This is the 121st Fundraising Writing Newsletter.
If you find value here, please tell your fundraising friends.
(Your fundraising friends can subscribe here for free.)
In this issue:
✅ Find places for happy faces
✅ VIDEO: 'Win It in a Minute': Upgrading Your "Soft Donors"
✅ Randomly yours: to inspire and recharge you
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Hi Reader,
The other day, Brett and I had some plumbing work done. In the process I noticed this one little detail I don't always think about — but I believe it's important.
Yes, our drain cover has a happy face!
Is it necessary?
No.
Does it make a difference?
Also no — sometimes. Other times, yeah, at least a little.
And: there's got to be a positive version of the expression "the straw that broke the camel's back." This example could point to that. It could be "the happy face that saved the camel's back."
Okay, probably not, but don't underestimate the butterfly effect, right? Every happy face counts.
With that in mind, I want to encourage you to...
Your fundraising writing will always consist of a number of key required items. What's not necessarily required are happy faces.
Not in the literal or figurative senses.
People tend to love happy faces, but they don't always remember to include them.
Drain cover manufacturers, for example, seldom think to add a little happy face in the middle of all the required drain holes. But it works. It's awesome. It's memorable. (And it could even save a camel's life. Metaphor alert: see above.)
Mostly, it's a mindset.
Here's a recent example — an impact story we wrote for a client.
Take a look and notice the not-required-but-still-awesome-and-memorable-and-just-might-make-all-the-difference 😃s, each of them marked with red text.
Each "happy face" moment in the impact piece above was meant to lift the piece — to lift donors' hearts — and to lift response. None of these elements were to be found in the story field notes we were given.
Rather, we found places to add happy faces.
And we hope you'll do the same! 😃
This video is a snippet taken from January's Tom Ahern fundraising newsletter webinar Q&A session. You'll see Tom and special guest expert Denisa Casement answer an attendee's question about how to upgrade "soft donors" such as those who give a gift in memory of a loved one.
You can (and maybe want to?) subscribe here.
For your brain, heart, and funny bone...
Until next time: May you find all kinds of places for all kinds of happy faces.
Grateful,
Fundraising Copywriters FundraisingWriting.com |
PS: We wrote a new (200+ page) book — and it's free! Click here to access Heartable Fundraising Writing.
We're Julie Cooper and Brett Cooper, fundraising copywriters for great causes. Does your fundraising bring in as much money as it could? You can send donor communications that stir hearts to action. We'd love to help. 💛 Start by subscribing to our FREE and fun weekly newsletter.
Don't make a scene, write a scene! Your donors will feel as if they are on location. This is the 140th Fundraising Writing Newsletter. If you find value here, please tell a fundraising friend. (Your fundraising friend can subscribe here for free.) In this issue: ✅ Fundraising 101: You're writing a scene, not an article. ✅ A free summer webinar for YOU (space is limited) ✅ Randomly yours: to inspire and recharge you Wednesday, July 24, 2024 Hi Reader, Tom Ahern once said to me, "Most...
We hope this newsletter finds you under a rainbow cloud! This is the 139th Fundraising Writing Newsletter. If you find value here, please tell a fundraising friend. (Your fundraising friend can subscribe here for free.) In this issue: ✅ Rainbow cloud? Yes! ✅ (Also: fundraising samples.) ✅ (And: free webinar on July 31!) ✅ Randomly yours: to inspire and recharge you Wednesday, July 10, 2024 Hi Reader, Brett here: I'm hoping the last party you hosted or attended was (as Julie likes to say)...
Closeup of the inscription from our wedding album. Good things begin with ❤️. This is the 138th Fundraising Writing Newsletter. If you find value here, please tell a fundraising friend. (Your fundraising friend can subscribe here for free.) In this issue: ✅ 30 years for us! ❤️ 30 tips for you! 🤩 ✅ Randomly yours: to inspire and recharge you Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Hi Reader, As I write this on Monday, Brett and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. I shall resist the temptation to...