Fundraising Letters: Where To Find Creative Ideas For Your Appeals

How do you make your fundraising letters creative and fresh year after year when your needs don't change all that much? I am not talking about new initiatives. I'm talking about the programs that you run year after year. The membership drive that you run year after year. The funds that you must raise to cover administrative expenses and salaries year after year. How can you request funds for these things over time without boring your donors into apathy? Learn a lesson from Jack Foster.

Jack Foster spent 35 years working in creative departments of advertising agencies in the United States. One of his challenges was doing the advertising for Smokey Bear. Here's how he describes his predicament:

The first thing the writers and art directors had to do every year was come up with a basic poster.

The rules for the poster never varied: It had to be a certain shape and size; it had to feature Smokey; it had to be simple enough to grasp at a glance, clear enough for even a dunce to understand, and (if it had words) brief enough to be read in three or four seconds.

The mission of the poster never varied either: It had to convince people to be careful with fire.

In other words, every year we had to come up with the same thing only different.

And we did. Indeed, every year we came up with 20 of 30 different ideas for posters. Every year. For over 20 years. Over 500 posters, all featuring Smokey and all trying to do the same thing and not a one of them the same.

I faced similar challenges when I worked at advertising agencies as a copywriter, and as a freelance copywriter for direct response agencies that create fundraising letters for international non-profits. The work was tough, but I discovered that writers and art directors could indeed create original fundraising appeals year after year for the same clients who needed money for the same things.

Here are some lessons I learned along the way, tips that will help you present your case for support to your donors in creative ways over time. The secret is knowing where to look for ideas. Here's where I look.

Challenges in the field

One place to look for original ideas is the field. If your charity is involved with child welfare, then your "field" may be the homes of your foster parents. If you are a small but international humanitarian organization, then the "field" for you is the towns and villages where you operate overseas. As you sit down to create a brand new appeal letter, look to your field and ask yourself what challenges you are facing. These challenges can often be translated into a compelling ask. Let me give you an example.

Doctors Without Borders is an international aid organization that sends volunteer doctors and nurses to places where no medical infrastructure exists, usually because of war or natural disasters. Since they never know where the next tsunami or civil war will strike, they need to have sufficient funds on hand at all times so they can respond quickly to a humanitarian crisis anywhere in the world. This means their fundraising letters must ask for funds for no particular emergency, but for emergencies in general. A tough challenge.

Doctors Without Borders has met this challenge year after year in creative ways. Here is just one. They realized that they often sent their volunteers into emergency situations that were created by water. Either there was a flood or there was a drought. Either there was too much water or not enough. In a brilliant move, Doctors Without Borders crafted an original fundraising package that presented this global need. They told their story in such a way that the need was obviously great, though not necessarily looming.

Donors who received the appeal understood that Doctors Without Borders needed funds on hand to meet the challenge of floods or droughts at anytime. But they also understood that their gift to the organization might be used to help victims of a cholera epidemic, or people displaced by a civil war. By looking to a challenge faced in the field, Doctors Without Borders created a memorable fundraising letter campaign that did nothing more than raise money for their general fund in a novel way.

Your frontline staff

Another source of creative ideas for fundraising letters is your staff, particularly those at the front lines of your ministry. The men and women who carry out your work face to face with the public have dozens of stories to tell about the needs that your organization meets and the people it helps. Many of these needs can be translated into an appeal, not for a special project, but a request for general funds to meet a given need. Here's an example.

In talking with the staff of a ministry that works with inmates in Canada's prisons, I discovered that most inmates have a problem with anger. Their tempers often land them in prison. And, while inside, they grow even more angry. As you can imagine, a compelling theme for an appeal letter would be inmate anger, and how a donor's gift supplies the funds that this prison ministry needs to help inmates conquer their anger and lead productive lives upon release.

Milestones

Is your organization celebrating a 10th or 100th anniversary? Then you have the ingredients for a compelling appeal, provided you link past successes with your plans for the coming months and years. Have you just served your millionth meal? Or planted 500,000 trees as of this week? Translate your milestones into compelling proof that your organization needs your donors' continued support, then put your proof on paper in the form of a persuasive fundraising package theme and mail it.

