Fundraising Letters: Soliciting Donations Made Easy (+ Free Template)

Fundraising Letters: Soliciting Donations Made Easy (+ Free Template)

 

 Fundraising letters are used to solicit grants or endowments from institutions, request support for your nonprofit's capital campaign, request donations, donations in kind, volunteer time, sponsorships, and more.

These types of fundraising letters are important because they communicate your financial needs, give donors an opportunity to make a difference & and gain support for your campaign.

As online fundraising continues to grow each year, fundraising letters are still an essential part of a successful fundraising strategy. Since they tend to reach those segments of the population that online fundraising doesn't, fundraising letters can really supercharge your fundraising.

 

They can be sent out throughout the year or for specific campaigns. Fundraising letters usually detail your organization's needs and let donors know how they can help. They give you the opportunity to tell your story to potential donors, show your organization's impact, and gather support for your mission.

Fundraising letters generally fall into two distinct categories: individual and corporate appeals.

In this article, we focus on individual appeals.

Table of Contents:

• How to Write an Effective Nonprofit Fundraising Letter

• Sample Nonprofit Fundraising Letters

• Nonprofit Fundraising Letter Template

• Creating the Perfect Fundraising Letter

 

How to Write an Effective Nonprofit Fundraising Letter

First, take some time to review your mission and vision as well as your organization's goals. Then brainstorm and clarify the goal for the donation letter. Finally, tie the goal of the donation letter to your organization's overall mission.

Before you write your donation letter, also determine what success should look like for you. How much money are you hoping to raise and how will you use it? What are you hoping to achieve? The answers to these questions will help you determine the content of your letter.

It is also helpful to decide in advance how many letters of request you will send, how often, and when is the best time to do so.

Pro-tip: Start your first draft with, "I'm writing to you because..." Even if you cut out those words at the end, the beginning will help clarify your goal and get you on your way to a relevant message!

Think about your target audience

There are as many types of fundraising letters as there are fundraising projects and activities. Any fundraiser letter you send out should be written in a way that persuades the target audience.

To achieve this, it is usually helpful to segment your donors.

Segmenting your donors allows you to customize your tone and information, and encourages your donors to engage with your nonprofit in a way that fits their donor status.

A donor who has made repeated donations to your organization over the years should receive a different letter than someone who has just become a donor. Segmentation also helps build trust and allows your nonprofit to strategically increase fundraising.

If you don't have a good fundraising database, gather it through donor surveys. It's important to know the demographics and psychographics of your target audience.

Tell a Captivating Story

Storytelling is the key to effective communication. In your donation letter, focus on the story of a specific person or situation where your nonprofit has helped.

Research has shown that the plight of a single, identifiable person affects people more than that of multiple people or a general declaration of need. Read more about why donors give and don't give here.

Start your donation letter with something that will engage the reader: a bold question, a statement, or a play on words.

The focus of your story should be who or what needs help. Tell the story of a family struggling to pay for school for their four children or an animal that needs a forever home.

After writing about the need, outline the solution. Include what your nonprofit organization does and what success would look like.

Then introduce the hero: your donor. The hero allows the change to happen. Make your donor the hero of the story every time.

 

Keep it Donor-Centric

Among several "magic" words that help nonprofits increase giving, the word "you" stands out.

Donor-centric communication is the cornerstone of a successful fundraising campaign. Using the word "you" makes your donors feel valued and breaks down the walls between your donors and your organization.

Donors who feel valued are more likely to donate again.

Replace the word "I" with "you" wherever possible to add human interest and emphasize the personal touch.

• You have enabled us to employ 1000 homeless people in the last year - and your commitment makes all the difference.

Pro tip: Try not to use your organization's name anywhere in the body of your letter. By keeping him out of the text, you are forced to focus on the donor.

Keep it short and sweet

Most donation letters are one or two pages long. However, if you're just starting out, it's a good idea to throw out all the rules. Let your content dictate the length of your letter. Write as long as you have something to say and then stop.

Don't think that you need to add a lot of extra information just to increase the word count.

Avoid foreign words and big words.

Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly and avoid abbreviations or acronyms.

While your donation letter should be short and sweet, you should never compromise on quality. Always print your letters on high-quality paper and send them in durable envelopes. And don't forget to brand your letter with your organization. Include at least your logo in the header.

Make it Easy to Read

Consider your letter another opportunity to let your donor know what your organization does and why your work is important. In order for this to succeed, your letter must be easy to read.

Using a lot of white space makes what you have to say seem more inviting to your audience.

Use short words, short sentences, and short paragraphs, and get to the point quickly! Use a legible font, at least 12 points. Choose readability over beautiful design (if you can't do both). Write in short, digestible paragraphs.

Help the donor recognize the important parts of your message by underlining or even highlighting keywords and phrases, or using bold text. And avoid exuberant sales language. That just makes you sound fake.

