Fundraising copywriting is a highly specialised field best tackled by an experienced
professional. But if your budget doesn’t stretch to copywriting fees, these tips can help you
write a winning appeal letter!

• pick the single most appealing or urgent aspect of your work and base the appeal on that; avoid trying to cover all your projects and needs in one appeal
• formulate the ‘offer’ – what you want the reader to ‘buy’ and how much it costs
• make your first sentence an attention-grabber
• write about a real person (or animal) in need and how your organisation plans to help
• use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs; don’t try to impress your
  reader with your literary skills
• aim for a warm, conversational style; this is not a business letter or formal report
• use connectives – and, but, because, so you see – to link sentences together and draw the reader on
• write from the heart and let the emotion out; if you’re angry and upset, sad or
  despairing, let it show
• include fine descriptive detail, e.g. a damp curl on a sick child’s forehead, the sight of a broken toy, weather or seasonal conditions; these set the mood, and draw the reader into the situation
• never start a sentence with ‘A’
• remember to ask for the gift
• tell the reader exactly what you want him/her to do – sit down right now and write out a cheque, post your gift back in the enclosed envelope, etc.