So you’re ready to write a fundraising appeal. Now what? Before you even begin to write your appeal, there are some things you should think about. What’s the ONE thing you’ll ask a reader to do? Too often, we use a fundraising appeal as a catch-all for everything we want to tell people. This is […]
How you can save your appeal
Everybody has an opinion about your appeal. Not every opinion should matter. I’m a fundraising copywriter. Case statements, email appeals, and especially mail appeals. I love it. It’s one of my favorite things to do. But over the years, I’ve also noticed I get the same questions. You too? Maybe I can help you head a […]
Fundraisers: use stories, not statistics
The human mind is a wanderer by nature. The daydream is the mind’s default state. Jonathan Gottschall What do you like to read? I read a scary book recently. Dystopic, feminist, infuriating. And compelling. (Gather the Daughters, by Jennie Melamed) But it did what I look to fiction to do. It took me away, to […]
Watch your weenie words
I call them weenie words. Hedges. Qualifiers. And I don’t like them. Now, I don’t think of myself as a bold person. As a kid, I was an eager follower, not the leader. I do more listening than talking, content to let someone else lead the conversation. I’m cautious. I don’t make fast decisions. But […]
Getting grief about your year-end appeal?
Here are your answers to common complaints Right now, someone in your organization, or an outside expert, is busy writing your important year-end appeal. And a lot of other people are sharpening their red pencils. I have been responding to copy criticism for decades. And the critiques are often along the same lines, time after […]