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Instead, you should have these unique items and experiences donated by companies or individuals in your community. But our efforts to won’t reach their maximum effectiveness unless we have the backing of the entire community. Our organization, , is actively trying to create solutions and solve the problems that our community is facing. Thank you for your interest in being a part of our volunteer team. Thank you in advance for your donation of time, energy, and service. In appreciation of your anticipated donation, we would like to offer you [incentive. If you’re able, we’d love it if you could make a donation of to help us achieve our mission and .
In your outreach, include other ways that businesses can help you if they can’t contribute financially. They might volunteer their venue for a fundraising event, or they might donate items to be sold. Reach out to businesses or organizations that align with your cause. If you’ve already sought the support of friends and family, asking local businesses for help is another way to keep the fundraising momentum going.
Cutting out this “middle man” shows donors the personal difference they can make. How will your email stand out among the many your contacts’ inboxes receive each day? 33% of email recipients are choosing whether to open your email just based on the subject line alone. This means crafting an intriguing subject line has the power to drive your reader to click or delete without opening. Our best tips for writing winning subject lines?
Personalize Your Message
Animal rescue organizations serve an important role in your community, and you can share the importance of your work when writing a fundraising letter. Additionally, you can tap into your readers’ emotional connection to animals to make the case for why they should give back. Every great donor management strategy includes segmentation—hopefully your contacts are already tagged so they can be grouped according to the needs of your email fundraising campaign.
I’m encouraged by the support I’ve already received, but I still need help reaching my fundraising goal of . How will the funds change your life or improve the life of your beneficiary? Readers will want to know right away why you’re raising funds and exactly how the money will be used, so be sure to answer these questions within the first few sentences of your email. Asking for help of any kind requires courage and vulnerability, and seeking financial help can be especially challenging. Thankfully, a solid fundraising email template can remove the fear of a blank page and give you a framework for writing email outreaches that will inspire others to give.
Top Fundraising Resources:
The image placement follows the story thread to highlight the difference in Carl at the beginning and the end. The quotes that follow let him explain in his own words the emotional impact. The images reinforce that this is a real person with a life and family. To give you some ideas, here are five fundraising email examples with best practices for how to ask for donations in email. Once the reader knows the most important information — what you need and why — bring in details to support your ask. Often this comes in the form of a beneficiary story that shows both the issue and the difference support can make.
Start your fundraising email with the issue you’re addressing. Tell the recipient why you’re writing to them in the first place. You could even personalize the introduction further by referencing the contact’s connection to your nonprofit. For example, if they are a regular or previous donor, say so.
Ways To Humanize Your Fundraising Emails And Why Thats Important
Explain your mission and outline your goal.Explain your need and how it fits into your overall mission. Your readers should understand how their donations will be used and who will benefit from them. Make sure to clearly explain the impact of the donor’s gift and how it will make a difference.
If not, and if you’ve never even heard of segmentation, now is a great time to get started learning this important practice. To retain donors over time and further your individual relationships, it’s important to balance your messaging. A well-crafted email adds a sense of urgency and can encourage people to donate to your cause. Don’t forget to include your fundraiser hashtag in your outreaches, and you might even consider throwing a Giving Tuesday fundraising event for maximum exposure. Read our blog post Top Ten Fundraising Event Ideas for fundraising event inspiration. What else can you do to make sure your email is effective? Stay away from large “spray and pray” blasts to your entire list.
- You’ll want to immediately address your congregant’s sense of commitment to your church and make the most out of the existing relationship with this individual.
- When you provide your fundraisers with the tips and tools they need, their ability to raise serious results is all the more likely.
- In order to get you started with your drafting, we’ve written some fundraising letter examples for different scenarios surrounding different types of campaigns.
- How you craft these messages will have a huge effect on both new and returning donors.
- You’ll want to make your ask quickly and get them to act on your CTA.
You have to make sure you have enough content, aka copy, to let the reader know and understand what you’re asking them to do which is often more info as opposed to less. And the only real way to know what your donors respond to or if they get your value proposition is to run tests and experiments. Aside from your email content and design, there are other best practices to bear in mind before hitting send on your fundraising campaign. A fundraising email isn’t just about pulling the readers’ heartstrings.
By giving to , you’ll be able to help us [accomplish goal, assist members of our community, save lives, etc. Your animal rescue should also send tailored letters to different groups in your community. These could include individuals who adopted pets from your rescue, volunteers, or helpful members of the community who have dropped off lost or stray animals at your shelter.
Focus On Your Fundraising Offer
Send your fundraising event invitations no later than 4 weeks out from the event, but it’s best to send invites approximately 3 months ahead of time. The person you’re writing to likely understands the issues that affect your area. Introduce your fundraising letter by addressing these concerns and letting your recipient know how they can help. If your fundraising letter is vague about the particulars of your event, your recipient is going to be less trusting.
How To Write Awesome Emails Your Donors Want To Read
Ften the first part of your email that a recipient sees is the subject line, so it’s critical that you get it right to convince them to open your message. Use descriptive and action words to make your subject line compelling, while keeping it concise. If possible, use your email marketing platform to personalize the subject with your recipient’s name. For a push in the right direction, here are some great fundraising email subject lines to inspire you.
Emotional Storytelling
However, the best advice is to test for your audience. Take the same fundraising email and try two different send times or days to see which brings in the most donations. Then use any insights to inform future campaigns.
Tell donors about a person or group who has benefited from your work. I am fundraising to [insert reason why you’re fundraising], and I could really use the help of local businesses like yours. [Summarize why you need help in 1-3 short sentences to provide background information, and tie this into your local community]. Below is a sample donation request letter to a company that you can use in outreaches. Reporters are more likely to put your fundraiser in the news if you give them all the necessary information up front in a short and engaging email. Avoid using your fundraiser description as the pitch, since that text is written for potential donors, not the press.
When possible, put names or faces to the people, animals or social justice issue that the campaign will help. The more targeted your request, the more it will likely resonate with your audience, and thus, the more likely your supporters are to donate. Our Giving Tuesday email template below helps you create an outreach for this specific event.
The messaging uses social proof by referencing those who’ve already given and the amount raised. Meanwhile, the waitlist gives a sense of urgency for those who are yet to donate. Another strategy is to highlight how close you are to your fundraising goal. Take this year-end appeal, which Big Brothers Vancouver created and sent with Sendinblue’s email campaign software.