The Make or Break Part of the Ask

A dependable revenue stream that grows—ah, paradise!

Have a fundraising challenge you want to crack? Weary of doing the same old, same old yet hoping for different outcomes? Do you want the over-the-top results that come from superior strategy?

Email me with your particular problem, and I'll arrange a quick consultation offering you a practical solution you can implement. I may even use your situation to share with my readers. Names are changed, of course!

Diane is the development officer for a youth-oriented charity in the Southwest. Her organization wants to improve the response rates in its direct mail efforts.

Last week, Diane reached out to me with a straightforward question. "What is the critical piece of a solicitation letter?"

I told her that the most important element of the solicitation letter is the part that will be most meaningful to the person receiving it.

I think she took my immediate response as being coy.

"What will that be?" she replied jokingly. Subtext: How can you possibly know that?

As people's needs and interests vary, so will the critical element of the letter. Principle 6 of The Eight Principles^TM is Divide & Grow^TM. You treat different donors differently. It's really not so hard when you give it a little thought.

If it's someone who has never given, I told Laura, it's essential that she tie the potential supporter to her organization through the donor's known interests and how those interests intersect with her mission.

The donor's interests?

That's right, it's about the interests of the person to whom you're reaching out that coincide, in some way, with the mission of your organization.

I told Laura that everyone also wants to know how you are connected to him or her. People want to know whom you know that they know. Who suggested you reach out to them?