Free Sample Donation Thank-You Letter for Fundraising Gift or Contribution

The most important letter in direct mail fundraising never aks for a donation. Thank-you letters increase donor loyalty, strengthen relationships and increase your chances of receiving more gifts in the future, including major gifts and legacy gifts.

But only if you get them right.

Direct mail fundraising is about relationships, not revenue. The only way to generate sustainable income through the mail is to thank donors promptly, personally, particularly and positively.

Here is a sample donation thank-you letter.

Friday, January 16, 2006

Samantha Yordvick 363 Blandon Crescent Tulsa, OK 19188

Dear Samantha:

This is just a quick note, but it comes from my heart to yours as I head out the door for my flight to Bombay.

Thank you for your very kind gift of $100, which we received today. Your generosity will make an immediate difference in the lives of mothers in Calcutta. I’m going to make sure of that on this trip.

For one thing, we are going to use your gift to fund our early intervention program. Your generosity is going to help us buy the formula and fortified milk that our mothers give to their babies and toddlers. Good nutrition, as you know, is so vital in fighting off the diseases and infections that are so prevalent in Calcutta.

You can read about this exciting initiative—and your important part in it—in the upcoming issue of our newsletter, which we will mail to you in January.

Thanks again for your kindness,

[real, actual, live signature]

Bill Bladstone President CalcuttaConcern

About this letter

Here are a few things to notice about this letter.

  1. Not “Dear Friend.” This letter is a personal thank you from the heart of the president to this donor. Even though the president does not know Samantha personally, he writes to her as a friend, which is to say, by name.
  2. The opening sentence reveals the personality of the writer and clearly shows that this letter was written on a particular day, by a particular person, for a particular reason. Openings like this resonate with donors, who want to be acknowledged by a human being and not a computer.
  3. The writer acknowledges the donor’s gift by date received and amount given, specific details that make the letter personal instead of generic.
  4. The writer shows in concrete, easy-to-understand ways how the donor’s gift will be put to work today, changing lives and making a difference in the world. Donors need to know that their contribution, however small, accomplishes the goals of the donor in supporting your organization.

Fundraising Letter Templates Harm Your Non-Profit's Reputation and Response Rates

Fundraising letter templates are a mistake. They insult donors. They mislead fundraisers. And they don’t work. You cannot generate sustainable income, build relationships and retain loyal donors by mailing fill-in-the-blanks letters. Here are some sound reasons for avoiding boilerplate appeals.

1. They are, by definition, too generic

On the website of one fundraising coach is a “very general donation request letter” that you are encouraged to customize by filling in “the details that are specific to your organization.” The problem with this approach is that non-profit organizations are radically different.

What, for example, does Mothers Against Drunk Driving have in common with the Boy Scouts of America? What common goals does the Sydney Opera House share with The National Rifle Association? Could you take one “very general donation request letter” and customize it to meet the unique needs, case for support, brand image, voice and personality of each of these organizations? I think that idea is [fill in the blank] ___________________.

2. They miss the main goal of fundraising letters

The goal of every appeal letter you mail is not to raise a gift but to retain a giver. You are after the donor first, their donation second. The most important gift in fundraising is not the first, but the second. You can twist a gift out of just about anyone, once. But getting subsequent gifts is where your challenge lies. And where you demonstrate your expertise. The big failing with fundraising letter templates is that they are after money only. Donors sense that attitude when they read the letter (assuming they do).

3. They treat donors as purses, not people

The only way I know of to get money without human contact is to use an automated banking machine. Bank tellers are personal. Automated banking machines are impersonal. Just walk into your local bank any morning and count the number of senior citizens waiting in line for a teller. They choose the human being over the machine because senior citizens are often lonely. They crave human contact. When you approach donors with generic, impersonal, copy-and-paste fundraising letter templates, you treat them as automated banking machines who should simply do as they are told and cough up the cash without delay. And who likes being treated that way? Not [pick one] me/you/us.

4. They mislead sincere fundraisers

The biggest problem that I have with fundraising letter templates is that they fool some fundraising staff into thinking that raising funds by mail is easy. All you need to do is “copy and paste the following text into your word processing program,” “fill in the details that are specific to your organization,” “print out the letters on your organization’s letterhead,” and conclude your letter thus: “Today, you can make an immediate difference in the life of [homeless/orphans/etc.] Each [$ amount] you send provides [specific goods/services] to [number of people].” Then you recline your office chair and wait for the mailbags of donations to arrive from your fervent donors.

Conclusion

Direct mail fundraising, like all fundraising, is about relationships, not revenue. And you can’t develop relationships built on trust and mutual respect if your fundraising methods are standard, impersonal and disrespectful. There are no short-cuts to long-term donor loyalty, despite what some publishers of fundraising letter templates imply.

