Online PR News – 02-November-2017 – This is the age of online fundraising. Easy fundraising has been made possible with innovations like crowdfunding. But still no matter how technology savvy you are, for your fundraising success, you need to accept the fact that direct mail fundraising letters still work. The personal touch of a letter and the kind of emotions that it would evoke in your potential donors would be unmatched by anything online.
Here are a few things that you need to keep in your mind while designing your campaign fundraising letter.
Decide on who is writing the letter Fundraising works best when there is a personal touch and the donor is made to believe that they are a part of the community. Make them believe that we are working together as a team. For bringing this emotional touch the letter always has to be written from one person to another person. Now before proceeding forward, you need to zero down on who that one person is going to be.
Tell a story Choose one story to tell and focus on it rather than coming out with statistics and data. Studies show that engaging with that part of the brain that deal with pie charts and numbers suppresses the part that deals with donation decisions. Therefore, rather than focusing over all the kids or the animals that you saved, tell them a story. Focus on that persons name. What their situation is. Why is it so urgent to support them? Make the letter similar to a conversation that you would have with that donor over a cup of coffee. You are just putting that down on a piece of paper. People would relate more with it.
Postscript Studies have shown that a postscript is the first part of a letter that a donor would read, after their name. So, sum up your entire message in a clear and crisp manner. The ask, the deadline and the compelling call to action in the limited space of 2-3 lines of a postscript. A compelling postscript would contribute to your fundraising success.
Designing your envelope The envelope is going to be an important part of your fundraising letter as it is going to be the gateway to your letter. You need to design it in a way so that the donor actually feels like opening it. You need to test out the different techniques and figure out what would be the most efficient way to catch your donors attention.
Having a reply device A fundraising letter without a reply device would be such a waste of money. One should ideally use a piece of paper or a card stock with options on it. And remember, when it comes to options, less is more.
Choose your mailing list strategically You need to go through your database and figure out who are the ones on your list who have a greater probability to donate. Studies show that your best prospects of raising funds are from people who most recently gave. Put some thought into the list that you would be sending your fundraising appeal to, so that your effort brings the best results.
Specific landing page for your fundraising appeal Its a great idea to have a specific landing page dedicated solely to collecting money from this fundraising appeal. Design it in such a way so that it connects with the recipients of your letter and serves as an extension. But you also need to make sure that the donors who come to your page via social media or emails dont find themselves to be left out. It should be able to stand alone for such people.
These were a few things that you should keep in mind while writing a fundraising letter. It goes without saying that a good letter with a story would have an emotional connect with the donors and would go a long way in ensuring your fundraising success.
My name is Yesenia Barboza. I have been in online marketing and business since 2005. Since that time, I have managed several websites and blogs while establishing a successful strategy business coaching program. Most of my clients and students range from start up businesses up to companies that want to expand the growth of their existing business.
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