Don’t start by writing . . . 5 copywriting tips to help you tackle your next fundraising appeal

When SOFII's weekly news update dropped into my inbox last week, one headline leaped out at me. It was this:

Don’t start by writing . . .

It refers to a comment that an anonymous poster had left on SOFII's exhibit for the stirring series of Amnesty International press ads by Indra Sinha.

The poster quotes a tip from Sinha to budding fundraising copywriters:

"Don't start by writing. Start by feeling. Feel, and feel passionately, and the emotion you feel will come through the spaces in between the words."

I can't begin to say how true this is.

It's simply impossible to sit down and write a good fundraising letter without first connecting emotionally with two key people. One is your donor. The other is your beneficiary. A copywriter's job is to connect these two people.

But what if you're not a professional copywriter?

What if you're the development director of a small non-profit and you have to run a fundraising department virtually (or even actually) single-handed? What does "start with feeling" really mean? And more importantly, how do you do it?

I can't speak for every copywriter out there, but I can give you a few pointers based on what works for me. Hopefully they'll help you get emotionally connected to your next fundraising appeal before you begin writing . . .

1. Focus on a human story

If you don't have a good, strong case study, go find one - I really can't overstate how critically important this is. If you have one ready to go, do the following . . .

Forget about your case for giving. Forget about your mission statement. Forget about the inner workings of your life-changing services, programs and projects. These are facts and figures. Facts and figures are cold. And they won't help you feel.

In fact, forget about the organisation you work for completely. Focus on the human story in your case study. Sit down and read it . . . really feel it, let it stir your emotions. If it moves you to tears, let the tears flow. If it makes you angry, bottle that anger. However it makes you feel - hold on to that feeling.

2. Pick one person as the subject of you're story

Not a village. Not a family. Not two people. Just one. Partly because research shows people give more to help "the one" than they do to help "the many" (e.g. the well documented Rokia study by Deborah Small). But also because the story of an individual (or told from an individual's perspective) is so much more compelling. And when space is limited to a few pages, so much easier to write too.

3. Now look at the pictures

If you have photos of the person at the centre of your story, look at them. Really look at them. Print them off and place them on your desk beside your keyboard, or pin them to the wall above your PC screen. Read the case study again, looking at the photos as you do so. Use them to help you connect.

If you don't have any photos, try searching iStock for surrogates. Run a few searches until you can find some suitably stirring images that fit with the person in your story. You may never actually print them (in fact, stock shots are a very poor second to real photos, and should only be used in a pinch, and then with extreme caution) but they will help as tools to connect you emotionally with the person in your story.

4. Remember who you’re writing for

Not for your principal. Not for yourself. Not for your peers. You're writing for your donor. For Joan.

If your organisation has run any donor surveys, study them and build a donor profile. A real picture of your typical donor, including: age, gender, likes, dislikes, where they live, what they drive, what newspaper they read, etc. There's some very sound advice on the subject here from Pamela Grow.

Again, find a photo of someone who fits the bill. A clipping from a magazine, a screen shot from an internet news article, or use iStock again. Any photo that helps you connect with your donor . . . your Joan.

Print it off, place it on your desk, or pin it to your wall, right beside the images of your beneficiary.

5. Identify the "Golden Detail" in your story

Read through your case study again and search for the most vivid, most tangible, most memorable detail. The kind of thing Chip and Dan Heath would call a "Sticky Idea". It doesn't have to be central to the facts of your case study, in fact for me, it usually isn't.

Instead it should be the kind of colorful detail that will grab your donor's attention and make them want to read on.

Here are a few examples:

• When I was working on an appeal for a children's home-based hospice service, I used a heart rending quote from a little girl called Una, who knew she was going to die, and who told her mother: "I want pink balloons at my funeral."

• For an appeal for an organisation that restores children's sight, the golden detail was the shattered dream of a young boy who wanted to grow up and race motorbikes - but who lost his sight to cataracts when he was only seven.

• And for an Alzheimer's Disease charity, it was the bright ribbons a child used to weave into her grandfather's hair for fun. A mental image so vivid it helped me develop a theme for an annual appeal that's now in its third year.

None of these details has anything to do with the services these organisation provides. But they are all vivid, tangible and memorable. And most of all, they make you feel something: shock, sadness, nostalgia . . .

Almost every story, every case study, has one of these golden details. When you find yours - cut and paste it into the top of your appeal letter document.

And then . . .

Bring it all together. Scan over everything one more time, your story, your subject, your images, your donor profile, your golden detail . . . let it all sink in . . . really feel it . . . take a deep breath . . . then begin.

Best of luck!