At this time of year many charitable groups are working on a
year end fundraising drive.  In last month's newsletter I featured a 3 step guide to doing just that and recorded a free audio that's available on the website here: http://stepbystepfundraising.com/time

Sending out a letter often plays a part in an annual fundraising drive so in today's newsletter we focus on letter writing.  Jim Bergian outlines "5 Components of a Well-Written Fundraising Letter" that will help you create a letter that brings in results.

A few years ago I wrote a guidebook with Sample Fundraising Letters and phrases to help organizations get the creativity going by looking at other fundraising letters.  While it still has many great examples that you can use today to improve your letters, I'd like to do more.  I've enlisted Sandy Rees, who's an expert in non proft writing, to co-author a 2nd edition, adding a lot of new samples and tips to help make the process of writing letters easier for you. 

We'd love to hear your questions and/or suggestions for the update of this book.  Plus...send us a sample of one of your group's fundraising, thank you or other letters and we will give you a free copy of this new book when it's released.

Contact us about sending an electronic coph of your letter or you can send them by mail to:

Step by Step Fundraising
719 Scott Avenue, Suite 616
Wichita Falls, Texas 76301

Hurry, please send in your sample letters by October 20th to qualify for this free offer.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you!  

Sandra

 

5 Components of a Well-Written Fundraising Letter

by Jim Berigan

One of the most important tools available to any leader of a non profit organization is the fundraising letter. With a finely-crafted missive, the leader will be able to clarify the mission, excite the audience, and deliver on the stated need.

However, getting the letter to the point where it is "finely-crafted" is the hard part. I believe there are five key components that should be implemented to give your letter a much better chance of hitting its mark.

Before you begin writing, I recommend that you jot down a quick outline. This will help you plot your individual points, provide your supporting evidence, and generally keep you on track.

The outline should be broken down into five sections. These are: attention, interest, desire, conviction, and close. By following these five "guideposts" you are taking your reader on a directed journey, exactly where you want him to go. And fortunately, since this progression makes rhetorical sense, the reader will actually be happy to go along for this ride, as opposed to a letter that is all over the place and never really gets to the point.