Recent successes

Similar to milestones are recent successes. One organization I wrote for won the Nobel Peace Prize. That became a theme for one mailing. Another organization I know of retired their debt early, and announced the fact with an appeal for funds.

The key to keeping your fundraising letters engaging and a joy to read with each passing year is to present your work in new ways. As Foster put it, "to come up with the same thing only different." And the best places to look for those creative ideas are your clients, volunteers and staff, and the challenges they face each day in carrying out your mission.

About the author
Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer who helps non-profits raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors using creative fundraising letters. Learn more about his services, view free sample fundraising letters, and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.fundraisingletters.org.

© 2005 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message).

---

42 Deadly Ad Copy Sins That Ive Made

I have read thousands of ad copies online and offline... Read More

How To Write Headlines That Grab Your Prospects Attention

It doesn't matter if you're writing an article, a newspaper... Read More

Five Steps To Online Copywriting Success

One of the most important priorities of evey online business... Read More

The Biggest Mistake Copywriters Make

Most of the sales pieces people ask me to rewrite... Read More

How Cliffhanger Paragraphs Capture Readers

About 50 years ago, movie serials kept theater crowds coming... Read More

Health and Fitness: A Huge Industry in Need of Writers

Think about how much you read about and spend on... Read More

Impulse Writing for Better Ad Headings

Writing headlines for your ads is the most important part... Read More

The Number One Copywriting Technique That Makes Your Prospects Read Every Word You Write

How does this sound?Today, I'm going to show you how... Read More

Dissolving Buyer Scepticisim ... A Lesson In Copywriting

When making a purchasing decision, people have their "rip off... Read More

How To Really Connect With Your Customer In Your Copywriting

One of the least talked-about areas in copywriting education is... Read More

Why You Should Write To Inform And Not To Sell

Advertising is key! Unfortunately most people waste their money on... Read More

A Copywriters Rant: Either You Get it, Or You Dont

Today I am having a rant inside of my own... Read More

Magic Words That Sell and What Words to Avoid

We all know words are powerful. Whether written or spoken,... Read More

3 Tips For Writing Content That Will Make You Sales

Content is king. Without content your website is an empty... Read More

Copywriting and Your Five Senses

In its most basic form, copywriting is, among other things,... Read More

A Quick Free n Easy Content Writing Course

I do not pretend that a one-stop shop solution to... Read More

The Truth About Negative Commands (Dont Read This!)

Everyday when I read promotional emails and advertisements, or listen... Read More

How to Write Ad Copy that Sells

When I write copy for my advertising clients, I always... Read More

Revealed: The $12,500 Copywriting Formula

Have you heard of Brian Keith Voiles? Probably not, but... Read More

Crank Out More Articles More Often With An Article Swipe File

If you write copy you need a swipe file. A... Read More

So Youve Decided to Hire a Freelance Copywriter - A Guide to the Collaboration Process

Whether you're an executive or a small business owner, chances... Read More

Ghostwriting: Your Questions Answered

Many people feel they have a story to tell or... Read More

Four Things Every Web Site Headline Must Do

As you know, I'm constantly making the point that the... Read More

Advice From Successful Freelancers: Starting & Maintaining A Freelancer Career

For the e-book, Advice from Successful Freelancers: How They Built... Read More

10 Tips for Tech-Writers

Tech-writing is a tricky business. It's not a very high... Read More

Copywriting for the Web: Do You Have What It Takes?

In the world of web copywriters, many will try, but... Read More

Five Keys To Leaner and Meaner Copywriting

Grab 'em and don't lose 'em. Every marketer knows that... Read More

Dont Forget The Copywriting

Copywriting And Content CreationOne of the most important, but often... Read More

10 Tips for Writing Effective Web Copy

On the Internet programmers and designers rule, not the writer.... Read More

Prevent Procrastination With Positive Pressure

My wife and I recently bought a house.It's currently being... Read More

Top 10 Ways For Copywriters To Overcome Writers Block

We all know that words have the power to persuade,... Read More

?Super Adjectives? Boost the Power of Your Copy

Pretty or elegant? Good or scrumptious? Nice or delightful? There... Read More

Sell Anything To Anyone On The Internet With Hypnotic Writing

I imagine you are the type of person who really... Read More