New Handbook shows you a better way

The best way I know of to learn the craft of creating, writing and designing successful fundraising letters is not to fill in the blanks but to fill your head with examples of excellent letters that worked. Study successful direct mail appeals. Analyze why they worked. Put what you learn into practice.

Anatomy of a Profitable Fundraising Letter, the fourth Handbook in the Hands-On Fundraising Series, features a line-by-line analysis of a successful direct mail fundraising package that Habitat for Humanity mailed to prospective donors. If you use the mail to raise funds, this handbook will help you discover what to do right—and what to avoid. Learn more about this new Handbook at www.RaiserSharpe.com

Year-End Fundraising Letter Appeals: 10 Tips to Give Them a Boost at Christmas

If your non-profit organization is like many others, you receive half or more or your contributed income at the end of the year as part of what used to be called the "Christmas Appeal." In recent years it has come to be known as, in politically correct North America at least, the "Year-End Appeal" or "Seasonal Appeal."

Which means your year-end appeal letter can make or break your year, financially speaking. Here are some tips on how to craft a winning year-end fundraising letter appeal package.

1. Keep it simple
One non-profit ministry that I shall not name mailed their year-end appeal letter in a poly bag along with their donor newsletter. They had been late in getting their newsletter in the mail and so, to save on postage, they mailed it along with the seasonal appeal letter. The campaign bombed, and bombed big. Donors, as far as we could tell, read the full-colour newsletter and ignored the letter that came with it. So my advice is this: keep your year-end appeal simple and focused on one goal: securing a year-end donation.

2. Be creative
You will be competing with other organizations in the mailbox. Every charity sends an appeal at Christmas. So stand out by mailing something creative. When I worked with Doctors Without Borders as their fundraising letter writer, they mailed a Christmas card to donors that donors then signed and returned to the organization with their gift. Doctors Without Borders forwarded the card to a volunteer doctor or nurse who was serving overseas, and whose name was on the card. The cards were greatly appreciated by the volunteers (many of whom were homesick at that time of year). The cards also involved donors in a way that warmed their hearts and motivated them to contribute.

3. Look back with thanksgiving
Use your year-end appeal fundraising letter as a way to thank donors for their support during the past year. Don't list the names of every staff person you hired or promoted, or go on at length about happenings at head office. Instead, tell at least one heart-warming or compelling story that illustrates in vivid terms how your donors' gifts changed lives. Use quotes from the people that you serve wherever possible. They add credibility and human interest to your letter.

4. Look ahead with anticipation
Also use this Christmas appeal letter to present your vision for the coming year. Show donors how their gift this "Holiday Season" will make a difference next year for your organization and the people you serve.

5. Use a seasonal theme
Try to tie your appeal to the season. Giving, presents, exchanging greetings, snow, "goodwill toward man" and other themes are popular at Christmastime. If you can tie your appeal to an emotion or sentiment that is already prevalent at the end of the year, and do so in a relevant way without being overly sentimental, do so.

6. Accentuate the positive
Please don't appeal for donors to get your books out of the red and into the black. If you have a negative cash flow at year-end, don't ask donors to correct it. They will see your predicament as your fault. Donors are not motivated to eliminate debt (unless it's Third World debt). But they are motivated to change the world through a gift to your organization. So present your appeal as an opportunity for the donor rather than a rescue operation for your chief financial officer.

7. A special word for Christian charities
Avoid the "God gave us an unspeakable Gift and so should you" approach in your Christmas appeal letter. Instead, show in concrete terms how you will use a donor's gift to further the work that your Christian donors care about, using a biblical theme if possible.

Your Fundraising Annual Appeal Letters Need A Villian

Anger is one of the best emotions that you can arouse in a donor. Anger is a healthy emotion, particularly when your fundraising letter offers donors a way to assuage their anger. “Individuals are more prone to respond to a genuine feeling of anger than to any other emotion,” says Roland Kiniholm in his book, Maximum Gifts by Return Mail.

To make your donors angry, you need a villain. Villains are good. They help you focus your donors’ attention on one problem that needs fixing. That villain can be a person or a problem.

My advice is that you never name a particular person as your villain, since doing so is not very charitable, excuse the pun. Plus, you might get sued for defamation of character or slander. Instead, you should attack the catastrophe that the villain has created, or simply make the catastrophe the villain.

  • Mothers Against Drunk Driving has a villain: drunk driving (not drunken drivers)
  • The Coalition Against Gun Violence has a villain: gun violence (not gun owners)
  • Oxfam has a villain: poverty (not the wealthy)
  • Habitat for Humanity has a villain: unaffordable housing (not landlords)

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of the United States last week. The response by the US federal government to the plight of tens of thousands of refugees stranded in New Orleans was so slow that hundreds likely perished. For days, we saw the images on our television screens of stranded citizens dying in New Orleans while help tarried.

