Inspire Your Donors to Give Again (and Again) with Breakthrough Fundraising Letters.

Learn the insider secrets of how to write direct mail appeals that donors can't resist, during this 90-minute recorded seminar.

The hardest job in direct mail fundraising, next to grabbing and keeping the attention of distracted donors, is persuading them to make a donation.

Your typical direct mail donor already gives to 14 other charities. Why should she give to yours? And why now? Because you've written a breakthrough fundraising letter.

Breakthrough fundraising letters state their case for support in terms that resonate with donors, making your cause and the request for funds too irresistible to pass up. Even organizations that have seemingly mundane mandates are finding creative ways to create vivid, captivating letters. Letters that inspire donors to give. You can, too.

In this 90-minute on-demand seminar, direct mail fundraising consultant, coach and author Alan Sharpe shares many of the secret techniques revealed in his latest book, Breakthrough Fundraising Letters. Alan shows you proven ways to inspire your donors using paper and postage. You’ll learn tips, techniques and shortcuts that you can use right now.

Seminar Outline

• learn 14 reasons people respond to direct mail fundraising appeals so you know how to write yours
• discover why every appeal letter you write needs to appeal to your donor’s interests, not yours
• learn how to raise more money by writing about people instead of programs
• see how professional copywriters stir feelings of compassion, mercy, empathy and altruism so that donors identify with your cause on more than a cerebral level
• find the best cure for "donor fatigue," and how to employ this tactic in your next fundraising letter to motivate donors to give again
• learn how to avoid sounding like an institution (which decreases your response) and how to sound human, warm and friendly
• pick up many practical ways to tell gripping, interesting stories, stories that inspire donors to mail you a check
• discover a little-know device that awakens empathy in readers, making them predisposed to support you with a donation
• overcome skepticism in your readers in a natural way

Review fundraising letters from the experts

During this seminar, Alan Sharpe helps you understand the tips and techniques you are learning by showing you many successful fundraising letters by leading non-profit organizations, including:

• Doctors Without Borders
• Greenpeace
• Habitat for Humanity
• Medic Alert
• Metro Health Hospital
• Street Kids International
• Teen Challenge

What others are saying about your instructor

• "Alan was awesome. Very engaging and clearly knowledgeable about the subject (and made me excited to get started ) thank you"
• "Appreciated the concrete examples."
• "Great presentation. Liked the way I need to think about my letters. Engaging, kept my attention through the whole session."
• "This was a great session. Interesting and interactive. Please thank Alan for doing a great job!"

Comments from participants at Alan's 2004 direct mail fundraising workshop in Winnipeg, on direct mail fundraising letter writing, quoted verbatim from their Workshop Feedback Forms:

• "Most helpful seminar of the session" (anonymous).
• "Great tips for creative and effective communication" (anonymous).
• "Thanks for the great tips. Very applicable, practical" (Jessica B.).
• "Just what I needed" (Brian T.).
• "Terrific! Very beneficial" (anonymous).
• "Very practical and useful. Thanks" (anonymous).
• "Well done. Most informative" (anonymous).
• "Very helpful" (Len S.).
• "Very good! Well worth repeating! Very practical and user-friendly" (Graham G.).

Comments from participants at Alan's 2005 direct mail fundraising workshop in Mississauga, quoted verbatim from their Workshop Feedback Forms:

• "Excellent! A lot of food for thought + application. Very energizing!" (Diane P.).
• "The workshop was great. The room was inadequate to accommodate the audience. Choose a better room for this speaker." (anonymous).
• "Very useful information." (anonymous).
• "Very much enjoyed the high energy, interactive, informative session." (Keren K.).
• "Excellent session. Very useful." (anonymous).
• "Excellent practical tips! I was jotting down opening sentences all session long." Avril H.).

Another reason to buy this seminar . . .

Your trainer, Alan Sharpe

For over a decade, Alan Sharpe has been writing donor acquisition packages for such organizations as Doctors Without Borders, Habitat for Humanity and Daily Bread Food Bank.

Today, Alan helps non-profit organizations worldwide to raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors using cost-effective, compelling, creative fundraising letters.

As a seminar leader and mentor, Alan coaches executive directors and directors of development to craft engaging, warm appeal letters that win the hearts and minds of their donors.

Alan’s popular email newsletter, Direct Mail Fundraising Today, is read weekly by over 6,000 professional fundraisers worldwide. He is the author of the book Breakthrough Fundraising Letters, and 25 handbooks on direct mail fundraising.

Alan served as Director of Development and Communications for two international non-profits, where he was responsible for strategic planning, annual direct mail fundraising campaigns, major giving, planned giving, major events, publicity and other enjoyable headaches. He lives and works in the other London (the one in Ontario, Canada).

Alan's teaching style is energetic, fun, helpful and memorable.

What you get

1. Alan Sharpe's comprehensive seminar handout, in Adobe PDF
2. Sample fundraising letters, in Adobe PDF
3. A recording of the 90-minute seminar, which you listen to online, download to your computer, burn onto a CD or download to your iPod

Buy now
Just $59. Listen to the entire seminar now. No shipping and handling. No delay.