No Such Thing as a Fundraising Letter

If you want to be successful at raising money with fundraising letters, the first lesson you must learn is that there’s no such thing as a fundraising letter.

Direct mail fundraising is about packages, not letters
What falls into your donor’s mailbox is not a fundraising letter but an envelope. The thing your donor mails back to you with a gift is not a fundraising letter but a reply device and a return envelope. You can’t raise funds with a fundraising letter. You need a mailing envelope, and a reply device, and a reply envelope as well. In other words, you need a package. There’s no such thing as a fundraising letter, only direct mail fundraising packages.

You don’t mail a fundraising letter, but letters
Direct mail fundraising isn’t about writing just one letter and mailing it to everyone in your database. That wastes money. Direct mail fundraising is about writing one base letter and then personalizing that letter, adjusting that letter, for each segment in your donor database. New donors get one version of your letter. Lapsed donors get another version. Major donors get another version. There’s no such thing as a fundraising letter, only fundraising letters, plural, which are multiple variations of one letter.

Your goal is not to raise funds but to keep friends
Direct mail fundraising isn’t about dollars, but donors. Your goal isn’t to find people who have money to give away, but to find people who believe in your cause who also happen to have money to give away. You don’t marry donors for money. When donors feel they are appreciated only for their money, they walk. This means every letter you write to donors needs to put the philanthropic goals of the donor first.

Each letter needs to come from a friend, and be written to a friend. Donors want to give their money to causes they believe in. Which means your goal is to help them use their gifts the way they want, through your organization. When your goals and your donor’s goals are the same, you both win. You help each other. So there’s no such thing as a fundraising letter, only a friendraising letter.

Learn more with these helpful handbooks:

Over 130 Sample Fundraising Letters. International, national and local charities share examples of their direct mail fundraising expertise.

Handbook Number 23 53 Creative Ways to Personalize Your Fundraising Letters. Build rapport, sound conversational, show interest and strengthen relationships with donors.

Handbook Number 6 101 Compelling Ways to Ask for Donations with Your Fundraising Letters. The professional fundraiser’s guide to mastering the art of making the ask.