In your fundraising letter to raise funds for these hurricane victims, you could name President Bush as your villain. You could blame the plight of the displaced people on Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael Brown, who many are saying is responsible for the delays that caused so many deaths. Or you could blame the mayor of New Orleans. But these attacks would sound unkind. And painting any of these men as the villain right now would be premature.

Instead, a successful appeal letter would paint the hurricane as the villain. Or point the finger at the flooding as the villain.

Your fundraising campaign can have a villain and still be positive. The Red Cross, for example, is running a fundraising campaign right now with this theme: Hope is Stronger than a Hurricane. There’s only one thing wrong with that theme. I didn’t think of it.

If you want to stir up one of the strongest human emotions to your advantage, chose a villain that your donors can get angry at. Then show how your non-profit organization can alleviate that anger by eliminating (or, more realistically, weakening) that villain.

Donation Request Letters Need Strong Protagonist, Says Fundraising Company

Do your donation request letters lack a protagonist? The most compelling appeal letters feature a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, that captures the donor’s attention and makes the appeal human, moving and profitable.

The most memorable novels, movies and television shows feature strong protagonists. The protagonist in a drama or story is the leading actor, the principal character. Some examples:

BOOKS
The Hobbit: Bilbo Baggins.
Moby Dick: Ishmael.
Great Expectations: Pip.
War and Peace: Pierre Bezukhov.
Catcher in the Rye: Holden Caulfield.

MOVIES
Out of Africa: Karen Blixen.
The Ten Commandments: Moses.
Star Wars: Luke Skywalker.
Gone with the Wind: Scarlett O’Hara.
My Fair Lady: Eliza Doolittle.

If you’re a hospital, your protagonist can be a heroic cancer patient.
If you’re a relief and development agency, your protagonist can be an aid worker serving AIDS orphans in Nigeria.
If you’re an environmental advocacy organization, your protagonist can be an activist chained to the railing outside the Indonesian Embassy in Ottawa.
If you’re an opera house, your protagonist can be your youngest, most promising singer.

A strong protagonist brings your fundraising letters alive because donors are people who give to people to help people. They don’t want to read about programs and policies. They want to read about people—the people you help, and your people who do the helping. A protagonist helps you tell your institutional story in human terms, to translate your case for support into flesh and blood.

Here is an example, taken from a thank-you letter mailed by a hospital to donors who had recently joined the hospital’s monthly giving program:

Dear Mr. Sharpe,

I shook hands with our country’s youngest heart transplant patient the other day, and he asked me to thank you. You are now a vital member of the team that’s keeping Brad alive.

Brad Phillips was only a few weeks old when the surgeons here at the Bendix Memorial Hospital gave him a new heart, saving his life. That was back in 1985. Since then, Brad has been rushed to hospital by air ambulance, caught pneumonia too many times to remember, received a second heart transplant, been diagnosed with cytomegalovirus disease, suffered kidney failure, and fallen in love with the hospital staff.

“I actually spend more time with them than I do with the family that brought me up,” says Brad. “I’m sure glad we get along so well!”

Your donors will quickly understand and embrace your cause when you show, in dramatic ways, who you are and who you serve, rather than describe what you do by naming your programs or listing your services. And the most vivid way to do that in a fundraising letter is to single out one person whom you help, or one person on your staff (or a volunteer), and to tell your story through that protagonist, showing them in action.

Donation Thank-You Letter Mistakes To Avoid In Direct Mail Fundraising

I once had a friend who used to bid me farewell by exclaiming, “Up ’yer kilt!” Where Jock is today and how many pals he still has I cannot tell. But his original and startling phrase reminds me of a vital truth in direct mail fundraising: How you thank your donors and how your donors hear you thank them can be two different things.

Strangely enough, in the process of thanking donors, some fundraisers actually offend them. Here are some of the classic mistakes to avoid in your gift acknowledgement letters, notes and cards.

Mistake #1: “Dear Friend” I think I can affirm without fear of contradiction that the only people who address you as “friend” are the people who are not your friends. If they knew you well, they’d address you by name. If you thank a donor with a letter that begins “Dear Friend,” you are likely to thank them and tick them off at the same time.

Mistake #2: “We are in receipt of your gift” Your thank-you letters need to be sincere. But the quickest way to kill sincerity on paper is to speak in formal tones and generalities: “We are in receipt of your donation.” “We are grateful for the support recently received from donors like you.”

When you give a friend a present, you expect the friend to thank you for that gift in particular. “Thank you, darling, for this beautiful ring.” “Thank you, Dad, for my new bike.” Avoid impersonal generalities by naming the gift you are thankful for.

