I’ve been seeing a disturbing pattern in fundraising appeals this fall. Smart, well-meaning people are making the same critical mistakes – and ignoring decades of proven data about what actually works.
These well meaning people are smart, creative, resourceful. But their fall fundraising letters are just wrong.
The Problem: Instinct Over Evidence
I recently listened to Michael Bungay Stanier’s podcast Change Signal, where he interviewed Dave Ulrich about courage and decision-making. Dave raised a crucial question for leaders: “When do you trust your instincts versus when do you trust data?”
“When do you trust your instincts versus when do you trust data?”
– Dave Ulrich, on the Change Signal podcast
This question cuts right to the heart of what I’m seeing with these awful fundraising appeals.
Too many first-time fundraisers, program officers, executive directors, and board members are trusting their instincts instead of looking at the data.
They’re totally ignoring that data.
And we have mountains of data. We’ve been asking people for money for millennia, and our research methodology gets better every year. We know what helps it takes to communicate clearly to people and motivate them to take action.
Yet well-meaning leaders continue to create appeals based on what seems “logical” or “professional”—completely ignoring what actually works. Even organizations who have a track record of world class fundraising letters are throwing it away based on uninformed, untested “hunches.”
The Three Biggest Mistakes that are Killing Your Fundraising Letter
Mistake #1: Trying to Educate About Your Organization
The appeals I’m seeing are trying to educate donors about the nonprofit itself. They list all the different programs, describe various scholarships, talk about all the varied outcomes, and detail every wonderful thing the organization does.
This. Doesn’t. Work.
Education is needed. But not educating about your nonprofit.
Appeals that raise funds educate donors about the problem their gift will impact. Tell people about the problem boldly and clearly, without suggesting it’s already solved. You’re inviting them to be part of the solution.
If the problem is already solved, then your nonprofit is no longer needed.
Donors don’t know about the problem. It’s your job to tell them. In detail.
Appeals that raise funds educate donors about the problem not about the nonprofit.
Mistake #2: Thanking Donors
Thanking donors is incredibly important. But not in an appeal to raise money.
When you thank donors in the same piece where you’re asking for money, you confuse them. They think, “Oh, you’ve got this all set. I’m glad my previous gift was helpful. (Even though I don’t even remember making a previous gift.)” So they throw the letter away or delete the email and look for a nonprofit that really needs their money.
You need to have the courage to clearly ask donors to donate and be part of the solution.
Not because they’re superheroes.
Not because they have more power.
Not because they are better human beings than the people their gift will help.
Because they can be part of something meaningful. Something that is in line with their values. And something human beings have been doing for millennia—helping each other.
Mistake #3: Creating Graphically Designed “Brochures”
The third major mistake I’m seeing is that these appeals look like brochures. They have lots of colors, multiple fonts, design offsets, and fancy layouts.
They look really pretty. But they don’t work to raise funds.
Fundraising appeals that work are letters. Letters are sent from one person to another person.
When your appeal looks like a polished brochure, it signals “completed thing,” “we’ve got things under control here” rather than a personal request for a another person to take action. It’s no longer one person asking another person to help.
Worse, these graphically produced appeals are also incredibly hard for older eyes to read. And your best responders tend to be older donors. Use a serif font at 13 points or larger, not tiny type squeezed into a designer layout.
5 Fixes for These Fatal Flaws in Your Fundraising Letter
Here’s what actually works:
1. Write a letter
A real letter, from one person to another.
- Use their address at the top.
- Greet them by name.
- Have a clear P.S. that sums up the problem, the amount you’re asking them for, and the deadline for them to make that donation.
And have it signed by one person, not a committee.
2. Clearly state the problem
Be honest and tell donors that life is not okay. Things aren’t great. There is a wrong that needs to be addressed.
Be intellectually honest without objectifying the people or situation. Clearly give donors a reason to take action.
3. Ask clearly and early
Put the ask up front: “Your gift of $50 will help resolve this situation.” And ask throughout the letter.
4. Make your fundraising letter scannable
Use short paragraphs, underlining, bolding, and bulleted lists.
Donors aren’t sitting around waiting to thoroughly read your fundraising letter. They are super busy. Probably reading your letter over the trash can.
It’s your job to help busy donors quickly grasp your message and easily understand what action you’d like them to take.
5. Weed your letter
Once you have the letter, remove every reference to your nonprofit. As fundraising expert Steven Screen says, “Donors aren’t stupid, but they’re busy.”
They know you sent the letter. They know the donation will be to your nonprofit. They’re not stupid.
So remove all the times you name your nonprofit. Remove every “we,” “our,” and “ours.” If your initial phrase is “your gift of $72 to our mission will…” cross out the to our mission to make the phrase: “your gift of $72 will…”
Donors know who you are. Your logo is on the envelope. Instead, weed your letter so the reader can focus. They should be thinking:
- “Oh, here’s a problem. Will I help?”
- Not, “Wow, that nonprofit seems great.”
Trust the Data, Then Trust Your Instincts
These three changes will drastically increase the results of your fundraising appeals. We have data on this.
Donors have even more reasons to be distracted this year. Now is not the time to trust your instinct without checking the evidence we have on fundraising letters.
Once you start seeing the results from following proven best practices, then you can trust your instincts and tweak based on what you’re learning. But start with what we know works—what thousands of organizations have tested and proven over decades of direct response fundraising.
Your mission is too important to ignore the evidence.
