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Fundraising Tuesday: Making a First Impression

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There’s an old saying: “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” Nowhere does that saying apply more than when you write a fundraising appeal letter.

Whether the donor even opens the letter depends on the envelope. Whether they give it a second glance depends on whether or not you get the name right–and what you say in the postscript–and whether you’ve made the letter easy to read.

Now, let’s say they start to read those words you, the writer, thought about so long, and worked and worked to get just right.

If the first sentence of your appeal letter doesn't compel your donor to read on, you may just have wasted your time sending it. Share on X

And that would be a shame! So, what can you do in the very first sentence of your fundraising appeal to spur your potential donor to read the rest, and donate?

First Sentences That Pull Donors In

Here are the first sentences of some fundraising appeals I received recently that made me read the rest of the letter:

It wasn’t Mai’s decision to call the police. (RESPOND, an agency working to end domestic violence)

In a few weeks, a high-priced team of lawyers will ask the Supreme Court to stop you from helping farm workers. (United Farm Workers)

Imagine you are 15 years old and you woke up this morning as your detention center roommate was being rushed to the hospital with a fever, sore throat, and a raspy cough.  (The Sentencing Project)

$15 doesn’t sound like much, I know. It could buy a nice lunch or a few fancy coffees…or it could provide emergency relief, lifesaving medical treatment, clean water and sanitation…right now. (International Medical Corps)

It’s personal. (Community Cooks)

It’s just an “LGBTQ Safe Zone” sticker. Yet, when you put it up in your synagogue, JCC, day school, or other communal space, you just might change the world. (Keshet, for LGBTQ equality in Jewish life)

Maria left an unsafe home and a volatile relationship and found her way to a shelter in Cambridge earlier this year. (Second Chances)

How many times have you seen a homeless woman on the street, and passed by with neither of you any better off? (On the Rise)

How a Great First Sentence Works

If you’re like me, you receive dozens of appeal letters over the course of a year. What was it about these examples that caught my eye and made me want to know more?

  1. Story. The first sentences in the letters from RESPOND and Second Chances put me right into the middle of the action. As a reader, I had to find out what happened next.
  2. Surprise. The International Medical Corps and Keshet spotlighted a small action I could take that could have a dramatic result.
  3. High stakes. The Sentencing Project made me imagine a teenager who could be getting Covid-19, a matter of life and death.
  4. Emotion. Some of these letters frightened me. Some inspired me. Some made me discontent with the way things are now. Some made me smile at the thought of how things could be.
  5. The letter was about me…and someone who needs help.
    • The UFW got me to bristle at the thought of “high-priced lawyers” taking away my right to give.
    • On the Rise made me think about how it would feel to have a genuine relationship with that woman on the street.
    • Community Cooks captured the essence of why most people donate: because it’s personal.

Notice what these first sentences didn’t do

All these first sentences avoided the deadly weaknesses that send so many appeal letters to the recycling bin, unread and unanswered.

They didn’t speak in generalities, but got down to cases.

They didn’t talk about what matters to the organization: the fiscal year coming to an end, or a budget that has to be balanced, for instance. In fact, they didn’t mention the organization at all.

Instead, all of them pinpointed what would matter to me, the donor. They literally put me first.

Two Ways to Make a Good First Impression with Your Next Appeal Letter

When do you write your next fundraising appeal letter? Maybe you’re working on it right now. Here are two things you can do make that first sentence a winner.

Find it in what you’ve already written. Take a look at your current draft. Are the first few sentences (or paragraphs!) humdrum? Did it take you a while to get to the part that’s going to be exciting to the donor? Then you can either move the exciting part ahead of routine part,  up to the first sentence–or just cut the beginning you have now and begin with what the donor will want to hear.

Write the first sentence last. If you’ve got a lot of good material but nothing to make the donor have to read it, put yourself in the mind of the person who’s picking up your letter in the mail. What is there about what you’re saying that you can say simply, briefly, in an exciting way?

Make that the first sentence, before it goes in the mail. You’ll make a good first impression–and more money for your cause.

Fundraising Tuesday: Incorporating Prospect Research into Donor Communications

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A guest post by Sandra Davis of Donorly

As a nonprofit marketing or fundraising professional, you know communication is critical for building relationships with donors and prospects. Your communication strategy is how you get to know supporters personally and earn their trust, and it can help you retain their support over the long term.

Whenever you face an obstacle in your role, such as trying to figure out how to boost donor retention or lead your organization through a crisis, a strong communication approach can help you get back on track. But if you work with a small staff or wear many hats within your organization, it can be easy to let your communication strategy take a backseat.

This is where prospect research comes in. Prospect research is a straightforward way to learn more about your audience and connect with them on a deeper level. It can also connect you with prospective donors you may not have even considered.

When you incorporate prospect research into your donor communications, it can help you:

  • Get in touch with the right people.
  • Connect with donors on a personal level.
  • Determine the most effective communication channels.
  • Leverage prospects’ personal and professional connections.