Mistake #3: Asking for another gift You don’t intend to sound greedy or ungrateful when you request another gift in your thank-you letter, but that’s how the majority of donors perceive you. They think you’re being rude. That’s why I counsel my clients to request only one thing in their donation thank-you letters—that the donor accept their deepest, sincerest thanks..

Mistake #4: Too late How long does a donor have to wait for a thank-you before assuming you are not grateful? Two weeks? One month? Three months? In direct mail fundraising, there’s no such thing as thanking a donor too quickly. Every day of delay is a day for your donor to thing your organization is disorganized or ungrateful. Since neither of these two things is the case, aim to mail your donation thank-you letters, cards and notes within 24 hours of receiving a gift.

Few people misunderstand a sincere thank-you that’s well said and promptly delivered. Thanking your donors promptly and particularly, and sincerely, not only keeps your donors happy—it keeps your donors. And these days, any tool that helps with donor retention is something to be thankful for.

© 2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the Author" message).

Top 7 Fundraising Ideas

Have you been given the job of organising a fundraising event and are stuck for ideas? Here’s seven great and simple ideas that you can organise to raise funds for your chosen group.

Cookie Dough fundraisers

This is an ideal fundraiser for all times of the year. Just take orders and sell tubs of delicious cookie dough to your group. Profit margins 30-50%.

Fundraising Cookbooks

Often described as a recipe for fundraising success (groan!) – creating a personalized cookbook is ideal for groups such as churches, schools, charities and hospitals. New publishing techniques make it easy to profit from selling just a few or even hundreds of cookbooks. Profit per book from $3-$10.

Pizza Fundraiser cards

People will be happy to pay for these cards which entitle them to free pizzas. If your group is spread out geographically, this may be ideal. Ideal for small groups due to small minimum order requirements. Profit margins 70-90%.

Scratch card fundraising

Easy to order and can be printed to link to your group e.g. basketball, baseball, high school, etc. Each person in your group begins fundraising with 1 scratch card. They simply approach friends, family, and neighbors and ask them to scratch too! Profit ranges from 90% upwards.

Fundraiser candles

Everyone loves candles and especially scented candles! Simply take orders from friends and families – these items are especially good for Christmas fundraising. Profit margin 50%

Candy fundraising

Ideal for easter or summer fundraising events – sales of candy can be profitable. You can sell the chocolate at school, pep rallies, sports events, businesses or just person to person. Profit margin 50-60%.

Fundraising brochures

Brochure fundraising allows you to raise money by offering products from color brochures to family, friends, neighbors and business associates. Ideal for Christmas fundraising. Profit margins 40-55%.

These fundraiser ideas are great, for:

  • high school fundraising
  • college fundraising
  • cheerleading fund raising
  • fundraising for youth groups
  • sports group fundraising

Set yourself a target, establish a plan of action, involve parents, teachers and students and go for it!

Write Better Fundraising Letters by Making a Scene (Includes Examples)

Stay at home moms, school children or just about anyone who wants to raise some funds for either a good cause or for some personal reasons need not worry about which fundraising idea they would use and considering that there are actually a of fundraising ideas out there. It’s actually up to you to pick the one that it suitable for you target market.

Common as well as tried and tested fundraising ideas that are sure to be able to earn you a lot of money are the following:

1. The Basics

- Use baked goods that look appetizing
- There is no need to be extremely competitive with your peers
- Presentation is as important as quality
- Sell as much baked goods as you can
- Offer a package deal where you lose money on one item but make it back on another

2. Offer Samples

A good fundraising trick when it comes to bake sales is to provide your customers free taste so that they’ll be able to sample the goods before they actually commit into buying them. You may think of this as costly but you wouldn’t really hand out actual sized muffins or cookies, just bits of it will do and if your baked goods are really good then your customers will probably end up buying more since bake sales are fundraising events that don't really occur very often thus customers may wish to stock up a bit.

Other popular baked goods that sell easily during bake sales are:

- Home made cookies
- Cakes
- Pastries
- Cheesecakes
- Soft pretzels
- Pies

3. Cookie Dough

A new fundraising idea when it comes to bake sales is to actually start selling cookie dough that comes in all sorts of great tasting flavors! This item has a high selling factor because you can price it far lower than regular cookies (as it takes you less time and effort to make). Make it as unique as possible. There is actually no need to spend too much on eye catching packaging. You just have to be very creative and incredibly resourceful for this one.