Use plain English and don't worry about how to simplify your message. Plain language ensures that each of your readers understands what you have to say.

Jeff Brooks suggests that fundraising letters should be somewhere between the 4th and 6th levels.

 

Skip the Statistics

While many nonprofits use statistics to demonstrate their impact and add credibility, statistics don't usually persuade people to donate.

Although nonprofit fundraisers have the best of intentions, fundraising letters can sometimes look like this: We fed 88 children under the age of 5 and their math skills improved by 12% and exactly 91.7% of your donation went directly to this.

Instead, tell an emotional story that your readers can relate to.

You can increase your credibility by describing the effect of a given amount of money on a problem. Tell your donors what their $25 donation will accomplish (eg, buy school supplies for a child for 3 months, buy food for 5 shelter cats for a month, etc.)

Emphasize urgency and a call to action

Donors respond better to urgent needs, not ones they can easily ignore until the next call. However, just saying "it's urgent" or "donate now" isn't enough, although using these words and phrases can help. You need to tell your donors why they need to donate today. What's at stake? What is the risk? What are the consequences?

The primary purpose of your donation letter is to raise funds, so reinforce that message. At the end of your donation letter, write a clear, compelling call to action that clearly encourages the reader to donate. Don't assume that's obvious.

Big calls to action are real questions that suggest real amounts to donors. "Would you give $25 to change a child's life forever?" t

Pro tip: Getting a partner to match donations for a period of time helps inspire giving and motivate donors, to donate now instead of "later" (which often becomes "never").

Thank and

Always thank your donors in the donation letter - regardless of whether they are considering a donation or have been a donor for years.

Sign your donation letter, but ignore the temptation to sign as an organization (e.g. "The Red Cross"). Instead, choose an employee, board member, or key volunteer to represent the organization.

This reinforces the sense of personal connection and adds a human touch to your fundraising communication.

While you're at it, make sure to personalize the letter. "Dear friend" or "Dear valued donor" should be avoided at all costs. Use the donor's first or last name and address the letter to them (not just the address on the outside of the envelope).

And don't misspell the name! To avoid this, keep your donor and prospect database up-to-date.

Rewrite, revise

Before you send out your donation letter, have someone else go over it. If we read something too often, our ability to spot mistakes and inconsistencies decreases.

Get feedback from your team members and a member of your audience on an early draft to ensure your letter is crystal clear.

Ideally, you should take your time before writing the first version and reviewing it. This allows you to see the letter with fresh eyes and find things that can be improved.

Don't forget to proofread it properly before it reaches your supporters.

Pro tip: Don't forget the PS (Post Scriptum). Eye movement studies have shown that the first two things readers look at when opening a letter are the name and the postscript. So make sure your postscript repeats your appeal.

  

Keep it Simple

While the preparation of a package (teaser, letter, reply envelope, photos, various other enclosures) can demonstrate the hard work and care that you put into the preparation, ultimately the letter is the most important element in your package.

If you put too many inserts in your package, the donor can no longer concentrate on the letter, they could even get lost and throw the package away as a whole.

Instead, keep the package minimal, only including those inserts that are of the greatest value, and encourage the donor to donate.

Also, some donors may be put off by fancy packages - they want every penny they can to go to the cause.

As you prepare a more elaborate package, consider how each of these elements can compel donors to act now. Use a consistent theme, icons, colors, and fonts. Try to make it memorable.

Make Giving Easy

After spending hours, days, or even weeks creating the best possible donation letter, it's important to make it easy for your donors to donate.

For best results, offer your donors the option to donate online and offline.

A donation letter without an answering device is a complete waste of money.

Let your donors donate online by setting up a simple, customized donation page dedicated solely to raising funds from this specific call. Otherwise, direct your donors to a general fundraising page that you use to collect funds for all fundraisers.

Don't skip the online donation form as part of your direct mailing process. Recent studies show that one of the best ways to encourage online donations is to send a letter.

Sample Nonprofit Donation

Letter Tenement Museum in New York City

 

Macmillan Cancer Support

Save the Children

 

Nonprofit Fundraising Letter Template Reviewing

sample documents can be a useful resource and a basis for creating your own fundraising letter.

Use this sample letter as a guide the next time you need to send a fundraising letter on behalf of your nonprofit.

Crafting the Perfect Fundraising Letter

Great fundraising is about authentic, human connections, not high-performance art. If you really want to reach people, tell stories. And tell them the way people tell them orally.

While for-profit organizations can often afford professional copywriters, non-profit organizations often rely on their own employees. That doesn't mean you can't write a compelling and successful donation letter!

Follow these guidelines - adapt them to your specific circumstances - and then experiment. Follow the results closely so you can adjust your plan accordingly.

We hope this gave you some insight into how to write an amazing donation letter.

Have you written one in the past? Which letters have you had the most success with? Let us know by tweeting at Donorbox.