Less Is More: 4 Tips for Great Year-End Appeals
By Iris Sutcliffe
Network for Good
www.networkforgood.com
The final two months of the year, and especially the end of December, are prime time for donors to give. With so much competition for their attention, it’s vital to send appeals that quickly draw donors into your mission and inspire them to take action.
In our Nonprofit 911 webinar Crucial Year-End Giving Strategies, Mazarine Treyz, author of Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising, shared how a few simple changes in word choice and formatting your appeal can mean the difference between reading and deleting.
Be Present, Active, and Direct
Present-tense verbs spark people into action. Strengthen those verbs with active voice and first-person pronouns. Minimize adverbs, adjectives, and qualifiers.Look at how the verbs in this opening passage bring you into the experience: “Go on. Pick up the pen. Write a check now.” All present tense. The words you choose can paint a strong and direct picture for your donors: “This child is hungry now. You can help her now. Please give.” That’s a clear and present call to action. Speaking of which…
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