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Article Check - Fundraising Letter Templates Harm Your Non-Profit's Reputation and Response Rates
Waiting 30, 40 or even 60 days to get invoices paid can be a major challenge for any business owner. Although the work has been completed and delivered, the payment will come in weeks. In the meantime, the business has to pay employees, rent and regular expenses. If your business has a substantial cash reserve, this should not be a major problem.But, what if your business doesn't have substantial cash reserve? Many owners will try to get a business loan. But that won't help. Why? Because getting a business loan is almost impossible unless the
Conclusion
Direct mail fundraising, like all fundraising, is about relationships, not revenue. And you can’t develop relationships built on trust and mutual respect if your fundraising methods are standard, impersonal and disrespectful. There are no short-cuts to long-term donor loyalty, despite what some publishers of fundraising letter templates imply.
<If you have read any of the articles I have written prior to this, you will know I’m a proponent of spreading yourself around in order to secure a teaching position in an international school. This is the approach that I have used successfully and I still believe it is an excellent strategy for kicking off your international teaching career. However, I thought I’d better write an article on strategies for educators who are looking for their second or third overseas teaching position. Those international educators with some overseas work experience u
1. They are, by definition, too generic
On the website of one fundraising coach is a “very general donation request letter” that you are encouraged to customize by filling in “the details that are specific to your organization.” The problem with this approach is that non-profit organizations are radically different.
What, for example, does Mothers Against Drunk Driving have in common with the Boy Scouts of America? What common goals does the Sydney Opera House share with The National Rifle Association? Could you take one “very general donation request letter” and customize it to meet the unique needs, case for support, brand image, voice and personality of each of these organizations? I think that idea is [fill in the blank] ___________________.
2. They miss the main goal of fundraising letters
The goal of every appeal letter you mail is not to raise a gift but to retain a giver. You are after the donor first, their donation second. The most important gift in fundraising is not the first, but the second. You can twist a gift out of just about anyone, once. But getting subsequent gifts is where your challenge lies. And where you demonstrate your expertise. The big failing with fundraising letter templates is that they are after money only. Donors sense that attitude when they read the letter (assuming they do).
3. They treat donors as purses, not people
The only way I know of to get money without human contact is to use an automated banking machine. Bank tellers are personal. Automated banking machines are impersonal. Just walk into your local bank any morning and count the number of senior citizens waiting in line for a teller. They choose the human being over the machine because senior citizens are often lonely. They crave human contact. When you approach donors with generic, impersonal, copy-and-paste fundraising letter templates, you treat them as automated banking machines who should simply do as they are told and cough up the cash without delay. And who likes being treated that way? Not [pick one] me/you/us.
4. They mislead sincere fundraisers
The biggest problem that I have with fundraising letter templates is that they fool some fundraising staff into thinking that raising funds by mail is easy. All you need to do is “copy and paste the following text into your word processing program,” “fill in the details that are specific to your organization,” “print out the letters on your organization’s letterhead,” and conclude your letter thus: “Today, you can make an immediate difference in the life of [homeless/orphans/etc.] Each [$ amount] you send provides [specific goods/services] to [number of people].” Then you recline your office chair and wait for the mailbags of donations to arrive from your fervent donors.
Conclusion
Direct mail fundraising, like all fundraising, is about relationships, not revenue. And you can’t develop relationships built on trust and mutual respect if your fundraising methods are standard, impersonal and disrespectful. There are no short-cuts to long-term donor loyalty, despite what some publishers of fundraising letter templates imply.
One of the most popular fundraising ideas these days is the Jamba Juice fundraiser. Jamba Juice is the hottest name in nutritional smoothies since they originated in Hawaii, the home of so many fruit ingredients.Try one of these ways to increase your profits while providing a great alternative to soda and ice cream.Jamba Juice Goes To School Working with your local Jamba Juice location, offer a Jamba Juice mug and discount coupon. You will be selling a coupon sheet that is perforated- one coupon good for the mug and one coupon goo
2. They miss the main goal of fundraising letters
The goal of every appeal letter you mail is not to raise a gift but to retain a giver. You are after the donor first, their donation second. The most important gift in fundraising is not the first, but the second. You can twist a gift out of just about anyone, once. But getting subsequent gifts is where your challenge lies. And where you demonstrate your expertise. The big failing with fundraising letter templates is that they are after money only. Donors sense that attitude when they read the letter (assuming they do).
3. They treat donors as purses, not people
The only way I know of to get money without human contact is to use an automated banking machine. Bank tellers are personal. Automated banking machines are impersonal. Just walk into your local bank any morning and count the number of senior citizens waiting in line for a teller. They choose the human being over the machine because senior citizens are often lonely. They crave human contact. When you approach donors with generic, impersonal, copy-and-paste fundraising letter templates, you treat them as automated banking machines who should simply do as they are told and cough up the cash without delay. And who likes being treated that way? Not [pick one] me/you/us.
