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In the fundraising profession, the act of requesting funds from a donor is called the ask. When you are writing a fundraising letter and you arrive at the place where you must actually, ahem, request a donation, you have arrived at the ask. And the ask, as you probably know, is one of the toughest things to get right in fundraising.

Where in the letter should you mention money?

Early on in your letter you should let your reader know why you are writing. Somewhere above the fold, usually in the second or third paragraph, describe the reason for your letter. Here is an example:

The people of Afghanistan have already suffered 20 years of conflict and three years without rain. One and a half million are dead. Two million are disabled. And now this: the UN is predicting that the number of Afghans facing hunger and deprivation will soon reach 7.5 million.

Something has to give. Or someone has to give. Thats why Im writing to you during this crisis. Will you give? You can save lives and avert disaster by sending a donation to Doctors Without Borders right now.

How much should you ask for?

Ah, the perennial question. As fundraising letter expert Mal Warwick would say, that depends. How much money you request of each donor depends on many variables, including:

• size of the donors last gift


• size of the donors average gift


• amount that most organizations like yours ask for


• specific need that you are presenting to the donor


• size of your donor base


• donors capacity to give (assuming you know it)


• donors affiliation with your organization (is the donor a brand new supporter or one of your board of directors?)


• length of time the donor has supported you (is it one year or ten?)

As you can see, the amount of money that you request in your direct mail fundraising letters depends on too many variables for me to give you an average figure to aim for in every appeal.

How many times should you request a donation?

Ask for a gift more than once in your letter. At a minimum, bring up the topic early on, and ask again for a donation in your conclusion. Another good place to request funds is in your postscript (your P.S.). Some of your asks can be hard asks (Give today) and others can be soft asks (Your gift will make a difference.).

Whats the best way to actually ask for the gift?

Here we come to the topic of this Handbook. As you will discover, there are at least one-hundred and one ways to make your ask on paper. Some are forceful, others are subtle. Some are for capital campaigns, others for endowment campaigns and still others for year-end appeals. I recommend that you read all of the asks, putting a checkmark in the margin next to the ones that will work for your unique organization, your unique donors, your unique case for support and your unique writing style.

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About the author
Alan Sharpe publishes Direct Mail Fundraising Today, the free, weekly email newsletter that helps non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors. Alan is the author of Breakthrough Fundraising Letters and 25 handbooks on direct mail fundraising. Alan is also a speaker and workshop leader who delivers public seminars and teleseminars on direct mail fundraising. Sign up for Alan's newsletter at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com.

2007 Alan Sharpe. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message).

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If your non-profit organization is like many others, you receive half or more or your contributed income at the end of the year as part of what used to be called the "Christmas Appeal." In recent years it has come to be known as, in politically correct North America at least, the "Year-End Appeal" or "Seasonal Appeal."

Which means your year-end appeal
letter can make or break your year, financially speaking. Here are some tips on
how to craft a winning year-end fundraising letter appeal package.

1. Keep it simple

One non-profit ministry that I shall not name mailed their year-end appeal
letter in a poly bag along with their donor newsletter. They had been late in
getting their newsletter in the mail and so, to save on postage, they mailed it
along with the seasonal appeal letter. The campaign bombed, and bombed big.
Donors, as far as we could tell, read the full-colour newsletter and ignored the
letter that came with it. So my advice is this: keep your year-end appeal simple
and focused on one goal: securing a year-end donation.

2. Be creative

You will be competing with other organizations in the mailbox. Every charity
sends an appeal at Christmas. So stand out by mailing something creative. When I
worked with Doctors Without Borders as their fundraising letter writer, they
mailed a Christmas card to donors that donors then signed and returned to the
organization with their gift. Doctors Without Borders forwarded the card to a
volunteer doctor or nurse who was serving overseas, and whose name was on the
card. The cards were greatly appreciated by the volunteers (many of whom were
homesick at that time of year). The cards also involved donors in a way that
warmed their hearts and motivated them to contribute.

3. Look back with thanksgiving

Use your year-end appeal fundraising letter as a way to thank donors for
their support during the past year. Don't list the names of every staff person
you hired or promoted, or go on at length about happenings at head office.
Instead, tell at least one heart-warming or compelling story that illustrates in
vivid terms how your donors' gifts changed lives. Use quotes from the people
that you serve wherever possible. They add credibility and human interest to
your letter.

4. Look ahead with anticipation

Also use this Christmas appeal letter to present your vision for the coming
year. Show donors how their gift this "Holiday Season" will make a difference
next year for your organization and the people you serve.

5. Use a seasonal theme

Try to tie your appeal to the season. Giving, presents, exchanging
greetings, snow, "goodwill toward man" and other themes are popular at
Christmastime. If you can tie your appeal to an emotion or sentiment that is
already prevalent at the end of the year, and do so in a relevant way without
being overly sentimental, do so.

