{"id":1141,"date":"2016-12-12T13:39:23","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T13:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2016-12-13T12:08:32","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T12:08:32","slug":"is-your-annual-appeal-appealing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/is-your-annual-appeal-appealing\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Annual Appeal, Appealing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many nonprofit organizations send out a letter to their constituents near the end of the calendar year, appealing for a final donation. This is known as an “annual appeal.” This type of fundraising solicitation is generally sent to people who are already members, donors, volunteers, or in some cases service-recipients, of an organization.<\/p>\n

A good annual appeal is a work of art.\u00a0 The writer must truly understand the reason’s for which the organization’s members\/ constituents stay engaged and make a compelling, urgent rationale for giving. I have written scores of these letters over the years; here are some important elements to consider when crafting your appeal:<\/p>\n

Relevance<\/span> — connect the organization’s current project(s) to readers’ interests
\n+ What major accomplishments has organization achieved in the past year?
\n+ How has this work made the target community\/ demographic a better place?
\n+ Describe how the organization is uniquely positioned to achieve tits goals<\/p>\n

Urgency\/ Need<\/span> — what critical, timely need in the community is being addressed?
\n+ Describe the current situation\/ what problems are facing your target community?
\n+ Use statistics & facts to illustrate the challenges facing community\/ demographic
\n+ What has changed in the past year, which has created undue hardship for community\/ demographic?
\n+ Use current events as context to make your case<\/p>\n

Connection<\/span> — make the reader feel<\/em> the importance of your work
\n+ Use a personal anecdote or describe how the problem is affecting real people and how your project will help
\n+ Connect your work to the reader’s personal narrative\/ history<\/p>\n

Timeliness<\/span> — explain why reader’s support is needed now
\n+<\/em> How will the donor’s contribution help change current situation?
\n<\/span>+ When will their funds be used<\/p>\n

The Ask<\/span> — make it explicit!
\n+ If you know giving history for individual, ask for a specific amount
\n+ Clearly state how their donation will be used
\n+ State that donation is tax-deductible (if your organization has appropriate designation)
\n+ If donation will be leveraged or matched, explain how<\/p>\n

Organization<\/span> — the letter should be well organized
\n+ Use clear language; proof read and spell check several times!
\n+ Flow should be engaging and logical with seamless transitions<\/p>\n

If your organization needs to get out an annual appeal letter before the end of the year, contact Aaron immediately<\/a><\/span>; there still may be time. Our fee for a 1-page letter with a credit card\/ donation tear off (not including graphics) is $300. Below is a sample.<\/p>\n

\"Gratn<\/p>\n

\"Grant<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many nonprofit organizations send out a letter to their constituents near the end of the calendar year, appealing for a final donation. This is known as an “annual appeal.” This type of fundraising solicitation is generally sent to people who are already members, donors, volunteers, or in some cases service-recipients, of an organization. A good annual appeal is a work of art.\u00a0 The writer must truly understand the reason’s for which the organization’s members\/ constituents stay engaged and make a compelling, urgent rationale for giving. I have written scores of these letters over the years; here are some important elements to consider when crafting your appeal: Relevance — connect the organization’s current project(s) to readers’ interests + What major accomplishments has organization achieved in the past year? + How has this work made the target community\/ demographic a better place? + Describe how the organization is uniquely positioned to achieve tits goals Urgency\/ Need — what critical, timely need in the community is being addressed? + Describe the current situation\/ what problems are facing your target community? + Use statistics & facts to illustrate the challenges facing community\/ demographic + What has changed in the past year, which has created undue hardship for community\/ demographic? + Use current events as context to make your case Connection — make the reader feel the importance of your work + Use a personal anecdote or describe how the problem is affecting real people and how your project will help + Connect your work to the reader’s personal narrative\/ history Timeliness — explain why reader’s support is needed now + How will the donor’s contribution help change current situation? + When will their funds be used The Ask — make it explicit! + If you know giving history for individual, ask for a specific amount + Clearly state how their donation will be used + State that donation is tax-deductible (if your organization has appropriate designation) + If donation will be leveraged or matched, explain how Organization — the letter should be well organized + Use clear language; proof read and spell check several times! + Flow should be engaging and logical with seamless transitions If your organization needs to get out an annual appeal letter before the end of the year, contact Aaron immediately; there still may be time. Our fee for a 1-page letter with a credit card\/ donation tear off (not including graphics) is $300. Below is a sample.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,47,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1141"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1146,"href":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions\/1146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aaronrome.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}