Appeal Letters -- What It Takes to Succeed

Most, if not all, of your donors are regular humans, just like you and me. They donate because they want to make a difference in our world.

As many of you know, I've copyedited many, many appeal letters for many years.

Appeals that infer to the reader that their generosity will be used as the donor intends without ever really explaining when, how, or where are, at best, vague and misleading.

And vague and misleading are definitely not the feelings you want the reader of your solicitation to have.

Today's donors--the people who are "just like you and me," are requiring more. They want to know specifically where their money will go, what it is needed for, and what the expected impact will be.

Is that cynicism on the part of today's donors? Personally, I don't think so. It's what we owe donors who contribute to our causes.

You need to be able to explain what is different about your nonprofit. What sets it apart from others in the same sector?

When you can cogently tell donors what you will be able to accomplish if you have more support and, more precisely, who will benefit, that's when you'll raise more money.

Do emotional appeals still work? You bet they do, but within the context of laying out, in no uncertain terms, not what your mission statement is, or your bold vision, but who will be helped and the impact that help will make.