Before we dive in, keep in mind that prospect research is most often thought of in the context of identifying major donors for large-scale fundraising campaigns. Nevertheless, as Donorly’s fundraising strategy guide explains, it’s always worth it to take time to understand all of your audience members and figure out how to reach them effectively, even in smaller-scale fundraising efforts. Let’s get started!

Get in touch with the right people

Your first step is to make sure you’re talking to the right people. You don’t want to waste time and resources sending messages to people who aren’t likely to engage with them.

Insights gathered from prospect research help you get in touch with the people who are most likely to interact with and donate to your organization. Share on X

Using screening tools and publicly available data, you can not only identify wealthier prospects with the capacity to give to your cause, but also learn more about those who demonstrate an affinity for your work. DonorSearch defines affinity to give as “the strength of [a donor’s] natural connection to a cause. The inclination to support a cause can be emotional, social, or political in nature.”

In the prospect research process, this resource recommends searching for prospects with characteristics like:

  • An existing relationship with your nonprofit. Search for prospects who have remained engaged with your organization over a longer period, actively volunteering, donating, or interacting in other ways. These supporters are more likely to be open to continued communication from your organization.
  • Past involvement with similar organizations. The prospect research process can also reveal information about those who’ve never interacted with your organization. In this case, you can use charitable giving databases or the annual reports of other nonprofits to search for people who’ve given to similar causes in the past. This reveals individuals who care about your issue area and may want to get involved with your organization.
  • Past political donations. Political contributions signify the causes that motivate prospects. They also reveal those who are willing and able to give to causes they care about.
  • Wealth indicators. Readily available data such as an individual’s real estate holdings, stock ownership, and sometimes even their job description can reveal information about their level of wealth. This can help ensure you’re focusing a more deliberate, personalized communication strategy on prospects who are capable of making a larger gift to your organization.

You can pursue prospect research on your own, using tools such as your internal donor records, government records, and prospect research databases. However, this can be a lengthy process, and you may feel like you don’t have the experience or time needed to fully dive into this research.

This is where it may be worth it to look into hiring a prospect research expert who can provide support and help gather insights.

Connect with donors on a personal level

Nowadays, supporters are bombarded with social media and email messages every day from brands and other nonprofits seeking to engage with them. Most of us have become skilled at detecting generic communications versus more personalized messages.

Generic nonprofit communications are easy to spot—these messages typically start with “Dear Supporter” and deliver a wide range of information that may or may not be relevant to all recipients. Personalized messages, on the other hand, speak directly to supporters and open the door to new relationships.

You can make your communications more personal and inspire greater passion in donors using prospect research. With your prospect research process, you can identify:

  • Prospects’ preferred names. Messages addressing supporters by name are much more effective because they make it clear that your organization sees its supporters as individuals and not just a nameless source of funding.
  • Causes that prospects care about. When you identify other nonprofits or political organizations that your prospects have been involved with, it provides clues about what they value. You can use this information to emphasize different aspects of your mission in your communications.

For example, let’s say your organization is focused on planting trees in an urban area. If a prospect has contributed to an organization dedicated to fighting climate change, you can emphasize the power of trees to remove carbon dioxide from the air and improve local environments. This could help influence them to give to your organization as well.

Determine the most effective communication channels

A powerful communications strategy isn’t just about what you say — it’s also about how you say it. You might have a solid message that you think is optimized to drive new donations and support for your cause, but if you’re not using the right engagement channels, you won’t be able to reach prospects effectively.

Prospect research can help you access information about prospects’ preferred platforms to ensure you’re speaking their language.

For instance, let’s say you discover that many of your prospects are older, retired individuals. In this case, you might decide to use direct-mail marketing to get in touch with them since this form of communication appeals to older generations.

On the other hand, you might discover many of your prospects are younger people. To connect with them, you might decide to place more emphasis on your social media posting and messaging to connect with them.

Lastly, if you discover that many of your prospects live in the same area, you can use flyers or targeted social media posts to catch their attention. For instance, you can create a paid Facebook ad and direct it toward people who live in a certain geographic area.

Leverage prospects’ personal and professional connections

The prospect research process can reveal another valuable piece of data about your potential supporters—their professional and personal connections. You can use these connections to understand your prospects better and communicate relevant information to them.

For example, you may discover a prospect has personal connections with other donors to your nonprofit, such as being family members or friends.

This signifies that they’ll likely be more willing to engage with your organization since their loved one is also involved. They might have even contributed in the past to support a friend’s peer-to-peer fundraiser on behalf of your organization.

Plus, when you reach out to these prospects, it won’t be completely out of the blue since they’re probably already aware of your organization through their family and friends.

When it comes to leveraging your prospects’ professional connections, the prospect research process can also give you access to information about where prospects work. This can help you identify opportunities to cash in on corporate matching gifts.

