I just read a fundraising letter written by Dave Phillips, the Campaign Chair for the Crieff Hills Community capital campaign.  It made me want to give and that caught my attention.  Crieff Hills Community is a retreat centre situated in the rolling hills close to Guelph, Ontario.  With multiple buildings they accomodate groups of any size, including individual retreatants. I have many postive memories of time spent there in groups and alone.

However, Crieff Hills has not been on my radar as a charity I would consider giving to.  This letter changed that. As such it is a powerful example of effective letter writing. What about it made me read it instead of toss it? I decided to disect this letter to find out.  Here’s what I came up with:

  1. It starts with new letterhead.  New graphics on the letterhead remind me of the landscape at Crieff and trigger emotional memories of all the great times I’ve had at Crieff.
  2. Three phrases are highlighted:  “Building a place apart”, “Come for a day…or stay”, and “a place apart…to come together”. Each of these phrases appeal to my love for solitude, nature, peace.
  3. The project identfies a need in my life, creating time and space for solitude.  Crieff is addressing this need by expanding their capacity to host personal retreats.  The current hermitage is in high demand and often not available.
  4. Of course the letter had all the basics, addressed to me personally, good mix of fact and vision, error free.
  5. The “ask” is clear and uncomplicated.

This letter appealed to me because it meets a need I strongly identify with.  I’m wondering how I can write letters for Healing Streams that helps the reader feel the same way about a project in another country.  In the west, as in developing countries, we can be overwhelmed by all the needs before us. Sometimes less choice is easier. If we can latch onto one or two organizations that are meeting needs in areas we care about we can begin to make a difference. If you have examples of fundraising letters that do a good job of engaging the reader I’d love to hear about them.