The Fundraiser’s Toolbox
You know that fundraising is hard work. To be successful you need to be well equipped to take on all its challenges. At SOFII, we thought you might like some help. So we’ve put together this fundraiser’s toolbox that we’ll be filling with essential examples, formats, articles, case studies, ideas and tips that we think every fundraiser should know about.
Tutorial 17: Write the way you speak – 10 suggestions
by Jerry Huntsinger
Remember, an oral style is not just recording your ordinary speech patterns. It’s much more. To repeat: it’s writing like you talk, if you edited your ordinary speech patterns. Here are some ways to achieve that goal.
Read moreTutorial 18: Magic words – the formula for success
by Jerry Huntsinger
What do Shakespeare, the Bible, the Gettysburg Address and a successful fundraising letter have in common? Magic words. And what makes certain words magic? Their length. Any common word of five letters or less is magic. Therein lies a formula for success.
Read moreTutorial 19: Master grammar and write for action
by Jerry Huntsinger
As a writer, you need to understand the basic parts of speech – verbs, nouns, objects, adjectives, adverbs, articles, and so on. But you don’t have to worry about the structure of a sentence. Just remember that every sentence usually has a subject, a verb and an object. ‘The house is red’: article, subject, verb, object.
Read moreTutorial 20: Paragraphs – forget school English
by Jerry Huntsinger
You were taught in school that a proper paragraph had a beginning, a middle and an end. It was a self-contained idea. And that’s true, when you write a school exam.
Read moreTutorial 21: ‘Really, it just doesn’t sound like me’
by Jerry Huntsinger
Once upon a time I wrote a letter for the president of a nonprofit organisation and I thought it turned out rather well – that is, until she sent me this crisp critique: ‘I really don’t like this letter because it just doesn’t sound like me.’ Sigh. How many times have I heard that? So, dutifully, I called her and asked: ‘What do you sound like?’ She paused.
Read moreTutorial 22: Whatever happened to real stories about real people?
by Jerry Huntsinger
You are probably going to have more successes than failures if you begin most of your letters with an illustration. Your readers are usually in neutral when the letter is being scanned; but once they get involved in the story, then suddenly you have captured their attention.
Read moreTutorial 23: Beware the fatal disease of one-sidedness
by Jerry Huntsinger
In this amusing, yet thought-provoking article, Jerry comments on a not-so-new affliction that affects many fundraisers…are you one of them?
Read moreTutorial 24: How to write a long letter
by Jerry Huntsinger
Extensive testing by a wide variety of charities shows that long copy wins most of the time, especially for prospect mail and emotional house appeals. Of course, there are exceptions and it’s always best to test. Read more here.
Read moreTutorial 25: 22 ideas for keeping your reader moving on
by Jerry Huntsinger
Keep in mind these principles when you write long letters.
Read moreTutorial 26: How to make a short letter work
by Jerry Huntsinger
Find out how to write successful short letters with these 10 helpful rules.
Read moreTutorial 27: A good start
by Jerry Huntsinger
Learn how to edit your letters and begin with that great emotion that often only surfaces until page two.
Read moreTutorial 28: Is it time to get rid of ‘dear friend’?
by Jerry Huntsinger
Is there a better way to get off to a good start when writing a form letter? Here are some alternatives you may wish to consider. I’ll leave it to you to decide whether any or all of them are good, bad, or just plain ridiculous.
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