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2nd reminder letter for payment for non-profit organizations

writing a great fundraising letter is a lost art with the Advent of electronic marketing the standard appeal letter has been relegated to the closet only to emerge a few times a year for some organizations but an effectively Written Letter can still yield a profitable return and help you generate new donors to your organization stay tuned and learn a great way of writing a fundraising letter [Music] if you attended College you probably remember getting a care package from a school or a parent at some point in time in your years there it often contain food discounted food coupons and other fun and enjoyable items such as a toy even today care packages are a popular item with college students our organization which ministers to college students daily created a similar item called a freshman survival kit that kit contains the same fun items such as a discount food card and of course toys but the updated kits contain ways to download music and are now in a bag that can be used for laundry or carrying books popular items that kids love but also it contains materials that get the message of the Gospel to a generation that is struggling with fear and depression and brings them hope for more than 20 years freshman survival kits have been a popular item on college campuses but fsk's as we call them have been a staple of our direct mail letters we typically tell the story of a student who gets a kit from one of our organizational tables during freshman orientation week they read the materials and their life is changed dramatically the reader sees themselves as a college student and the challenges they faced many wish that they had had a kit like that and want to ensure that a kit gets in the hands of students at their alma mater or on a campus near them hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised by approaching potential donors with the opportunity to purchase a kit so that the lives of others can be changed and we've done so addressing the key items I'm about to share with you right now there are 10 Cardinal rules for writing a great fundraising letter they are as fouls rule number one write to just one person one of the biggest mistakes made in writing a fundraising or appeal letter is writing to a group of people only one person will be reading your letter at a time and thus should be writing just to that person a letter written dear friends will come across cold and impersonal where a letter written to one person will allow you to come across warm and friendly a letter written to just one person will also help you in crafting the letter because you pick one person who represents the makeup every of your constituency and write to that person it's been proven that picturing one person in your mind then writing will help you better unpack that story the contents and even your appeals you share things you believe the person may want to hear rule number two focus on motivations it's important that you understand the motivations of their donor or partner and why they give typically your mission vision and values are why you started the organization will be an underlying motivation for the donor however there may be other things to motivate a person to give that come into play values such as gratitude appreciation impact made religious or faith convictions or even tax advantages rule number three describe the nature of your work I've mentioned often in my videos that it's critical to mention the problem in our world that your organization was created to solve I can can't stress that enough that it's never wrong to restate the problem over and over because people need to be reminded and reminded often why you exist and why their help is greatly needed to solve the problem remind people in all writings that you have a plan to solve the problem and describe that plan as clearly as possible it doesn't have to be a detailed plan but list the core elements or ingredients in your plan typically your appealer opportunity will come from one of those programs or projects or ingredients you close with an opportunity to give but that can't be done until you've described the nature of your work and how they the reader fit into the plan and that usually includes their time talents but most importantly they're Treasures that leads us to rule number four Define the need it's been said that every organization has needs but few have exciting opportunities after you've described the strategy that will help you get from point A to point B There is typically one missing ingredient if you're describing it properly and that is money if your opportunity isn't measurable and doesn't in most cases require money then you have not completed your task and you'll not get the desired results from your writing if the opportunity is qualitative everyone feel better that most times does not resonate like a quantitative goal that can be measured if you hope to send a hundred underprivileged athletes to a sports camp this summer and the way to reach that goal is by offering scholarships then determine the cost to scholarship one athlete to attend if that cost is a hundred and fifty dollars per athlete and again you hope to send 100 athletes then your cost to achieve that goal or accomplish that strategy is to raise fifteen thousand dollars that leads us to rule number five tell how the need can be met if your goal is to raise fifteen thousand dollars you can achieve that in a wide variety of manners you can challenge one person to give fifteen thousand you can challenge two people to give 7 500 you can ask 15 people to give a thousand and of course the 15 000 can come from a lot of gifts of various sizes you