A checklist before you send the fundraising letter

Before you start writing

• Do we know who we are writing to?
• Do we have a clear and simple problem?
• Do we have a clear, simple and concrete solution, with an acceptable price?
• Do we have a fitting emotional story about one person who illustrates the problem?
• Do we have a fitting, serious image of this person?
• Do we know why it is urgent?

Leif's checklist

This is the checklist from the DM Lab, to go through once the letter is written.

• Do I quickly see what it is about?
• Why is there a great need for your financial support?
• What do we do when we get your support?
• Why do we need it right now?
• Do we focus on one thing?
• Do we put the donor at the centre?
• Is the problem easy to understand?
• Is the solution easy to understand?
• Can my small contribution make a difference?
• Does it build on emotional signals more than numbers and dry facts?
• Do we use faces, eyes and gaze direction to steer the gaze?
• Could a fifth grader understand it?
• Was it written by someone who cares?

The ask

The ask comes at the emotional high point. Make it simple, make it concrete, and do nothing else. That is the advice from Jeff Brooks.

Include a concrete amount in the donor's own currency and a channel she knows. Repeat the ask in the PS, tied to an effect and with a concrete sum.

Seven moves from letters that did well

The b.bold presentation pulls out patterns from an analysis of mailings with good results.

• A sensory opening with smell, taste, sound or sight.
• A scene in the present tense.
• A question that awakens the recipient's own memory.
• A personal confession from the sender, for example “this moves me”.
• A threat image where something we fight for is under threat.
• “I see you”, meaning recognition of the donor.
• An ask tied to an effect, repeated in the PS with a concrete sum.