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Fundraising Tuesday: The Last Words Shall Be First

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P.S. postscriptMore than 100 appeal letters arrived at the Fischman household last November and December. About two-thirds of them came feet first.

By that I mean that, like your donors, I read the postscript right away.

The p.s. is one of the first things donors read after we open the envelope–probably right after checking to see whether you call your donors by our names. You will make more money if you get the postscript right.

So, how do you write a postscript your donors will love?

Include a Postscript

sad news, happy newsThe sad news is that 37 appeal letters didn’t include any postscript at all.

True, some of them were in a format that didn’t look like a letter. It’s hard to put a p.s. on a report or a sheet of coupons. (That may be a reason not to use those formats very often!)

But many of those 37 were classic appeal letters that came to the signature line and just ended. That’s sad–for the senders.

For your nonprofit, the happy news: it may have given your letter the chance to be noticed. If you used a postscript, good for you!

Make It Urgent

More than 30 letters used their p.s. to stress the reason for giving now.

I was glad to see that none of them said “so we can meet our goal”–that’s your reason to write, not their reason to give. None of them mentioned tax-deductibility, and that’s good: it’s not the reason most people give either.

Most of the time, nonprofits used the postscript to do one of two things:

  • Simply urge the donor not to wait (stressing how easy it is to give online), or,
  • Reiterate the reason to give. “Immigrant families are waiting to find out whether they will be deported. Help them get the legal help they need, today!”

The very best examples made the postscript into a story in brief. They referred back to the clients whose stories they told in the body of the letter and reminded donors, “You can be their hero.”

Experiment with a Call To Action

act nowMostly I advise nonprofits to keep the postscript simple. Ask people to do just one thing: give money. But 18 of the appeal letters I saw this year asked for an additional action.

Some of them requested the donor take steps to make their donation worth more, like “Check if your employer will match your donation.” Others suggested the donor take another action besides giving: fill in a survey, pick a design for a membership card, alert the organization when ICE was in the area.

I’m curious: did your nonprofit try an additional Call To Action in the postscript to your appeal letter? What was the response like? Did people who took that extra step give extra money?

 

Fundraising Tuesday: Remember the Postscript. Donors Do!

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Surprising but true: without a good postscript, your donors may not even read your nonprofit’s appeal letter. And that would be a shame.

How a Postscript Says “Read This Letter”

Postscript to fundraising appeal

The p.s. is the second thing donors read–after their own name!

Very few of us read a letter from top to bottom, in order.

  • First, the envelope helps us decide whether to open and read it at all.
  • Second, the salutation draws us in or pushes us away.
  • Images, captions, and subheadings all catch the eye before we ever look at the main text of the letter.

Above all (or below all!), the postscript grabs the reader’s attention. Direct mail expert Gary Henricksen quotes research that tells us:

Over 90 percent of readers read the PS before the letter. It is the first paragraph, not the last. Share on X

Postscripts Raise Money

It stands to reason that the p.s.helps your nonprofit get more donations. After all, how many donors are going to pitch your letter in the recycling bin and still give you money? But don’t take it from me. Ask the experts.

Decades of eye motion studies have shown that the first two things readers look at when opening a letter are their name and the postscript. –John Killoran

A donor reading a P.S. is a donor looking for information. And that’s your opportunity. –Alan Sharpe

In direct mail (and sometimes email), the PS is the most important thing you write. It’s one of the most-read parts of your message. It’s worth spending some time on to make it really sing. –Jeff Brooks

The P.S. gives you a chance to reinforce your message and include a strong call to action right above the reply device. –Emily Hunsaker

So craft a postscript with

  1. What you’re asking people to give to
  2. How much you’re asking them to give
  3. And a deadline for when that gift should be given –Marc Pitman

Remember:  A good PS offers some or all of the following:

  • A sense of urgency
  • Appreciation
  • A tangible way to help
  • A specific amount of money to give
  • An ask for monthly giving
  • A limited time opportunity –Rebecca H. Davis

Why Aren’t You Writing a Postscript?

There are all these reasons for including a p.s. with every fundraising letter, and very few reasons not to.  So I’m glad to say that out of the 72 nonprofit organizations who sent me a year-end appeal, most of them (39) included a postscript.

Some of them chose to reinforce the message “Give now.” They said just that, “Give today”–or they gave me a link so I could donate online, immediately, instead of putting their letter into the pile.

Some of them gave me a tangible reason to give. They offered to send me a premium if I made my donation before the end of the year, or they appealed to my generosity by telling me my gift would be matched two or three times.

Some told me I would make a difference. Some asked me, “Do you want to accomplish” some amazing result–and urged me to answer “Yes!”

