Episode #225
Does better writing equal better fundraising?
When I sat down and talked with Stuart Grover, he started telling me about how important good writing was to fundraising. Since he’s one of the most successful fundraisers I know, I had to ask him for some writing tips.
In today’s video, Stuart shares four of the rules he follows when writing fundraising appeals and letters.
If you have any stories or advice on writing fundraising letters or appeals, please share them in a comment box under the video. Your nonprofit friends will appreciate it.
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If you have any stories or advice on writing fundraising letters or appeals, please share them in a comment box. Your nonprofit friends will appreciate it. 🙂
I agree with most of what is said, however would add Integrity and Passion ~ it has worked for me!
Thank you Stuart!
You don’t know how many times I have sat ans stared at the screen of blank and thinking to myself what do I put now. I also appreciate your humor advice here as well. Although humour is a good thing, I would have never used it the way you pointed it out. Ouch!
For a good reference on using humor though, see Gostick and Christopher’s Book, The Levity Effect. It give a great set of rules and eays to liven up presentations, emails and phone messages without going overboard, and hitting that humor “sweet” spot. However, knowing your audience is truly essential.
Thanks for a great video!
I agree. Good writing is paramount. Passion is also very important in fundraising. If you are not passionate about what you are asking someone else to support, then you need to find something else to do. That being said, passion can also get you into trouble if not put in check. Make sure your passion does not override your good sense. Always be professional! This guy got it right that what is put out there represents who you are as an organization. Comedy is not a good thing in writing, often people will not understand that you are joking.
Sure we don’t want to make mistakes. But don’t be so fearful that you don’t push the envelope. Being safe is boring, and doesn’t bring in strong results. If you don’t fail some of the time, you aren’t trying hard enough! We have a motto where I work: Fail fast and move on.
I enjoyed the video. I too have sat and stared at a blank screen trying to start out just the right way. When in fact, what I heard was just get it down and out of my head, then go back and rearrange and edit.
Thank you,
If you would just edit yourself, you’d save a Lot of people a Lot of time!