A corporate matching gift program is a type of philanthropy where businesses pledge to match donations made by their employees to eligible nonprofits. When you know where a certain prospect works, you can use a matching gift database to research their eligibility. Or, if you already have several current donors who work at the same organization and who have submitted matching gifts, you’ll know that your prospect is also eligible.

Sandra Davis prospect researchFounder and President Sandra Davis leads Donorly with 30 years of fundraising experience and leadership. Sandra has consulted on numerous capital campaigns, led strategic planning and feasibility study efforts,

and managed board development and recruitment efforts, planned giving, special events, and annual giving programs. Under her leadership, Donorly has grown to support the fundraising efforts of over 75 clients to date.

TY Thursday: Gratitude–It’s a Gift

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The first step your nonprofit ought to take to show your gratitude to donors is sending out the ideal thank-you letter, within forty-eight hours of receiving the donation. That will already make your donors happy.

The second step is to make a plan to thank the donors throughout the year. Beginning with a welcome packet, and continuing with reports that show the impact of their donations throughout the year, you can make donors glad they gave and eager to hear from you again.

What about sending donors a gift in return? Is it a good idea to include a premium when you ask (or to reward their donation afterward with something tangible)? Or not?

premiums express gratitude

The Gifts I Got For Giving

Judging by my mail, many nonprofits think including a good way to say thank you–sometimes, in advance–is by giving me something I can use.

I’ve received:

  • Return address labels from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Hadassah, Amnesty International, and even from AAA
  • Bumper stickers from the National LGBTQ Task Force, Keshet, and Planned Parenthood
  • A recipe for Iced Hibiscus Tea with Dark Spices from UNRWA
  • Sticky notes from Partners in Health

Women to Women International has plied me with multiple gifts: a notepad, a set of cards and envelopes, and even offered me a handmade friendship bracelet made by a woman in Rwanda (in return for a gift of $20 or more).

Women for Women premiums

It’s worth noting that I’ve only ever given to about half of these good causes! Clearly, for my wife and me, expressing gratitude through premiums is not a useful fundraising tactic.

But are we typical that way?

The Psychology of Getting Paid

There’s a famous psychology experiment in which two sets of participants are asked to do exactly the same tasks. The only difference: Group A are told they’ll be paid a small amount for doing the work. Group B are doing it for free.

After the task is done, the psychologists ask: How interesting did you find the tasks? Do you think they were useful? Would you be willing to do them again?

The answers are extremely relevant to us as fundraisers!

The paid group found the tasks less interesting and less useful than the group who did the work for free. The paid group were also less likely to want to do the work again in the future.

Why did getting paid make a difference? The psychologists believe that Group A told themselves a story about the tasks: “I’m just doing it for the money.”

Group B wasn’t getting paid, so they had to come up with a different explanation. They found something interesting and worthwhile about the tasks–because surely they wouldn’t be doing something that was boring and without purpose!

Do donors look at giving the way these participants looked at their tasks? And if so, which story do you want donors to be telling themselves about your organization?

I gave for the note cards (or bumper sticker, or bracelet). I don’t really support the organization all that much. I might not give again unless they make me a better offer. or

I gave because something about this organization moved me. They’re the kind of group I support, and so I might give again, the next time they ask.

The choice seems clear. But what do the experts say?

Do Premiums Help You Get & Keep Donors?

“Organizations believe that offering thank-you gifts increases charitable donations, but they actually reduce donation amounts,” says George Newman, assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management. (Therefore, Jay Love of Bloomerang recommends you spend your money on staff time to call and say thank you, instead!)

On the other hand, “Premiums can drive significant, incremental fundraising success in donor acquisition, reactivation, and retention programs,” according to Michael Kulpinsky of Innovaire Communications. “Premiums that offer strong mission-based tie-ins worked the best.”

Neesha from Causevox wants you to remember that last point. “Extrinsic fundraising gifts make people feel selfish,” she says, and you want them to feel generous. “Don’t use them as an incentive for first-time givers or to people who are not actively involved. You’ll be encouraging a bad habit.”

Instead, if you do use premiums to show gratitude to donors,  give them “goods that reflect the direct impact of your work.” Like that friendship bracelet from Women to Women I mentioned, or “a personal letter from a child who you sponsored for her education.”

My expert opinion? If you are a smaller nonprofit, there are other ways to express your attitude of gratitude that you should start doing today.

Gratitude Can Be a Gift in Itself

The message on the outside of the bold blue envelope read, “Your Certificate of Appreciation is enclosed.”

Look at what I saw when I opened the envelope.

GBFB gratitude

It’s an actual certificate, like one you might put up on your wall. It’s signed by the President of the Greater Boston Food Bank, Catherine D’Amato. It uses a photo of three smiling faces to make Rona and me feel good about what we gave.

And right under the title, it actually says, “With deep gratitude.”

Even if I don’t hang it on a wall–even if it goes into the recycling bin–this piece of paper makes a greater impression on me than all the return address labels in the world.

And it doesn’t make me feel like I got paid for giving. It makes me feel I was thanked.

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