Raising Funds Through Letters And Cards

Posted by LowJeremy

April 3, 2008

There are a lot of ways to raise fund. There’s the car washing thing where you can ask people to let their cars be washed for a cause. And there’s the garage or bake sale that is a good way to both raise some funds and dispose of unnecessary stuff from your closets or storage rooms.

And then there’s the card. A variety of cards can be used as a vehicle to raise some money. You’ll find that discount cards and the scratch cards have high success rates of raising some funds when conducted properly. Using cards is an easy and fast way to raise some money.

Discount cards can appear in different forms. There are discount cards for food, products and services. The idea behind discount cards or any card fund raiser for that matter is that you are giving your donors something for the trouble and for their donation.

You offer your donors with discount cards or coupons that will help them save on particular purchases. When the donors avail of the cards, they not only commit to your cause but also get great discounts from your partners. By availing of these discounts, the donors will get back the money they donated through the discounts.

Likewise, the scratch card system works pretty much the same as the discount cards. The persons organizing the fund raiser will purchase from the sponsors at discounted price.

Then they will sell these scratch cards or coupons on a price that is affordable for the donors. The donors in return will purchase these cards to help out in the fund raisers’ campaign or cause. And in return, the donors will receive prices by scratching the cards and looking underneath.

It is said that through scratch cards, there’s a more than 80% chance of earning a profit. It is important to get good sponsors for your discount and scratch cards. Good sponsors will help you attract more donors.
Moreover, having good sponsors and establishing a great relationship with them will increase the chance of acquiring their help and sponsorships in future fund raising projects.

Not only do cards serve as a fund raising tool, but they serve as an advertising tool as well. You can print your organization and sponsor’s name on the cards.

You can even indicate in the card your specific fund raising goals. This will help disseminate information and help gather support for your cause. This particular method is also very easy for donors which give them little or no excuse but to donate to the cause.

For certain organizations like those that are non-profit enterprises, fundraising serves as the primary way of obtaining money for specific endeavors and operations which usually include a broad spectrum of concerns.

These fundraising efforts are usually targeted towards religious and philanthropic causes, research organizations, public broadcasters, and even political campaigns.

Aside from having a worthy cause or project and researching about the potential sources of funds, one of the most important aspects when getting into fundraising is through writing effective fundraising letters.

WRITING EFFECTIVE FUND-RAISING LETTERS

Despite the worthy cause of your project, a fundraising letter can make or unbreak you solicitation campaign. In order to avoid rejection because of ineffective fundraising letter, here are some tips you can use to get the fund or sponsor you need:

1. It pays to know your audience to have a good mailing list. This is one of the most basic things you need to consider when writing fundraising letters. By knowing your readers, you can easily determine the proper way of communicating with them.

You can also appeal to them once you are familiar with their values and interests. By having a good mailing list, you can also have an updated list of previous donors that can be the best candidates as sponsors.

2. Learn how to get your reader’s attention. It pays to use your creativity and imagination when writing letters. Using a creative “teaser copy” or a handwritten note that exudes a personal touch will definitely catch your reader’s attention right away.

You can also formulate your own “involvement device” in order to appeal to your readers’ heart by using vivid descriptions, anecdotes, and quotations. You can support this by using facts, and information and statistics.

3. Avoid too much formality. As much as possible, make your fundraising letter personal. You can do this by addressing the reader by his or her name to add personal approach.

4. Describe the benefits of giving in a mild manner. You can do this by telling your reader the specific details of your project and what will be the possibilities of the funds or gift collected.

5. Make the reader feel the project’s sense of urgency. By using your creativity, you can urge the reader to act right away. You can do this by briefly explaining why your request cannot wait and what are the possible scenarios once the project is nit carried out right away.

6. Never use fundraising cliches. Fundraising cliches will only bore your readers and they might think the project is nit worthy because little effort was exerted into it.

7. Use an effective “lift letter.” “Lift letters” are those short notes enclosed in the main letter. This serves as the summary of the letter and would appeal much to those who don’t have enough time to read long letters.

8. Don’t forget to use a “P.S.” This is serve as a last pitch in reminding your reader about your request.

9. Get rid of “stoppers.” “Stoppers” can be grammatical errors, confusing statements, or inappropriate remarks that may distract your reader while going through the request.

10. Lastly, double-check your copy. Before giving it out to your readers, double-check your letter for any possible mistakes.

Low Jeremy maintains http://fund-raising.articlesforreprint.com. This content is provided by Low Jeremy. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included.

Finance