Types:

- Chocolate chunk  Chunks of chocolate are fabulously laid out onto the cookie
- Peanut butter Nutritious yet an incredibly sweet delight
- Sugar Baked to golden and crisp perfection, this is already a household specialty
- Snickerdoodle Deliciously sweet cinnamon that is mixed with your cookie dough
- Oatmeal raisin Chucked with delicious sun dried raisins with oatmeal that is reminiscent of what your grandmother used to make
- Candy There are rainbow embellished cookies that can easily catch your little tykes’ fancy usually made with M&M chocolate as toppings
- Chocolate macadamia nut Just the sound of this luxuriously creamy cookie dough is enough to make your mouth water
- Triple chocolate Chocolate lovers rejoice at this incredibly sweet and delicious home made treatan
- Chocolate walnut crunch Another cookie dough favorite at fundraising events

4. Pizza Cards

Another popular fundraising idea nowadays is selling pizza cards and the community discount fundraising card. During these hard times, people would actually avoid a couple of bargains here and there but scrimping on food was never an option. That is why pizza cards are a great fundraising project. Not only is it very convenient to sell pizza cards (you can just phone up people, offering them the pizza cards or just knock on your neighbors’ doors and start offering your product), but there is actually no need for you to organize an event for this anymore. In addition, a lot of people are easily attracted to how cheap pizza cards actually cost.

Pizza companies actually love this fundraising idea as they tend to get more customers and would actually gain a lot of profit if you’re able to sell 30 pizza cards. You in turn will also earn a lot since if you buy the pizza cards in bulk you’ll actually be able to buy them from the supporting pizza company for just $3.00 each! It’s perfect for all sorts of fundraising events from school charity fundraising events to the neighborhood fundraising project.

5. Discount Community Cards

Discount community cards, however, are the most profitable and popular fundraising product ever. This actually proves to be a bigger bang for your customers’ buck as they can choose to avail of all sorts of products or services from the various neighborhood establishment area. Unlike the pizza card wherein you can only use it for getting pizza, the discount community card is far more flexible. Great for bargain hunters.

Easy Fundraising Ideas

Stay at home moms, school children or just about anyone who wants to raise some funds for either a good cause or for some personal reasons need not worry about which fundraising idea they would use and considering that there are actually a of fundraising ideas out there. It’s actually up to you to pick the one that it suitable for you target market.

Common as well as tried and tested fundraising ideas that are sure to be able to earn you a lot of money are the following:

1. The Basics

- Use baked goods that look appetizing
- There is no need to be extremely competitive with your peers
- Presentation is as important as quality
- Sell as much baked goods as you can
- Offer a package deal where you lose money on one item but make it back on another

2. Offer Samples

A good fundraising trick when it comes to bake sales is to provide your customers free taste so that they’ll be able to sample the goods before they actually commit into buying them. You may think of this as costly but you wouldn’t really hand out actual sized muffins or cookies, just bits of it will do and if your baked goods are really good then your customers will probably end up buying more since bake sales are fundraising events that don't really occur very often thus customers may wish to stock up a bit.

Other popular baked goods that sell easily during bake sales are:

- Home made cookies
- Cakes
- Pastries
- Cheesecakes
- Soft pretzels
- Pies

3. Cookie Dough

A new fundraising idea when it comes to bake sales is to actually start selling cookie dough that comes in all sorts of great tasting flavors! This item has a high selling factor because you can price it far lower than regular cookies (as it takes you less time and effort to make). Make it as unique as possible. There is actually no need to spend too much on eye catching packaging. You just have to be very creative and incredibly resourceful for this one.

Types:

- Chocolate chunk  Chunks of chocolate are fabulously laid out onto the cookie
- Peanut butter Nutritious yet an incredibly sweet delight
- Sugar Baked to golden and crisp perfection, this is already a household specialty
- Snickerdoodle Deliciously sweet cinnamon that is mixed with your cookie dough
- Oatmeal raisin Chucked with delicious sun dried raisins with oatmeal that is reminiscent of what your grandmother used to make
- Candy There are rainbow embellished cookies that can easily catch your little tykes’ fancy usually made with M&M chocolate as toppings
- Chocolate macadamia nut Just the sound of this luxuriously creamy cookie dough is enough to make your mouth water
- Triple chocolate Chocolate lovers rejoice at this incredibly sweet and delicious home made treatan
- Chocolate walnut crunch Another cookie dough favorite at fundraising events

4. Pizza Cards

Another popular fundraising idea nowadays is selling pizza cards and the community discount fundraising card. During these hard times, people would actually avoid a couple of bargains here and there but scrimping on food was never an option. That is why pizza cards are a great fundraising project. Not only is it very convenient to sell pizza cards (you can just phone up people, offering them the pizza cards or just knock on your neighbors’ doors and start offering your product), but there is actually no need for you to organize an event for this anymore. In addition, a lot of people are easily attracted to how cheap pizza cards actually cost.

Pizza companies actually love this fundraising idea as they tend to get more customers and would actually gain a lot of profit if you’re able to sell 30 pizza cards. You in turn will also earn a lot since if you buy the pizza cards in bulk you’ll actually be able to buy them from the supporting pizza company for just $3.00 each! It’s perfect for all sorts of fundraising events from school charity fundraising events to the neighborhood fundraising project.

