Writing fundraising copy poorly is pretty easy. Writing it well is hard. Getting it from bad to good is devilishly difficult.
But here's one way, from Karen Zapp, to make not-so-good copy into pretty decent copy. And it's easy: What SINGLE change can improve any fundraising appeal?
Here's Karen's one change: Change the word "we" to "you." And here's how it plays out:
We sent 220 volunteers to Joplin to help them rebuild. Ten families are now living in their homes again. This is just one example of what Acme Charity has done in this past year.
Yawn. But change we to you, and you get:
You helped send 220 volunteers to Joplin. Ten homes were rebuilt and families are living in their homes again. This is just one example of what Acme Charity has done in this past year.
There's still a lot more that could make that paragraph stronger -- but that simple change transformed it from organizational navel-gazing into genuine donor-connecting fundraising.