You can find samples of great postscripts just by clicking the links in this post. If you feel creative, great: write your own! But being original is not important. Capturing the reader’s attention while you have it, is.

P.S. Don’t Miss Your Chance to Get More Gifts!

If you are like the 33 other nonprofits who asked me for money at the end of 2017–the one who didn’t include a postscript–you may have missed your chance.

“May have.” Perhaps you’ve done the research, and your particular set of donors is unlike the vast majority. Maybe they read every word. Maybe they find a p.s. annoying. And maybe they are so loyal that they will give to your organization no matter what you send.

I wouldn’t bet on it.

And that is what you’re doing if you don’t include a P.S. in your fundraising appeal. You are betting the financial success of your organization on the hope that your donors are so special, you don’t have to do what works.

And if you’re wrong, some other organization is getting the donations you were hoping the donor would send to you.

Why not try it out? Make this year the year you start using postscripts to get more donations.

 

This is the second of a series about improving your nonprofit’s fundraising appeal letters that will appear on Communicate! throughout the next two months. Next up: the photo.

Fundraising Letters HAVE to Improve in 2016!

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Fundraising lettersSince Thanksgiving, I have received 90 fundraising appeals through the mail. I spent a morning looking through each and every one of them.

Friends, we have to do better.

7 Reasons You’re Not Getting Enough Donations (and what you can do about it)

1) You’re starting your letter “Dear Friend.”  32 out of 90 letters I received called me Friend or Supporter–or didn’t call me anything at all.  Wrong!

As fundraising expert Gail Perry says, “Your donor expects that you know her name and who she is, since she’s been sending you money for a while!”  Fix this by using a good database and adding a First Name mail merge field to your appeal letter.

2) You’re mainly talking about your organization. 47 out of 90 letters were in French: they said “we, we, we.” But that’s making your organization the hero of the story!

As Seth Godin has pointed out, in a good appeal letter, the donor is the hero of the story.  That’s why they give. Fix this by talking about how the donors are helping to right wrongs, save lives, or help people.

3) You’re not telling an “impact story.”  There are six types of stories that nonprofits should tell. In your appeal letter, you should tell an impact story, showing how the donors’ contribution makes a difference.  41 out of the 90 letters I received told just the facts, ma’am. Another 29 included a brief quotation from a client, or a general anecdote about a client, and how the agency helped them.

These letters blur on me. They all sound alike. Fix this by telling a compelling story about one person whose life is better because the donor helped.

4) You’re not including a photo. People are becoming more visually oriented, and a photo helps your appeal stand out. Yet 40 of 90 letters I received were text only! Another 24 included blurry black-and-white photos, or nice color photos that added nothing to the message.

Fix this by taking striking photos of people in action throughout the year. Then you won’t have to scramble for a picture in December.

5) You’re not letting me know you appreciate what I already gave.  This, I find really shocking: 60 out of 90 letters I received–a full two-thirds–used exactly the same language to me that they would use to someone who had never given them a penny!

Fix this by segmenting your list, writing different letters to prospects, lapsed donors, and renewing donors, and acknowledging the date and amount of the previous gift.

6) You’re not personalizing your letters. It used to be a no-brainer for Executive Directors, Development Directors, or Board members who knew the donor to write a personal note on appeal letters. People, we are going in the wrong direction on this! 81 out of 90 letters arrived in my mailbox with no personal touches whatever–even when my wife and I have known the person sending the letter for many years.

Fix this by composing your appeals long enough in advance to add those personal notes…and doing so. (Kudos to the Davis-Putter Scholarship Fund, whose Director, Carol Kraemer, wrote by hand, “So grateful for your wonderful, longtime support!” You can count on a renewed gift from the Fischmans.)

7) You’re neglecting the power of the postscript. When people read letters, they look at the banner, the salutation, and the first line…and then their eyes jump to the bottom of the page. I’m happy to say that 60 of the letter-writers realized that (even if their P.S. was a bit perfunctory).

As for the 30 of you who didn’t add a postscript, you skipped doing the simplest thing you can do to increase donations! Fix this. Add a postscript unless there’s a really good reason not to.

Look for Tips on Tuesday

You may be wondering now, “What did our appeal letters look like?” Go back and check your letter. If you made even one of those seven mistakes, you probably left donation money on the table.

How do you write better fundraising letters? I can help.

Between now and Tax Day 2016, read this blog every Tuesday. You will get a no-nonsense, how-to, “do it today” tip on every aspect of your appeal letter, from the salutation to the P.S.

Some of them will be so easy you’ll kick yourself for not doing them before! Some will take a little work–but I will show you how to do them, step by step, with video when necessary.

Look for Tips on Tuesday beginning next week, January 12!

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