5. Discount Community Cards

Discount community cards, however, are the most profitable and popular fundraising product ever. This actually proves to be a bigger bang for your customers’ buck as they can choose to avail of all sorts of products or services from the various neighborhood establishment area. Unlike the pizza card wherein you can only use it for getting pizza, the discount community card is far more flexible. Great for bargain hunters.

Samples of Fund Raising Letters

Fund raisings are one of the best ways to request donations and support to charity and is one of the earliest fund raisers. What you’ll do is simply write a letter to prospective supporters asking them to join and/or donate to help and support a worthy aid organization. Your only costs are paper and postage, if you do it by snail mail and practically almost nothing, if you do it through email.

Letters asking for donations and support work well with organizations that support a specific cause. For example, groups such as health advocacy, hunger or disaster relief, and public arts including museums and symphonies, all of these types of organization are easily identified by many people as contributing to the community and the world.

When you are planning to compose a fund raising letter to be sent to the people you know and you more ideas to do it, you can refer to the many samples of fund raising letters online. These online samples of fund raising letters are written in different styles, depending on your intention and fund raising activities.

From the many samples of fund raising letters you can find for free over the internet have some words or phrases that you can change to better suit the whole idea of your message. Whether you refer to samples of fund raising letters or make your own, make sure the letter you write is exceptional to you. Be yourself, speak from your heart, and people will respond.

Here is one of the samples of fund raising letters that you can refer to in writing for your own fund raising letter:

To Whom It May Concern:

On (date), thousands of women and men will come together in (place) and walk 60 miles through (route description). The Breast Cancer 3-Day is a weekend of hope, as we honor lives lost, celebrate survivors, promote breast cancer research, and help bring breast cancer care to those who desperately need it.

I have committed myself to walk and have agreed to raise a minimum of $ 2, 500 to help fight breast cancer. The net proceeds of the Breast Cancer 3-Days benefit (name of foundation/organization) to fund breast cancer research, education, screening, and treatment programs, as well as the National philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund, to provide donation for breast cancer programs.

In order to reach my goal, I am asking you for support in the form of monetary donation. I am a frequent customer of (company name) and would appreciate any support that you would be able to provide. In return for your generous gift, I am offering to wear the (company name) logo on my shirt during the event. The amount of exposure, potential press coverage, and advertising value that (company name, would receive will not go unnoticed. The event only attracts thousands of walkers, crew members, and volunteers, but thousands of spectators, as well.

Unfortunately, breast cancer has become an all too common occurrence among women and men throughout the world. Now is the time to take action to help end this disease. The more funds I raise, the sooner we can end this fight. For more information about Breast Cancer 3-Day can be found at www.The3Day.com or call 98000 996-3DAY, or I can be reached through (phone #). By supporting me in the Breast Cancer 3-Day, (company name) will ultimately help put an end to breast cancer.

Thank you for your support and consideration.

Sincerely,

Appealing Fundraising Letters Request More than Donations When Asking for Gifts

The last thing you should ask for in a fundraising letter is a donation. You have no business asking for money until you have first persuaded your donor that you deserve her attention, value her time, appreciate her as a person, and want to partner with her in turning the world upside-down. Your donor comes first. Your request comes last. That’s why your fundraising letters need to be appealing in more ways than one.

They should appeal to the interests of your donors.

Every donor has an itch that needs scratching. For some donors, that itch is anger. Angry donors give to organizations that assuage their moral outrage. Mothers Against Drunk Driving has a few donors like that. For other donors, their itch is compassion. In a world filled with such deep human suffering, they feel compelled to help those less fortunate than themselves.

Your job as a direct mail fundraising letter writer is to find your donor’s itch and scratch it. In other words, your job is to discover why your donors give, and then give them that reason to give to your organization. Which means every appeal letter you write needs to appeal to your donor’s interests, not yours.

They should appeal to the rational side of your donors.

Even emotional appeals are based on a rational proposition. They don’t just show you a photo of a starving child and ask you to mail a cheque. They instead show you the starving child, enumerate the causes of the starvation (most of them man-made, usually), describe what the non-profit is doing to end the starvation, show how the donor’s support will make that happen, and then ask for a donation. Appealing fundraising letters don’t just play on emotions. They appeal to the need that all donors have to know that their financial support is realistic and useful.

The most successful fundraising letters today are appealing. They look appealing. They sound appealing. And they state their case for support in terms that resonate with donors, making the cause and the request for funds too appealing to pass up.