6. Accentuate the positive

Please don't appeal for donors to get your books out of the red and into the
black. If you have a negative cash flow at year-end, don't ask donors to correct
it. They will see your predicament as your fault. Donors are not motivated to
eliminate debt (unless it's Third World debt). But they are motivated to change
the world through a gift to your organization. So present your appeal as an
opportunity for the donor rather than a rescue operation for your chief
financial officer.

7. A special word for Christian charities

Avoid the "God gave us an unspeakable Gift and so should you" approach in
your Christmas appeal letter. Instead, show in concrete terms how you will use a
donor's gift to further the work that your Christian donors care about, using a
biblical theme if possible.

About the author
Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer, instructor and mentor who helps non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors using creative fundraising letters. Learn more about his services, view free sample fundraising letters, and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com

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Smencils Gourmet Scented Pencils - Set of 10

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Just recently, the principal of Bremen High School in Midlothian, Illinois, canceled the fundraising basketball game scheduled for the evening of Monday January 28, 2008. The leader of the school made this decision, after he learned that some of the game's participants had been possibly mistreated or poorly trained. Once the news about the principal's stand spread, he was contacted by a nationally known organization and given an award for his courageous decision.

The group? PETA- or "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals". The basketball players in question? Donkeys.

Yes, you read that right. As it turns out, there is such a thing as "Donkey Basketball" and more than a few groups around the country have used this activity to raise money for a variety of causes.

The author of this fundraising blog must confess to a terrible blind-spot in his industry-wide knowledge, for until this morning, I never knew such a thing even existed. But now, I am quite intrigued.

So, what does PETA have to say about Donkey basketball? I found this quote in the Chicago Tribune article which reported on this development.

According to Daniel Hauff, who is an animals-in-entertainment specialist in Chicago for PETA, "Donkeys used for such purposes sometimes travel in cramped trailers and may be abused in order to get them to cooperate. Although federal laws protect many animals from abuse, donkeys are not protected, so depending on the state, it can be legal to use them in such activities."

Hauff went on to praise the school principal for his conviction. "He was concerned about his students and these animals. These animals are being forced to do something that is uncomfortable, probably confusing."

PETA's website actually went into greater detail about their views on this subject. "It's hard to believe that something as absurd as "donkey basketball" still exists in this day and age, but sadly, it's true. During these cruel "games"-which some schools hold as fundraisers-donkeys are dragged, kicked, and punched by participants who have no animal-handling experience. As if abusing animals and forcing them to participate in these games weren't bad enough, there's more: In order to keep them from having "accidents" on the court, donkeys are often deprived of food and water for hours before games. Donkeys are not protected by the federal Animal Welfare Act, and local humane agencies tend to be reluctant to get involved in cruelty cases involving donkeys, since employees typically don't have any experience working with donkeys or any knowledge about them."

Evidently, the national office of the Parent Teacher Association has also jumped on the anti-donkey basketball bandwagon. They have a statement on the PETA website that states, "Children trained to extend justice, kindness, and mercy to animals become more just, kind, and considerate in their [interactions] with each other."

So, with all this hullabaloo out there against donkey basketball, I figured there had to be an organized group in favor of this "sport". And there was- the companies that rent out their donkeys for the games. (Surprise!)

To be honest, I was able to find a woman- Bonnie Jo Campbell of Comstock, Michigan- who really loves donkeys. She raises her own and cares for them like family. She has a website, on which she wrote a 4,410 word essay about how much she loves donkeys. That's seven pages typed- single spaced. She's pretty serious about donkeys. You can read the text of this essay here (if you so desire) and you can learn about how impressed she was at the way the basketball-playing donkeys she's known over the years have been treated. She sums up her essay with this quote (and I'm not kidding...) "If I were a donkey, I would prefer to live a life of leisure, hanging with my pals, play-fighting, rolling in sandpits and eating every thing I came across, but if I had to choose a career, I'd guess I'd seriously consider the basketball gig."

So there you have it. What's everybody getting so excited about?

From my reading and investigating, a typical financial arrangement between the school and the donkey owners is a 60-40 split with the donkey owners getting the sixty. If gate receipts top $3,000, the split goes to 50-50.

So, basically, it's hard to imagine a game of donkey basketball really scoring that big for a school group. After all the time and effort you'd put into planning it, a 60-40 split isn't that great. And, you have to assume that in this day and age, there is bound to be a group arise from your community who will vigorously oppose the activity, potentially giving your group a very bad public image.

Bottom-line: there are many other less abusive, less politically charged, and more profitable types of fundraisers you can pursue other than donkey basketball.

About the Author: James Berigan is a former school principal who enjoys guiding schools with their fundraising efforts. He writes for the Top School Fundraisers blog at http://TopSchoolFundraisers.com/news

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