By Gloria Kopp
Whether you’re writing a fundraising letter to a member of your political party in order to receive donations for an election campaign, or you are a part of a local Church group and you’re trying to raise funds to fix the Church roof, there are some key rules to stick by.
While it might feel natural enough to write a letter to your supporters and members asking for help, there are simple mistakes you can make without even realizing it. They may even result in a lack of donations, without your members really understanding why they are not donating.
To achieve the very best results during your fundraising campaign, be sure to avoid these five mistakes.
1. You Don’t Use ‘You’ Enough
Amazingly, simply using the word ‘you’ more can give you better results. The word ‘you’ is an emotional trigger that makes your readers feel connected to you. When you pull in the reader using the word ‘you’, the reader will be shown that their involvement really does matter.
A letter written to an individual that simply explains what is trying to be achieved will not only be less interesting for somebody to read, but it will not make a person feel like they can really do something about it.
So when writing your fundraising letter, be sure to pull in your reader with the words ‘you’ and ‘your’. Tell them that ‘your participation is extremely powerful’ and that ‘you can do something to help us achieve this today’. Give your reader a reason to help.
Remember also to use online writing tools and resources like Email Excellence, Paper Fellows and Ox Essays to ensure that your grammar is perfect. Combined grammar and the usage of words like ‘you’ and ‘your’ can have a huge impact.
2. You Write by Committee
The phrase ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ is relevant when it comes to writing a powerful fundraising letter. The more people who have a hand in the writing of your fundraising letter, the weaker the content becomes. Writing by committee means that different ideas clash and great sentences get removed.
Instead, have one person write your letter, and another person help them edit it to ensure it is powerful. Two people can create a powerful fundraising letter, and include creative and profound messages within it to obtain the best results.
3. You Don’t Show the Difference Donors Make
Why would a donor care about your fundraising campaign, if they don’t see where the money goes and how they can really help? By showing donors what you have achieved in the past, using photographs, stories, and statistics, you can give people a reason to donate to you.
Your letter can include stories from people who have benefitted from donations in the past, and stories about how your organization survived only because of the generosity of donors.
When you fail to inspire your readers, you give them no reason to help you.
4. You Use Scare Tactics
It might seem that scaring your readers into helping could be effective, but in reality, it is both unethical and ineffectual. Don’t scare your readers by telling them about the horrible things that will happen if they don’t help. Instead, offer a positive vision for the future of your organization, and show people the good things they can do by helping.
If you need help avoiding scare tactics and learning how to create a positive vision in your writing, use online tools like Easy Word Count, Big Assignments , Cite It In and Academized. Professional writers can offer you helpful advice on this topic.
5. You Include Too Much Information
At first, it might make sense to include as much information as possible in your letters. This can, however, have the opposite effect.
When you include too much information about your organization in one letter, you lose the reader’s attention and don’t make it clear what you need. It may seem attractive to try and tell your organization’s tale, in an attempt to draw in the reader, but it simply puts them off.
To tell further stories about your organization, simply send more letters. Split up information into multiple pieces of correspondence, and your message becomes clearer.
Avoiding these five mistakes will help you create a fundraising letter that not only gets you the donations you need, but makes your donors feel good about what they’re doing. Ensure that you follow this guidance, and ensure that everything you write is grammatically accurate.
Author Bio: Gloria Kopp is a web content writer and an business consultant from Manville City. She graduated from the University of Wyoming and started a career of a business writer, now she works as a part-time blog editor at Resumention. Besides, she is a regular contributor to such websites as Engadget, Huffington Post etc.