Appealing Fundraising Letters Request More than Donations When Asking for Gifts

The last thing you should ask for in a fundraising letter is a donation. You have no business asking for money until you have first persuaded your donor that you deserve her attention, value her time, appreciate her as a person, and want to partner with her in turning the world upside-down. Your donor comes first. Your request comes last. That’s why your fundraising letters need to be appealing in more ways than one.

They should appeal to the interests of your donors.

Every donor has an itch that needs scratching. For some donors, that itch is anger. Angry donors give to organizations that assuage their moral outrage. Mothers Against Drunk Driving has a few donors like that. For other donors, their itch is compassion. In a world filled with such deep human suffering, they feel compelled to help those less fortunate than themselves.

Your job as a direct mail fundraising letter writer is to find your donor’s itch and scratch it. In other words, your job is to discover why your donors give, and then give them that reason to give to your organization. Which means every appeal letter you write needs to appeal to your donor’s interests, not yours.

They should appeal to the rational side of your donors.

Even emotional appeals are based on a rational proposition. They don’t just show you a photo of a starving child and ask you to mail a cheque. They instead show you the starving child, enumerate the causes of the starvation (most of them man-made, usually), describe what the non-profit is doing to end the starvation, show how the donor’s support will make that happen, and then ask for a donation. Appealing fundraising letters don’t just play on emotions. They appeal to the need that all donors have to know that their financial support is realistic and useful.

The most successful fundraising letters today are appealing. They look appealing. They sound appealing. And they state their case for support in terms that resonate with donors, making the cause and the request for funds too appealing to pass up.

Host a Successful Fundraising Event with Inflatable Rentals

If your organization or school is looking for a new and exciting way to raise funds, try hosting a carnival with inflatable rentals. With inflatable obstacle courses, inflatable sumo wrestling, inflatable bungee basketball and many other fun inflatable games, setting up and taking down a carnival doesn’t need to be a big production. It’s well within your organization’s reach to net several thousand dollars over a night or a weekend with inflatable rentals and a carnival theme. For an amazing event, start planning early and keep these few tips and ideas in mind:

Delegate tasks:

Instead of spending valuable time discussing every decision as a group, assign people tasks to research and manage, then enforce a 5-10 minute time limit to share plans in a group meeting before executing ideas.

Choose and book your inflatable rentals

You can either choose an admission price at the door or sell tickets to spend on various inflatable games and activities. Look for an inflatable rentals vendor with a large selection of equipment and choose a variety of games and activities that appeal to different kinds of guests. Some people prefer low impact, solitary activities like the inflatable human sphere while others prefer to duke it out with games like inflatable gladiator jousting. Below is a list of a few inflatable game choices categorized by activity preference:

Friendly physical competition

· Inflatable Obstacle Courses: Participants can climb walls, squeeze through tunnels and tubes, and rush down slides along side of a friend in an obstacle course race. Try setting up some an amp and playing fun, upbeat music to add another dimension to the race.

· Velcro Wall: Carnival goers wear an entire suit made of Velcro then climb up one side and down the other of a huge inflatable Velcro wall.

Head to head games

· Boxing: Using wildly oversized inflatable gloves, participants attempt to knock over their competitor in a super squishy inflatable boxing ring. Find a volunteer with a great sense of humor narrate the details of the match into a microphone to attract attention.

· Inflatable sumo wrestling: Wearing a huge inflatable sumo suit, 2 competitors try to topple each other over. Have a referee on hand and someone to help players in and out of their suits.

Low impact

· Barrel Racers: Riders zip around a surfaced course on a motorized barrel. Have a volunteer on hand to start and stop the clock and show users how to operate the cruising barrels.

· Inflatable Slot Machine: Players step inside an enormous slot machine, press the lever and cash and, depending on luck, prizes come raining down. Try stoking tickets to a special raffle as part of the prize loot.

Feeding guests while earning profits

Next to inflatable rentals, food is always a large source of revenue at any carnival fund raising event. Choose foods that are easy and fast to make like hot dogs and hamburgers. Ask local restaurants and catering trucks to serve at the event for a fee. The Ben and Jerry’s team is always happy to bring their colorful ice cream truck and scoop at events. You can also rent equipment for volunteers to run like a cotton candy machine or a snow cone machine.

Silent auctions: A great fundraising event

While some family members are engaged in an inflatable jousting match or playing a game of inflatable human bowling, other family members can enjoy the very popular silent auction. Secure donations from local businesses for the silent auction such as a luxurious massage, a stay in a hotel, or a dinner at a restaurant. Lay out the gifts on long banquet tables along with a piece of paper for placing bids throughout the night. Make announcements as the clock winds down on the event time so that everyone has a chance to up their bid before someone else takes the item they’ve got their eye on.

