On my first day as a fundraising copywriter, I sat in a meeting as the creative director read aloud a meticulously crafted four-page appeal letter to a client.

Moved by the sheer power of storytelling, I was brought to tears. I emerged from the meeting room that day, knowing I’d found my calling.

I too wanted to have the ability to make people cry, to give donors such a powerful feeling that they’ll love to give and want to keep on giving.

But did I really need a four-page letter to achieve this?

Well, you can only break the rules once you understand them, and as everyone in who’s been in the sector for more than five minutes has been told, LONG LETTERS WORK.

The boss told me: ‘Write long letters if you want a long career…’

The client said: ‘But our donors love long letters!’

Every ‘expert’ fundraising blogger out there: ‘You aren’t your donor! We have the data!’

A four page letter, for Dr. Barnardo’s Homes, written in 1886.

How could Dr Barnardo and his perfect four-page letter from 1886 be wrong!?

To be honest, my own fundraising team at Wayside Chapel in Sydney were anxious that I wanted to publicly challenge what one fundraising guru – he who shall not be named – calls ‘the most controversial non-controversy’ in the fundraising world.

Well, here goes…

I’d like you to take a moment and imagine that you’ve opened your mailbox for the first time in a fortnight, and besides a water bill, you’ve got a hefty envelope from your favourite charity.

How do you feel?

Frustrated? You’ve told them a million times to take you off the direct mail list.

Excited? Can’t wait to learn more about child marriage, feral cats, and melanomas.

Personally, I feel guilty that I’m about to chuck in the recycling bin, something I know a poorly paid copywriter has spent hours sweating over. So to allay this guilt (and because I’m always on the hunt for good ideas) I’ll open the envelope.

And then I’ll scan it, my eyes jumping around the page. Because we ALL scan letters. They’re rarely read in their entirety!

Can you honestly say you’ve willingly read or responded to a four-page letter recently? Being in the sector and reviewing one for work doesn’t count!

We strategically add a Johnson Box, heading, underline, repetition, and a PS to letters, precisely because we’re not expecting people to read the whole thing.

And why would they when we’re living in the most distracted time in history?

Back in 2004, we could focus for about two and a half minutes. Fast forward to now, and we’re down to just 47 seconds.[1]

This trend is drastically reshaping how we consume information. Less than half of all Americans didn’t read a book in 2023[2], choosing instead to spend about four and half hours a day glued to their phone.

You don’t have to be Gen Z to be drowning in options and gadgets and screens. It’s us! I know you feel like your attention is being pulled in a million directions. I bet you’re scanning this article while being pinged on Teams, sending a heart emoji on WhatsApp, and thinking about what to have for lunch.

In a world that’s overloaded with cheap information, attention becomes expensive.

So why do fundraisers persist in contributing to the noise by sending lengthy four-page letters that nobody reads?

Because the myth of the four-page letter has become dogma: and for this sole reason, the myth needs smashing.

Consider this: the larger, more well-resourced not-for-profits are at the forefront of defining trends and ‘best practices’ in fundraising, such as the ‘ideal’ letter length. Smaller organisations, who may lack the means to test these standards, often adopt them as absolute truths.

We’ve created an echo chamber, stifling innovation, creativity and real engagement. Our causes deserve so much more!

This is our moment as inspired fundraisers to take risks and overhaul the relevancy of our communications. Because it’s not that people don’t care, they just don’t have the bandwidth to understand your message.

It's about balancing long-standing tactics with new ideas, finding that sweet spot where every piece of communication is genuinely thrilling and well worth receiving.

At Wayside Chapel, we prioritise authentic storytelling and philosophical ‘take-aways’ in our Inner Circle e-newsletter.

Our one-page email newsletter allows supporters to connect both emotionally and intellectually with our mission of love over hate. The approach fosters deep-rooted connections that yield more sustainable and genuine support than traditional fundraising methods.

It is a no-frills, weekly newsletter sent from the inbox of our CEO and Pastor Reverend Jon Owen offers its 50,000-strong readership heartfelt musings from the streets of Kings Cross. It allows our readers to connect deeply with Wayside, our values and the people we serve.

It’s also interactive: Jon takes the time to personally answer every response, sometimes as many as 100 per week.

We fiercely protect the Inner Circle, strategically managing our fundraising asks – which strictly happen during appeal season only – to be gentle and personalised, depending on the content for the week. This includes using banners and postscripts effectively, or not at all.

Interestingly, this has become a strength, engaging donors in a way that makes them want to give without being directly asked.

And give they do.

In 2023 we raised AU$57,914 in one day for our Christmas appeal, and on average the Inner Circle e-newsletter generates about half a million Australian dollars a year.

Even though letters continue to form the basis of our most important relationships with donors, it is time to reconsider how we approach them.

From length, to style, to the pathways of content, adhering to the dogmas of the past won’t give us the relationships we need for the future.

Back in 1800 and something or other, four pages meant we could say everything to everyone. Today, we know more about who we’re writing to, and what connects them to our causes. Now let’s use that information to change the way we write, and importantly, the expectations we have of donors when they go to their letterbox.

IMAGES: © All images supplied by Miriam Raphael/Wayside Chapel or Canva

[1] Mark, Gloria (2023). Attention Span: A groundbreaking way to restore balance, happiness, and productivity.

[2] Montgomery, D. (2023, December 22). 54 percent of Americans read a book this year. YouGov.