For a lot of organizations, the next few weeks are critical. Your strongest fundraising efforts happen at the end of the year. Doing well now means you have a good year. Being off, even just a bit off, can put you in trouble for the entire year.
Clairification has some hints for maximizing your year-end direct mail, at 6 Ways to Raise More Money with Your Annual Fundraising Appeal:
- Mailing list. (Having the right audience for your message matters a lot more than how you express that message.)
- Get it opened. (The one creative thing you can do that has the most impact on response if a great envelope that gets people to open it.)
- Begin with the P.S. (The most-read part of your letter needs to be good.)
- Make it readable.
- Make it reader-centric.
- Write like you -- and your readers -- talk.
Go read the post -- there are a lot of useful details for each of these points.