3 Tips from a Year-End Fundraising Letter Example

December is the largest month for donations, so it’s no surprise that nonprofits put so much time and effort into their year-end fundraising campaigns. We have years of experience and real-life examples to help you create an integral part of your campaign: the fundraising letter. Let’s dive into a campaign we designed for Songs for Saplings.

All Great Letters Tell Stories.

A year-end giving campaign is not an annual report or a prospectus. You’re not trying to provide an organizational overview. You want to inspire donors to join in your mission. In our letter example, we used a personal story to reveal exactly how powerful songs are in teaching us Truth. When combined with a picture of real children who could learn the translated songs, this creates a powerful emotional appeal to donors. The point here is to put your impact on display and show the real impact of your organization’s work.

Be Consistent.

Your year-end fundraising letter is important, but it’s not the only part of your campaign. Besides emails, social media posts, and website landing pages, there is also another piece to consider: the envelope. Consistency across your campaign is important, and the first piece donors will see is the letter envelope. Like in this example, it should be visual and tease what’s inside.

Ask more than once.

Some organizations are timid when it comes to asking. Even Jesus commended the persistence of the neighbor who kept asking for bread (Luke 11:8). For year-end appeals, we always send more than one piece of direct mail. For example, in addition to a traditional fundraising letter, Songs for Saplings potential donors also received this postcard. People need reminders and nudges to move them from consideration to donation.