need to determine which strategy is best for you in each situation because there isn't a one-size-fits-all way to tell how the need will be met how to ask for the need or how to present the opportunity rule number six get the reader personally involved if you hope to get the reader to the point where they decide to give a gift to your organization you'll need to draw the reader into the story and make them feel like they're a part of the solution that means you need to get the reader involved in a variety of ways first they need to be moved by the problem homelessness poverty human trafficking that is best done by telling a story about a person who is impacted by this problem then and you need to offer a solution and if the person who had the problem has already been helped explain how your organization impacted them the latest Trend in writing is called story branding and it's designed to pull the reader the potential donor into the story so that they become the hero that means the person can be pulled out of the problem with the help of the hero before you get to the need or opportunity in writing you need to explain the role that they play in the solution and they need to get the fact that their role is important rule number seven show that you have widespread support we know that people want to be on the winning side of an equation whether that be a sports team a betting situation or a successful project or program people want to back a winner and your project to program is no exception people want to know that they aren't the only individual in support of your efforts one of the reasons Vision dinners are so successful is that hundreds of like-minded individuals Gather in one room to support a common cause the general nature or vibe in the room will motivate people to give and oftentimes give generously the same is true when presented with an opportunity and letter it helps to know that the project or program has already been a success and will have continued success with the help of the reader rule number eight show what the gift can be accomplished well it's very important to identify and explain the problem and the strategies or tactics to solve the problem it's also important to show specifically what can be achieved or accomplished through that gift using the example mentioned earlier of the athletes being scholarshiped you could say your gift of fifteen thousand would enable us to scholarship 100 underprivileged student athletes so that they can attend our camp this summer where they learn character building competitive skills and have instilled in them leadership principles that will last a lifetime rule number nine promise a reward the reader needs to understand that not only is their gift going to make an impact on the individual being helped and that may be an internal impact it also helps the reader to know that they'll have joy or privilege of helping shape the life of a future leader or the Next Generation rewards come on both sides the recipient but also The Giver for those givers of Faith there's the knowledge that God will see their generosity and the promise that he will reward their generosity in the Bible in second Corinthians chapter 9 verses 6 through 8 it says whoever so sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows generously will also reap generously each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful Giver the reward for people of faith is not only in the Life impact that you're on Earth but in the reward in heaven rule number 10 ask for the contribution finally if you have stated the problem highlighted solution to describe the ways the problem uh will or can be solved it's important to ask too often letters include all the ingredients and get the reader to the point where they are ready to give but the writer never explains how to give it seems so basic that one should ask but often non-profit leaders beat around the bush and never get to the point of asking for the gifts specifically from that individual reader implied the gifts are needed or that a gift will make a difference but to get true success from a letter you must have a specific ask will you consider a gift of 100 250 or even 500 today to scholarship one or more athletes to camp this summer people tend to give so much attention to individual face-to-face appeals and event appeals and forget the impact and can be made from one well-crafted letter don't get me wrong the appointments and events will always yield more than a letter and of course will cost less but a letter strategy should be one of the tools in your tool belt as a non-profit leader as much as electronic and other marketing is caught on in popularity direct mail and letters still have a broad reaching appeal and still work in getting your message out to the masses I hope you found this video helpful if you did let me know by giving it a thumbs up and leave a comment below if there were things that you especially liked or if there's topics you'd like to address and let this community of Life Changers know you are part of making a difference in our world if you wish to watch future videos on this channel hit the Subscribe button below and click the Bell to be notified immediately of the release of the next video if you wish to follow me on Instagram go to Jim W Dempsey or if you have questions go to fundraisingmasterminds.net forward slash Jim and Java if you wish to be part of a community of like-minded leaders join our Life Changers group on Facebook if you want to know what to do and what to say on an appointment with a major donor watch this video and get your development efforts to the next level as always I wish you the best as you strive to become fully funded thanks a lot see you in the next video [Music] foreign