific purpose of your letter to induce previous donors to increase
their support? If so, you're writing an upgrade appeal.
- Are you writing your new and regular supporters to ask them to renew their
annual gift or membership dues for the year ahead? Then you're writing a renewal.
There are important types of fundraising letters that I didn't include in this
list. Monthly sustainer requests, upgrades, or renewals, for example. Lapsed
donor reactivation letters. Planned giving letters. Cultivation letters. And
dozens more. What's important here is to note that every fundraising letter
is unique. Each has its own distinctive Marketing Concept.
In fact, there's such great variety in fundraising letters that it's difficult
to speak except in general terms about what they have in common. Difficult or
not, however, the title of this Special Report promises you I'll reveal the
"characteristics of an effective fundraising appeal," so here goes
my best effort.
I think of six qualities that are shared by the most productive fundraising
appeals I've read:
1. Clarity
There's no doubt or ambiguity about the writer's intent or what the reader is
asked to do. The message is delivered in unmistakably clear and simple terms
that rule out guesswork. Early on, you get the point of the appeal, and that
point never wavers throughout the package.
2. Cohesiveness
Every component of the package works with every other to reinforce the message.
If the message is complex — as, for example, in an appeal that combines
a petition with a request for money — the close connection between the
two is absolutely clear. The message isn't mixed. This means, for example, that
an appeal for funds shouldn't be muddied by including a catalog or a flyer that
offers merchandise for sale or an update on a project discussed in an earlier
appeal.
3. Authenticity
From beginning to end, the appeal is credible. The style and approach of the
letter fit smoothly with what readers are likely to know about the signer —
and the text includes enough revealing personal information to drive home that
fit. Similarly, the nature of the appeal fits smoothly with what readers know
about the organization and its work. In short, it's natural for this signer
and this nonprofit to be sending this particular appeal. For instance, a Hollywood
starlet or hunk might not be the most credible signer of an appeal from a sociological
research institute. (Don't laugh! I've heard worse suggestions.)
4. Ease of response
The appeal contains everything the reader might need to respond without a moment's
delay after reviewing the appeal. At a minimum, the package includes a clearly
marked response device and a pre-addressed response envelope, and there's no
doubt these two items are included exclusively for the purpose of responding
to the appeal. In direct mail, the fundraiser's job is to make it easy for the
reader to respond — because experience shows that if it's not easy, the
recipient is likely to set the appeal aside and, more often than not, never
respond at all.
5. Appropriateness
The message is calculated to be of interest to the intended reader, and the
appeal requests assistance of a sort that the reader might naturally be assumed
to be able to provide. For example, I might write an extraordinarily interesting
letter about the cuisine of Kyrgystan (though why I might do that I can't possibly
imagine), but I would be unlikely to generate much response to my appeal unless
I were writing to people with either a demonstrated interest in exotic cuisine,
a fascination with Kyrgystan, or, even less likely, both. In other words, it's
always important to write to the audience.
6. Engaging copy
There's something inherently intriguing about this appeal — either in
the story it tells, in the character of the request (or offer) it makes, or
in the language in which it's written. It's interesting. It holds the reader's
attention. Sometimes this can be accomplished with a clever outer envelope teaser
(which is appropriately followed through inside the package). Sometimes a fascinating
personal story about a recipient of the agency's help connects with the reader
on a deeply emotional level. Sometimes a writer's style is so fresh and compelling
that the reader is inexorably drawn through the copy. But something catches
the reader's attention — and holds it.
From a mechanical perspective, however, the only things common to all appeals,
I believe, are an offer (or proposition) that incorporates the Ask, if any,
as well as the benefits to the donor, and the case, which is the argument that
justifies the offer and spells out the benefits. If the appeal is framed as
a letter, as are almost all successful fundraising efforts, it's likely to include
a salutation and signature that clarify the relationship between the letter
signer and the person to whom the letter is addressed, a lead that starts off
the letter, a close that ends it, a P.S., and a response device (or reply device)
and reply envelope the donor may use to return a gift. That's about it.
Many fundraisers relate these elements to a formula, insisting there's a standard
structure or sequence a writer may follow in constructing an appeal. I disagree.
To understand how to write successful fundraising letters, I believe, you must
study appeals that have worked well, attempt to determine what made them successful
— then put them aside and focus on your own donors and your own organization.
Your fundraising letters will be successful only if they reflect what's unique
about your organization and uniquely attractive to your donors.
This article was reprinted with permission form Mal Warwick and is special
Report is excerpted from the revised edition of Mal Warwick's How
to Write Successful Fundraising Letters.
Consultant, author, and public speaker Mal Warwick has been involved in
the not-for-profit sector for more than 40 years. He has written or edited seventeen
books of interest to nonprofit managers. He has taught fundraising on six continents
to nonprofit executives from more than 100 countries.
Copyright (c) 2001 by Mal Warwick. All rights reserved.