Family friendly carnival games

Carnival games are another fun way to earn large profits for your organization. Make sure to get lots of little prizes for those who don’t win or come close to winning and some really attractive prizes for those who hit the jackpot. Most carnival games are easy to set up without lots of specialized equipment. For real fun, rent a dunk tank and find some willing volunteers.

Carnivals are always popular events that draw members from all around the community. With enormous, bright inflatable rental activities at the center of the fun, your fund raising event will bring traffic to passers by, as well as those who you’ve reached through marketing and pre-ticket sales. The key to a great fundraiser is to draw a large crowd and offer them a way to really have fun. With a lot planning and a great concept, your organization is sure to earn fantastic revenues from an inflatable fun carnival event.

New And Unusual Fundraising Ideas

Need some new fundraising ideas? When your organization or group needs to raise money for a trip or project, there is nothing wrong with another bake sale. Do something a little different, though, and you may get more volunteers for the event. You might also get more media exposure, meaning more people will participate, which means more money raised. Why not try one of the following ideas.

Mobile rummage sale. Having a rummage sale is a common fundraising idea, but how about a mobile rummage sale? It requires collecting donations of things to sell, and the cooperation of someone with a pick up truck. Sort the things as neatly as possible in the back of the truck, then go door-to-door, explaining to the residents that you are raising money for your cause, and asking them to take a look at your sale. Maybe they'll also want to donate things to sell. Take the sale to the beach or other busy places too.

Dog wash. A car wash is one of the most common fundraising ideas out there, but a dog wash is less common. Find a place where many people walk their dogs. A brush, dog shampoo, and a source of water are all you need. You could also sell dog toys, dog snacks and other pet-related things for even more profit.

Business clean-up. Many businesses need to have the area around them cleaned up. Restaurants might have trash around the edges of their parking lots, some businesses may need their signs washed, and others could need their sidewalks and lots swept. A crew of young people could clean up a property in an hour for a set fee, and the business could write off the contribution on their taxes.

Online donor recognition. When you collect donations for a project or regular event, you can promise donors that they'll be recognized on your group's official website. They get a bit of internet immortality as one of the people that made your event, trip or project possible. It is common that donors get their names put on a plaque, but the website is accessible to all their friends anywhere in the world, so they can show them how they helped.

Treasure hunt. This could be a big event, even an annual one if your organization needs a regular fundraising event. The basic idea: Rope off an area of a beach, bury silver bars and coins in the sand, and let people hunt for them for an entry fee. Let's say you bury 4 quarter-ounce gold coins, 20 one-ounce silver bars, 1000 various foreign coins (some coin shops sell these for ten cents each), 500 dimes and 2000 pennies.

At today's prices it would cost you about $1,000, which you might first raise through donations. With 3524 coins, almost everyone would find something. 300 people paying $10 each would net your group $2,000, plus you could sell hotdogs and drinks during the event.

Except for the last one, these are all relatively cheap events to plan. Tell the papers about your plans, of course. The more unusual fundraising ideas are more likely to get some free press coverage.

School Fundraising Ideas -There's Lot's Of Them

In today’s world school fundraising is a necessity, but to come up with new school fundraising ideas can be a task for anyone. If you go on the Internet you will find many neat school fundraising ideas that will be more than suitable for your needs. These school fundraisers usually are left up to the parents and the teachers. It can become a monumental undertaking to get this fundraiser together and make it a successful one.

There are many school fundraising ideas that you can choose from, such as a car wash. You will have to choose a safe area to conduct this type of fund raiser, but it is better held near a main street where traffic is fairly heavy to have a good outcome. You can organize a bake sale and have a wide variety of cakes, cookies and breads. This too depends on having a fundraising plan, but is one of the tried and true school fundraiser ideas.

Have a pizza school fundraiser. This will be a popular sale as many people enjoy pizza. You can sell coupons for discounts at pizza places. There are companies where you can order chocolate bars for one of your school fundraising ideas. This is always a popular way to make money. Candles are a sure way to make your fundraising plan a success. There are so many kinds and different scents that everyone will enjoy and prove to be a sure fire hit in any community.

Make sure you have a good fundraising plan before you start. Get your support group together and make sure each one knows the part they will be playing in this school fundraiser. You will need someone to be in charge of handling the money, as well as someone to set up and clean up after your school fundraising is over. So a good fundraising plan is essential for a successful outcome no matter what school fundraising ideas you go with.

If you are really stuck with looking for school fundraising ideas that will not cost you a small fortune up front, try putting off a rummage sale. All you will need is a few volunteers to give a helping hand such as collecting goods donated by the community or things that some of the students have outgrown. When you collect enough and have it sorted, then pick a day for the fundraiser and do your advertising. Everyone loves a rummage sale - it is like the old adage that someone’s trash is another’s treasure.

There’s lots of school fundraising ideas, but not all will work for you.