A well written fundraiser letter or email can be a very simple, effective way to raise funds for your campaign. There is no right or wrong way to craft these, but here are a few simple suggestions based on our experience:
- Know your audience – Before you start drafting your letter or email, definitely put some thought into who the audience is that you are going to be sending it to. If your audience is primarily family and friends, then you probably don’t need to spend as much time explaining SMA and your specific situation. But, if your audience is the general public, companies, or publications, then you probably need to include a bit more detail to set the stage for your request.
- Consider writing multiple versions – Given #1 above, you may want to consider writing two versions; one for your family and friends and one for a wider audience.
- Summarize your request in the first paragraph – Let’s face it, people are lazy
So, make sure to give them a very quick summary of your request, your goal, and how they can help or donate in the first paragraph. - Be concise, but be thorough – We all suffer from having a hard time being concise when writing about our journey with SMA. Trust me, we get it! But, try to only give the reader enough information for them to understand what you are asking and why you are asking for it. You don’t want to lose them in the details and risk them not understanding the whole point of the letter or email — to persuade them to donate to your campaign.
- Don’t beat around the bush – Be specific with what you are asking them to do and make sure to be clear that you want them to donate money to your campaign.
- State your fundraiser goal – Of course the fundraiser goal needs to be realistic within your personal expectations, but we’ve found that stating what your goal is in your letter or email really gives a parameter around which the potential donor can gauge how much they may or may not give. In our experience, the size of your fundraiser goal will directly impact how much donors give according to their own donation threshold.
- State what the funds will be used for – People want to know that their donation is going to something they want to support. Be very clear about what they funds will be used for and get them excited about the program. Often, if you are excited about it, then they will be.
- Explain why your campaign is important to you – Really sell your readers on why you have chosen this specific campaign to raise money for. It’s obvious to all of us, but it may not be so clear to others.
- Remind them that their donation is 100% tax deductible – This is very important!
- Inspire and empower them to help you reach your goal – Empower them to pass the word on to their friends or networks about your campaign and ask them to specifically write letters or email their contacts to help you reach your goal. We think it’s helpful to give people a specific task — something like: “Please send this to 10 of your friends and ask that they (a) donate to help us reach our goal and (b) pass this letter on to 10 of their friends as well”.
Good luck and if you have any other suggestions or tips, please pass them along to us so we can post them for everyone else!
