Appeal Course

Before we get into all the great art and nifty science that goes into creating effective, appealing year-end fundraising appeals, let’s begin at the very beginning.

First and foremost your appeal is a communication. If you’re not communicating – which is not the same thing as lecturing, dumping, frothing at the mouth, badgering, educating, or any of those things you may think you’re doing – then your prospective donor is not going to pay attention. They won’t listen.

And if they don’t listen, you’ve got nothing. Except a lot of wasted efforts – and a knot in your stomach; a feeling you could have done better. If you’d only known…

That’s the point of this e-course. To give you the keys to the kingdom!

And the key to making your appeals sing? To making them compelling masterpieces? It’s simple. And by the end of this course you’ll find it simple too. It’s all about MASTERY.

Masterful communication. A true communications master offers information in a way that’s simple, clear, and utterly compelling. That’s the treat you offer your would-be donors. The tricks? Honestly, they’re not so tricky. Simply come from a place of passion. Understand you’ve got a story you must tell. Understand who would love to hear that story. Find more of those people to pay attention to the yarn you have to share. Have someone they trust or like tell them the story. Then… persuade folks to jump into the story with you. Make it easy for them to become a part of your compelling narrative. Make it easy for them to feel like the hero they are. And, like a round robin, to continue the story…

In this week’s course you’ll get material from both of us. It’s a collaboration. We’re going to talk about how to:

• Collect a bunch of stories to give your appeal a powerfully compelling foundation
• Clean up, build and segment your list so you’ve got an audience who’ll find your appeal appealing.
• Learn more about your donors through surveys so you can target what floats their boats
• Connect with your passion so your letter sings with emotion!
• Get started by writing the most important parts of your message first
• Plan ahead to layer on some email appeals to reinforce your message

Next week we’re going to be talking in depth about how to:

• Compel the reader to see themselves as the hero of the story
• Write a more compelling story
• Write a more readable, actionable story
• Other key elements of an effective year-end appeal

Now, let’s get started…