4. They mislead sincere fundraisers
The biggest problem that I have with fundraising letter templates is that they fool some fundraising staff into thinking that raising funds by mail is easy. All you need to do is “copy and paste the following text into your word processing program,” “fill in the details that are specific to your organization,” “print out the letters on your organization’s letterhead,” and conclude your letter thus: “Today, you can make an immediate difference in the life of [homeless/orphans/etc.] Each [$ amount] you send provides [specific goods/services] to [number of people].” Then you recline your office chair and wait for the mailbags of donations to arrive from your fervent donors.
Conclusion
Direct mail fundraising, like all fundraising, is about relationships, not revenue. And you can’t develop relationships built on trust and mutual respect if your fundraising methods are standard, impersonal and disrespectful. There are no short-cuts to long-term donor loyalty, despite what some publishers of fundraising letter templates imply.
<IntroductionMost businesses have rules that define and implement policies, whether they relate to internal operations or to the products and services they offer to their customers. Often these rules define the strategy of the business and determine its success or failure. Adjustments to the strategy typically mean changes to business rules. The problem is this—these days business rules are implemented in software, and everyone knows that software changes don’t happen quickly. Business rules engines (BRE) expedite rapid changes in business rul
3. They treat donors as purses, not people
The only way I know of to get money without human contact is to use an automated banking machine. Bank tellers are personal. Automated banking machines are impersonal. Just walk into your local bank any morning and count the number of senior citizens waiting in line for a teller. They choose the human being over the machine because senior citizens are often lonely. They crave human contact. When you approach donors with generic, impersonal, copy-and-paste fundraising letter templates, you treat them as automated banking machines who should simply do as they are told and cough up the cash without delay. And who likes being treated that way? Not [pick one] me/you/us.
4. They mislead sincere fundraisers
The biggest problem that I have with fundraising letter templates is that they fool some fundraising staff into thinking that raising funds by mail is easy. All you need to do is “copy and paste the following text into your word processing program,” “fill in the details that are specific to your organization,” “print out the letters on your organization’s letterhead,” and conclude your letter thus: “Today, you can make an immediate difference in the life of [homeless/orphans/etc.] Each [$ amount] you send provides [specific goods/services] to [number of people].” Then you recline your office chair and wait for the mailbags of donations to arrive from your fervent donors.
Conclusion
Direct mail fundraising, like all fundraising, is about relationships, not revenue. And you can’t develop relationships built on trust and mutual respect if your fundraising methods are standard, impersonal and disrespectful. There are no short-cuts to long-term donor loyalty, despite what some publishers of fundraising letter templates imply.
<Efficient teams work well together and when they do you can see the value in their force multiplier affect. You can see it in special teams in Championship Football Games, you hear about with Navy Seal Teams and you can certainly feel it in America’s Corporate Board Rooms.Of course the opposite is true when a new team lacks organizational capital or when Organizational Capital is being drained. When this happens it is time for Change Management. It is time to shape up or ship out the non-performers or those, which cause stress for the team an
4. They mislead sincere fundraisers
The biggest problem that I have with fundraising letter templates is that they fool some fundraising staff into thinking that raising funds by mail is easy. All you need to do is “copy and paste the following text into your word processing program,” “fill in the details that are specific to your organization,” “print out the letters on your organization’s letterhead,” and conclude your letter thus: “Today, you can make an immediate difference in the life of [homeless/orphans/etc.] Each [$ amount] you send provides [specific goods/services] to [number of people].” Then you recline your office chair and wait for the mailbags of donations to arrive from your fervent donors.
Conclusion
Direct mail fundraising, like all fundraising, is about relationships, not revenue. And you can’t develop relationships built on trust and mutual respect if your fundraising methods are standard, impersonal and disrespectful. There are no short-cuts to long-term donor loyalty, despite what some publishers of fundraising letter templates imply.
<Undeniably, the information superhighway has been a very powerful medium to spread the word from coast to coast. It has added much convenience especially to those that are just so busy with their work to the extent that they no longer have time for recreation. When they shop, they can simply visit the website of their favorite designer clothes and order. In less than a week, it will be delivered right in their doorstep. When they are hungry, they can easily log on to their fancy food chain homepage and get a meal. In just a short while, they will ha
Conclusion
Direct mail fundraising, like all fundraising, is about relationships, not revenue. And you can’t develop relationships built on trust and mutual respect if your fundraising methods are standard, impersonal and disrespectful. There are no short-cuts to long-term donor loyalty, despite what some publishers of fundraising letter templates imply.
New Handbook shows you a better way
The best way I know of to learn the craft of creating, writing and designing successful fundraising letters is not to fill in the blanks but to fill your head with examples of excellent letters that worked. Study successful direct mail appeals. Analyze why they worked. Put what you learn into practice.
Anatomy of a Profitable Fundraising Letter, the fourth Handbook in the Hands-On Fundraising Series, features a line-by-line analysis of a successful direct mail fundraising package that Habitat for Humanity mailed to prospective donors. If you use the mail to raise funds, this handbook will help you discover what to do right—and what to avoid. Learn more about this new Handbook at www.RaiserSharpe.com
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