Copywriting

When building relationships with donors, it’s surprising how many written pieces you need if you want to build up a full-scale fundraising appeals and communications plan.

Here are some of the things I’ve written for donors and prospects. If you’d like me to work on any of these for your charity or non-profit, then send me an email. If what you want doesn’t appear on this list, shoot me an email anyway – chances are I’ve done it for someone else and can do it for you.

Fundraising copy

Direct mail appeal packs

Letters, brochures, inserts, lift notes, coupons, envelopes – any or all these things may be included. They can be used for annual appeals, monthly giving appeals, major donor segment appeals or bequest appeals.

Direct mail acquisition pieces

Can be full-scale packs or cheaper self-mailers to acquire new donors for your cause.

Thank you letters

An essential but often overlooked part of an appeal or campaign. The way you do this affects how the donor feels about their decision to give to your cause. Are you warm, genuine and excited to have them on board? Or do you send them a dry form letter? (Or nothing at all?!)

New donor welcome packs

Don’t let a new donor lapse because you’ve neglected them! It’s common courtesy to thank a donor when you send a receipt. But it’s nice to further reinforce their giving decision. Tell them more about what you do. Show them other ways to get involved. Set them up for another gift or for a monthly giving ask.

Email/online fundraising

Either standalone or combined with a direct mail appeal, emails can significantly lift the income from an appeal. Also good for prompting action like signing a petition.

Appeal landing pages

Do you want donors to give through your website? Then don’t send them to your home page and make them hunt for a donation page. Instead, give them a landing page written for the specific appeal.

Appeal microsites

An extension of the landing page. You may have lots of information, case studies or multimedia. If so, breaking it up into several pages or tabs in a microsite may be better than writing one very long page. Good for donors or prospects who need lots of information before giving.

Website donation pages

Hallelujah, the donor is about to give! But are you turning donors away rather than helping them through the online giving process?

Donor newsletters

Done well, newsletters are important for nurturing donors. You can thank donors again, report back on how their gifts have been used and invite them to volunteer or participate in events. As long as they’re donor-focused, you can also include messages from the CEO or other program staff.

Donor update letters

Used for specific segments such as major donors or monthly givers who may be funding specific projects or programs.

Telephone scripts

After the skill of the person making calls, a good script is the most essential element of a telefundraising campaign. It needs to sound natural and give the caller flexibility to field questions and objections.

Major donor presentations

When visiting a major gifts prospect, it’s helpful to have a presentation outlining the need, the project that will help solve the problem, the case for support and the ask. Your major gifts officer may not need to follow it exactly or may just refer to important sections as needed. But it’s useful for keeping the conversation on track.