Update: The turkey was tender, the sweet potatoes tasty and the pumpkin pie terrific. Your editor appeared at two turkey dinners on Thanksgiving Day. He showed much restraint as he helped himself to modest portions.

And so did everyone else. Is everybody watching their waistlines these days? Modest portions seemed to be the norm. The one day I thought it was okay to indulge in excessive eating was the day I had to show the most self-restraint.

Feature Article: Raising Funds with a Letter

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Case Study:

Jeanine wanted me to write an end-of-the-year thank-you letter to donors of her young non-profit organization. They're so young their monthly board meeting is held at a restaurant, their website is not set up to take donations, and they've never done a mailing to their database.

In the fundraising industry there are thank-you letters that do not ask for contributions and then there are thank-and-ask letters that do. I suggested that we ask for contributions without asking.

Huh, you ask? What's that?

It's just my way of saying we can make the letter so compelling people will want to respond with a donation even if we don't ask. She was game.

One of the more notable debates going on with people involved in fundraising is whether to ask, or not to ask for donations when sending out a thank-you note. One side says you'll receive some donations, but at the cost of losing some donors. The other side says you'll build more loyalty because you have asked.

They can debate all they want. I'm confident that when your donors receive a compelling appeal, they will show their support. So let's work on making your appeal more compelling.

Raising Funds with a Letter

Dear Associate,

If you didn't know, there's an old adage used in direct response advertising that goes like this: "Don't tell me about your grass seed; tell me about my lawn."

The idea here is your prospect wants to know what she will get, more than wanting to know about your product or service. What's in it for her? What's the value-for-value exchange she'll receive when she spends her money?

The same is true when you're raising funds with a letter...

The contributor wants to feel she's done a good service, a random act of kindness, rather than hearing about what award your organization has won. She wants to know if her contribution improved someone's life, eased his suffering or afforded him another chance. She would care less about how hard it was to secure a matching donor.

The donor wants to know what her donation will do — or has done. She wants to know if her contribution made an impact somewhere in the world. In short, your letter should really be more about appealing to your donor than explaining about your cause.

Shocking, yes. Here's more...

Your organization may have a mission statement that clearly explains its purpose to save the ju-ju bug from extinction. That's wonderful. But people rarely donate money because of a mission statement. (Even a good one.) In general, they give because you've touched them, and made them feel good about saving the ju-ju.

Are you still with me?

To put it bluntly: it's not about your organization. It's about your donors. When you appeal to your donor's heart, she'll more than likely respond with another donation.

Let's look at a couple of ways of appealing to your donor's heart:

1) Show appreciation. When you open the door for someone behind you and she thanks you, you'd most likely do it again. If she storms past you without even acknowledging you, you'd never forget her.

When a donor has made a contribution to your cause and you've never acknowledged her, she won't forget. To avoid this, it's good practice to sprinkle your appreciation throughout your letter. But sprinkle just enough and not too much, lest you make yourself appear insincere.

2) Don't take a number please. Have you ever pulled one of those numbered tickets from the red ticket dispenser and then looked up at the digital display to compare where you're at? You're not getting the red carpet treatment here because you're just a number to the powers that be.

Well, you have to do a 180° turn when you're communicating with donors. You have to let them know they're special. If you write your epistle as a personal letter you'll have made them feel important.

3) Reveal a flaw. I began one letter with: "I have to be honest with you..." And then I revealed something personal the founder shared about herself that she thought would never be made public.

She felt uncomfortable reading it the first time — but thought it was really powerful after she put it down and read it again.

Since this letter was going to her house list, I knew everyone who read it would automatically identify with her and be pulled into the copy. This method would also work well with a rented list as long as you can get them to open the envelope.

4) Be truthful. In the same mailing we didn't have any reply envelopes for donors to send the reply card. But this wasn't going to deter our efforts. All we had to do was explain our situation. People would understand.

I painted the picture of a young organization just getting its feet wet in its first mailing. An organization that epitomizes the "ready, fire, aim" concept. Telling the truth with sincerity often garners support most every time.

5) You're such a tease. I printed the word "Murakoze" on the outside envelope, which means "Thank You" in Burundi. This is classic teaser copy designed to create interest. They have to open the envelope in order to satisfy their curiosity as to its meaning.

The next time you want to raise funds with a letter, remember to tell your donor about her beautiful lawn. Tell her how the neighbors will stare and how stunning her house will look. And when she's ready — she'll buy your grass seed.

Warm regards,