Unlike a fundraising event, a fundraising letter will provide you with a more personal approach: you will get the necessary one-on-one meeting when it comes to approaching your potential donors. Also, fundraising letters can be passed along and they are more dynamic when compared to special events or phone calls you need to make in order to raise the necessary funds for your cause. Additionally, you can test each of your fundraising letters: you can measure mailing and direct mail results in order to spend your money where they are likely to be most effective. A fundraising letter campaign is likely to be conceived, planned and even launched within a matter of weeks instead of several months and your results will be as quick as possible because they are very likely to start arriving within several days of the initial mailing. Such a campaign will help you build the necessary base of support for your fundraising organization that will guarantee the long-term survival of your fundraising efforts. Once you have this base of support built, you will have to sustain it through a very comprehensive, well-planned and executed fundraising letter program. By using effective fundraising letters, you will strengthen your relationships and increase trust, build credibility, inform your donors and start building your relationships with them over time. Through fundraising letters, you can reach each of your donors anytime and you should keep in mind that each of your fundraising letters must be written according to a specific purpose and by paying attention to the audience that is going to receive your fundraising letter. Here are some of the most effective tips on writing effective fundraising letters that will make the difference for every campaign you plan for your fundraising organization: - First, when writing a fundraising g letter, you must focus on writing it to just one person. You will have to imagine that you aren’t writing to a group of persons – instead, you should imagine that your fundraising letter is written to just one person because this is help you to get right into the most effective frame of mind. Making your fundraising letter sound more personable is paramount when it comes to raising funds through a fundraising letter campaign. So, you will have to use singular word forms and forget about the plural ones. Also, you should avoid phrases and words like “some of you” – instead, you should go for singular and personal forms just as “you” because this is going the mirror the way your fundraising letter will be read.
- Secondly, you will have to be specific enough in order for your fundraising message to be understood. This way, the response rate will be greater. For instance, if you are raising money for a particular program or mission, you should say so and describe the exact way the raised money will be used in order to help the specific fundraising project. Also, you may include brief details regarding the destination of the donated money and also underline the positive results that will be brought by them.
- Thirdly, you will have to stay focused when writing the necessary fundraising letter. Stay focused on the exact outcome you expect and would like to get. Make sure that you make only one request and that you communicate it in a clear way. You should try and avoid discussing different topics that aren’t likely to support the present fundraising message or to be directly related to the current fundraising appeal of your fundraising letter.
|