Request Newsletter | Business Online Website | Government Information | Submit Articles and News | Return To Main Page
| |
| |
|
Copywriting Information |
|
|
|
Lapsed Donors: How to Write a Fundraising Letter That Wins Them Back
Your definition may differ, but I define a lapsed donor as someone who has not donated to your organization within the last year, two years or three years. Donors who have not sent you a gift in over three years are not lapsed donors. They are former donors. Lapsed donors are valuable. Unlike strangers, they have supported you before. And they believe in your mission enough to have sent you a gift (or gifts). That means they are worth mailing to. You can expect to receive an 11 percent response rate from a mailing to lapsed donors if your results are typical, says fundraising expert Kent Dove (Conducting a Successful Fundraising Program. Jossey-Bass, 2001). Here are some tips on writing an appeal letter that will win them back. In the fund development profession, the letter you write is called a recovery letter because it aims to recover donors who have lapsed. 1. Write to one person 2. Say "we miss you" 3. Invite the donor to come back 4. Customize your appeal "The last time we heard from you, you had generously responded to the humanitarian crisis in Honduras. You sent us a gift that helped us meet the immediate needs of that emergency. Today, I am writing to you because I think you can help us overcome another crisis." 5. Match your language to the length of lapse 12-month lapsed 24-month lapsed 36-month lapsed 6. Tailor your ask 7. Win back their hearts and minds The two most important things to say in a recovery letter are that you miss the donor and that their support made a big difference in the lives of the people your organization serves. "A carefully crafted appeal that lets past donors know they are important, appreciated and missed almost always produces a net income," says Stanley Weinstein (The Complete Guide to Fundraising Management). © 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). 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.
MORE RESOURCES:
Copywriting - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Headline Writing Can Lead To Fortunes: Here Are The Basics Of Writing Headlines Headlines attract attention. Headlines generate interest. Freelancers Can Jump-Start Your Publicity Initiative If you find that your progress is blocked by a lack of time or experience, consider hiring a freelancer to jumpstart your project.Writer's block got you down? Don't let it. 16 Golden Rules of Master Copywriting You could spend thousands of dollars on advertisement and have extremely low or no results in sales because of your poor planed copy. You shouldn't be amazed by the fact that huge corporations all over the world do that mistake and waste millions of dollars on false advertisement campaigns. Copywriting Businesses - How You Can Get Started Do you have the training and skills needed for copywriting?Are you looking for a way to get your foot in the door?Will you have what it takes to succeed with your copywriting businesses?For many, these three questions drive them day in and day out to become the person that people demand time with. Still for others, the business aspects of copywriting have just been easy to get. Ghostwriting: Your Questions Answered Many people feel they have a story to tell or an experience to share. But time is precious and not everyone can make the words sing on the page. Writing Effective Sales Copy Whether you run a home-based business or Microsoft, one thing is always true: products do not sell themselves. So what makes customers buy? Words. Writing Tips for Your Website Now that your website is up and running, it's time to add content. Fresh content will make your site interesting and keep people (and search engine crawlers) coming back. 3 Tips For Writing Content That Will Make You Sales Content is king. Without content your website is an empty shell, a skeleton with no flesh, an empty vessel. Dont Be Satisfied With Your First Draft Sometimes it's a struggle to figure out what's the best thing to say. You're writing a heading, the first sentence of an email, the introduction to a newsletter, a short description on a homepage. Copywriting FAQs One of the biggest challenges a copywriter faces is to make future clients feel confident in his or her ability. You know you can deliver, but your clients don't know that. Why Copywriting Is The Secret To Your Online Success Over the last decade, the number of companies selling their products and services on the Web or sharing information online with their target market has exploded.It's no longer frowned upon to conduct your business on the Web, and huge numbers of people are making a healthy living doing just that. The Truth About Negative Commands (Dont Read This!) Everyday when I read promotional emails and advertisements, or listen to television commercials and dialogue in shows and movies, or hear people around me in everyday life use commands such as the following examples, I feel dismayed for them.This is because I understand something that many others do NOT!And, since learning what I now understand, while I am BOMBARDED every day from all directions with commands like those listed below, in all their variations, I feel worse and worse for not speaking up!I feel especially badly for all those advertisers out there who are ignorant about this, because I also realize they are often sincerely excited about what they are sharing and are working very hard to attract the attention of others. A Writers Secrets Every person has secrets that only he or she knows, secrets that are not shared with anyone, not even the most intimate friends, partners, even soul mates. These secrets may be righteous or sinister, yet for reasons, often unknown, they are never revealed to any other person. Advice for Copywriters: How to Win the Freelance Bidding War Are you a freelance copywriter working from home? If so, you've probably been on the project bidding war sites, like elance.com. 11 Things You MUST Know Before Hiring a Copywriter! If you're considering hiring copywriting help for your next brochure, Web site, or marketing project. Congratulations! You should get great results if you hire a pro to do it right. How To Ethically Use A Swipe File For Your Ad Copy Did you ever wish you could afford to hire one of those professional copy writers who charge $5000 or more to write a simple sales letter? Or worse, have you laid down your hard-earned cash for a self-proclaimed "professional" writer, and gotten back something your 3rd grader could have written?If you spend countless hours staring at a blank page trying to come up with compelling ad copy for that "killer" sales letter (you know, the one that's going to make you rich beyond your wildest dreams?).. Four Things Every Web Site Headline Must Do As you know, I'm constantly making the point that the text on web sites is not given enough attention. Which is unfortunate, because the headlines on site pages make huge demands on the skills of any writer. Steps to a Writing an Effective Press Releases Want to get the most media attention and spotlight for your business? Then the first place to start is with a GREAT press release. Now I can almost see half of you leaving now, dreading the thought of having to write one of these. Its Time To Start That Swipe File Just as great fiction is an art, so is great copywriting. Beneath the art, however, there's a foundation of basic knowledge and skills. Getting Paid for Your Articles If you've been writing web articles to help promote your business, you may also wonder if you can write articles and get paid for it. What type of articles will land you some extra cash, and what control do you have over the resubmission of your content once you hand it over to the editors?Type 1.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
