Reader's here — yay! Now the party starts. Let me introduce you to the 99th issue of the Fundraising Writing Newsletter. Would you like to share? That'd be so sweet of you. (Your lovely peeps can ​subscribe here for free.)​

In this issue:

• PS: Yes.
• Randomly yours: to inspire and recharge you
• Win It in a Minute

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Hi Reader,

Brett here:

I grew up before cell phones and the internet, so my first love letters to my first crushes — and eventually, when I won the love lottery, to Julie — were on actual letters.

Was it the same for you, I wonder?

For me, the tactile nature of a handwritten or printed letter just "hits different." It's also the reason I've been buying vinyl records again over the past few years, and why Julie and I have taken to playing the board game Splendor.

I think, too, it's why many conventions associated with letter writing still speak to the pre-digital generations. This likely includes the vast majority of your donors — average age: 65.

Case in point: the PS.

PS: Yes.

In letter writing, the PS is about as iconic as the salutation.

E.g.,

You can't not read the PS.
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Your donors included. They'll pay extra special attention to it. In fact, the PS is one of the first things most donors review when they're first skimming a letter you've send them.

So, in just about all of your donor comms letters, you should have at least one of them. And, as you search your heart for PS goodness, consider these 5 elements:

1. To "PS:" or to "P.S."? Either is fine, but Julie and I typically reserve "PS:" for emails, as it feels more modern. "P.S." feels more classical and is therefore better suited for old-school print letters.
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2. Repeat the Call-to-Action: This is the 1 thing you should always be sure to include in your PS. In a fundraising letter, we're talking about your offer with an ASK. (In other donor comms, your CTA will vary.)
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3. Small Chunks Go Down Easy: Although your PS can be any length and it's worth experimenting to see what works best for you ... when in doubt, we recommend limiting your PS to 4 lines or fewer. If you want or need to go longer than that, you may:
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4. Skip a Line or use a PPS: After writing 4 PS lines, you'll have a small chunk of text that could use some white space.
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   Your first option at this point is to skip a line, then write 4 or fewer additional lines.
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   Your second option is to skip a line and then include a "PPS:" or a "P.P.S."
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   Skipping a line is a bit more formal.
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   Using a PPS is a bit more fun.
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   (Note: "PPS" stands for "Post Post Script" — meaning: "after ... after ... your writing." So do not write "PSS" as that would imply "after ... your writing ... your writing," which is nonsensical. 😂)
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5. Consider Adding Handwriting: A nice human touch makes for a nice final touch. You can do this with an image of a handwritten script or you can approximate it with a handwriting font. This approach can look good especially when you have plenty of white space available on the last page of your letter.

So — PS: Yes!

Randomly yours: to inspire and recharge you

For your brain, heart, and funny bone...

• Fundraisingly Informative — The Overhead Myth, and the Pie Chart Solution​ by Sean Triner (a Moceanic blog post that dispels the myth "the less a charity spends on overhead, the better") ​
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• Historically Precarious — The domino world record was broken by this +25 meter high Kapla tower made with 100,000 planks via Massimo (a 19-second Twitter video that captures a dominant feat of domino placing, stacking, and cascading)
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• Punkily Piped — Shipping Up to Boston (Official Music Video) - MIA x ALLY​ via Ally the Piper (a 2-minute YouTube video featuring violinist Mia Asano and bagpiper Ally the Piper teaming up for a spirited Celtic punk rock number)

Until next time: May you win all the donor love lotteries, starting with the PS.

All our best,

PS: Here's the latest in our weekly video series, Win It in a Minute. You can (and maybe want to?) subscribe here.

Julie asks Tom: “Why is it so important to be careful with reverse text in our donor communications?”

Click below for Tom's answer...

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