How should you sound?

1)       You should sound warm and personal.

The alternative is to sound cold and aloof.  Sounding personal is a universal trait that should characterize the personality of absolutely everyone who signs a letter requesting financial support.

2)       You should sound involved.

In order to motivate a person who is not intimately connected to the organization, you must communicate the image that you are deeply involved and immersed in the activities of your charity.  You’re not standing on the sidelines looking on.  You are down in the trenches with the troops.  You are writing from firsthand experience.  You’ve personally been close to the agony of the people you are trying to help.

3)       You should sound energetic!

Yes, these days it’s cool to be laid back.  But that doesn’t work in a fundraising letter.  The individual reading the letter is not energized unless you are energized, and unless your energy comes across through the words on the page.

4)       You should sound qualified.

As the spokesperson for a charity, in plain English, you’ve got to know what you are talking about.  You are an authority.  You have credentials.  Of course, you can’t go around bragging about how qualified you are.  But in subtle ways, you must present your qualifications so that the reader is convinced that you know what you are writing about.

5)       You should sound powerful.

Be careful with this, but as chairman or president or executive vice president or spokesperson for a charity, you have a lot of power, or you wouldn’t be in that position.  You have the power to help make things happen.  You have the power to shape decisions.  You speak with the voice of authority.  You can use your power to change lives.  Communicate that power in a gentle way.  This gives the reader confidence that you have the ability to carry out your mission.

6)       You should sound like you are competent.

As the president of a charity, you are organized and detail conscious.  You and your staff have shaped a plan to solve certain problems.  You must convince the reader that your plan is well constructed and organized, and moving forward, and capable of achieving positive results.

7)       You should sound like you are financially responsible.

You must convince the reader that you feel a keen responsibility for effectively collecting, managing and distributing the gifts that you request from the donors.  You have a budget.  You have financial goals.  You have a board that monitors your budget and you are open and free about sharing with the donor the financial transactions of your organization.

8)       You should sound like you are a catalyst.

You are all of the above in order to be a catalyst.  That is, to bring together a donor and your organization so that the donor can make a contribution and share in your mission.

Good fundraising letters sound rather the same.  Don’t worry about that.  What has to be unique is the nature of the appeal and the premium if you are using one, and the offer.

                   But wait – I know what your problem really is!

Actually, none of the above. 

Your problem is that when you write a letter you are careful to use proper grammar, so you think.  On paper you sound stuffy.  And you think that is you.

Wrong.  You are a warm and thoughtful person, when you speak. 

A good writer is going to write a letter that sounds the way you speak. 

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