They challenge your fundraising appeal. How should you respond?

Everyone has an opinion about your fundraising appeal…

I do lots of copywriting. Newsletters, email appeals, and especially fundraising appeals. I love it.

But over the years, I’ve also noticed I get the same questions. You too?

Maybe I can help you head a few off.

1. Does the letter really have to be two (or four, or more) pages?

It doesn’t matter… if you don’t care whether anyone reads it. But if you want it to be easy to read, you don’t have a lot of room on one side of one page. The first page often has lots of space already taken up – with a logo, the address block, and a salutation.

It’s possible, but hard, to say what you want to say in so little space.

What you really should be concerned about isn’t the length of the letter. It’s “Will it be interesting enough for busy people?” A good appeal letter will pull the reader in and keep the reader reading.

And a bad one, even if it’s short, won’t.

See more about letter length from Jeff Brooks here.

Or, if you prefer video, check out this ‘Win It In A Minute’ from my friends at Fundraising Writing.

2. Why that serif font? It looks so old-fashioned! And why is it so big?

This one is simple. Studies have shown it’s easier to read. And you simply can’t ask someone to read your letter if you don’t make it easy. Remember, your “brand” isn’t really about colors and fonts. It’s about how you make people feel. And frustrated with your organization isn’t the way you want them to feel, is it?

Steven Screen at Better Fundraising also points out that it’s the right thing to do.

3. I was taught either indents or a space between paragraphs. Why are you using both?

See above. Dense blocks of type are not inviting. They look like work. You won’t succeed if you ask your donors to work. Isn’t their gift enough?

4. That’s a sentence fragment. It’s not grammatically correct.

Guilty. And your fourth-grade English teacher would not approve. But a letter should read like a conversation, not an essay. Don’t you use contractions? Speak in fragments? Ellipses…? We all do. That’s why I use them.

5. We don’t begin a sentence with “And” or “But”.

But yes, we do! Ask the person to listen carefully as people talk. We often start sentences that way. And it’s perfectly normal and conversational. Those little words also encourage people to keep reading. And THAT is what you want in your reader’s head. A conversation.

6. We have all these great statistics about why our work is important. Why aren’t you using them?

People are moved by emotion, not facts or logic. They listen to their gut and then rationalize that instinctive decision afterward. Using statistics can backfire. But a great story gets right to the emotion.

The truth is, we make decisions based on feelings, then justify them with facts. So why would you want to depend on numbers? (Besides, numbers are harder to take in… and once again, you can’t force people to read what you write…)

Pro-tip: If you must include statistics, use them in a lift piece and simplify them. A well-presented infographic can be inviting and help donors feel informed.

7. We have several co-chairs, and we want them all to sign. Mary? Why are you looking worried?

Because it’s probably not a good idea. Remember when I mentioned a letter should read like a conversation? It should also feel like a one-to-one conversation.

Once you have it signed by a group, it stops being a personal appeal and starts feeling institutional. No matter how cool your institution is, people give to people. Choose one person. Or divide the list and have the letter signed by different people for different segments.

8. Couldn’t we save room if you combined those first two lines?

We could. But the first line wouldn’t be as catchy. The first line’s job is to get you to read the second line. Besides, remember question one? Let’s make the letter as long as it needs to be.

9. We have a gala coming up. Can’t we throw a mention of it into the P.S.?

Probably not.

Because the P.S. might be the only thing they read. Yup. Even if they don’t read the letter, eye-tracking studies show your readers will read the P.S., so it needs to be good. It needs to ask for a gift. And it’s a great place to make that important ask with real urgency. It’s your fundraising appeal, condensed.

More good stuff for you:

Tom Ahern’s communications audit

Agents of Good: Writing Good. Writing Good? Writing. Good.

Would you rather have me take some of the punches?

I’ve been writing effective appeals since 1989. If you need a fundraising appeal written, get in touch and let’s talk about working together.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash