Whether you’re writing to an individual donor, corporation, church, or volunteer, an effective donation request letter must include personalization, clear communication about campaign goals, success stories and facts, and a powerful call to action. This blog discusses various types of donation letters and provides examples to help you get started.
Donation request letters – or simply donation letters – are one of the essential tools in a fundraiser’s arsenal. These letters can be sent to individuals and businesses and are meant to appeal to the reader to take a very specific action: make a donation of some kind!
Depending on the reason for the request, the feel of these letters can either be formal or informal. Sometimes known as appeals, donation request letters can also vary in length and messaging style.
This article explains eight different types of donation letters and gives examples of how organizations have used them. But before we dive into the types, let us have a look at what is a donation letter and why they’re so important!
The purpose of donation letters is to inform donors about your organization, why their gifts are needed, and how they can give.
Many donation letters will be mailed. The cost of printing and direct mail can be costly, though, so there are other options. Emails and social media donation appeals have grown in popularity. Even if you choose to send your request by email, you should still include as much information as possible.
Fundraising appeal letters are used for different reasons. If your organization requests donations or sponsorships from a corporation, a formal request letter is often required. It is also a way to show you are a serious organization capable of handling a large donation.
Sending out request letters to businesses and individuals is a way to give specific details on your campaign and organization. It’s also an ideal way to show how donations impact the nonprofit and your beneficiaries.
Donation request letters are a nonprofit’s primary tool for successful fundraising. The reasons you send these letters will depend on the type of campaign and the type of donors.
Nonprofits will create campaigns for different reasons, but the most popular reasons are upcoming events or giving holidays like Christmas and Ramadan. During these campaigns, a donation letter is often sent in the mail or by email. These letters can introduce the organization, explain the campaign, and detail how their donations can help.
A fundraising letter comes in many forms. Below are some of the more common types of donation letters with examples to get you started.
Some of these requests will look like regular letters, while others will seem like more of a one-pager. The design and text for each donation letter should be targeted specifically to your campaign and donor base. In addition, whether the tone of these letters is formal or informal depends on the type of request you are making and the population you are contacting.
As a nonprofit fundraiser, you will quickly become comfortable writing individual donation request letters. This type of letter is the most common type of appeal letter sent to individuals or families during major campaigns to raise money.
The most popular of these campaigns tends to be at the end of the year when people are in a giving mood. Known as the giving season, it’s often unofficially kicked off by Giving Tuesday, which is on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and is an international day of giving. This is a theme to use for your end-of-year individual donation request letter!
Whether you are sending out a donation letter for Giving Tuesday or another campaign, a few practices can increase the letters’ response rate.
Individuals who receive a donation letter will often have a history with your organization and have donated or volunteered in the past. Keep track of this information in your donor management system, and this knowledge can help you personalize the donation letter whenever possible.
With Donorbox, you can add internal notes about donors to the donor record to better keep track. This will better your response.
People give to successful programs. If you can include a success story or facts that show how your organization has already made a difference, more individuals will want to be part of it.
People are also more likely to give to people – including a beneficiary story with quotes about the impact your nonprofit has made will go a long way. Show your donors that they will make a real difference for someone, not just your faceless nonprofit!
As your organization develops its community partnerships, you will have the opportunity to send more corporate donation request letters. These donation request letters for businesses can be sent during your annual campaigns, when you’re looking for event sponsorships, or to give corporate partners a unique marketing opportunity.
One of the ways both a corporation and your organization can benefit from a partnership is with a matching gift campaign.
After working with the corporation to finalize the details of their donation, create a matching campaign based on the amount raised from these corporations. Send out individual donation request letters and online campaign appeals to promote the matching gift campaign and the organizations.
To increase donor engagement in these campaigns, use a goal meter on the campaign’s fundraising page and social media to share how close donors are to meeting the corporation’s matching amount. Corporate donors will see how their original donation has encouraged more people to give.
For example, check out this matching gift campaign, during which all donations up to $100,000 were matched through a generous grant. Securing a challenge gift like this will encourage more donations because donors will see that their gift will go twice as far.
Sponsorship request letters are generally sent to local businesses and foundations before an organization’s major event. These appeals will promote the event and explain the organization’s needs. An event is an excellent opportunity to introduce your organization to new businesses.
In your sponsorship request letters, be sure to include free tickets in exchange for their gift. This will give you the opportunity to connect with them in person and may serve as an extra incentive to sponsor!
Create customized sponsorships for each business if possible. Give them the chance to promote their organization and share their gifts with their customer base online.
Online donation appeals can be sent through email or any social media platform. These appeals will be different from other donation letters for obvious reasons – people spend 5.59 seconds reading online content, so your online appeals will have to be short and to the point. And a great hook is a must!
The demographic of online donors also tends to be different from those who regularly respond to formal request letters.
Direct mail donation requests are typically sent out once because of printing and mailing costs. Online fundraising appeals, however, can be sent on a weekly or even daily basis! It is often best to send out at least one email and at least two to three social media posts a week during the end-of-year or other large campaigns. Note, however, that each audience is different, so be sure to keep track of the success of these appeals so that you do not reach out to often (or not often enough)!
These emails and posts will be shorter and should link to a donation page that includes more information on your campaign goals and the programs affected. They are also the ideal place to share images and videos, which will draw attention and encourage more engagement.
Online donors tend to be younger and are used to researching the organizations they support. If you are sending out online donation requests, you will want to include links and ways to find more information about your organization’s programs and financial data.
Donors who give online are also often willing to give in different ways – and, many times, more often! Your donors who have shown support in the past can be solicited to give weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
Online donation platforms, like Donorbox, offer donors the opportunity to manage recurring donations to nonprofits. Donors can set up a recurring gift in less than two minutes and control their donation amounts and intervals. You should check out Muso‘s donation page for inspiration. They have added three different recurring giving intervals to give donors more choices while also ensuring a reliable source of funds for the nonprofit.
In-kind donations can be as helpful to a nonprofit organization as a financial one if the items are in need. Pet adoption centers or day cares are examples of nonprofits that can often use in-kind donations, whether of food or toys.
The challenge is that some in-kind donations given are not what is needed. This is where a donation request letter comes in handy – you have got to be specific about what in-kind gifts you’re in need of!
If you send out your donation letter, emails, and social media posts with a specific list of items included, you will have a better chance of receiving your organization’s needs.
Add this list of needed items to your website. Once that is live, you can link all emails and social media posts as well as add that link to your mailed donation letters.
People who donate love to be thanked. Sending an acknowledgment is necessary, but have you thought of adding in-kind donors to your donor wall or promoting their gifts on your Facebook page? By publicly acknowledging these gifts, you will let donors know you are grateful and let others know how they can support your organization too.
Churches continue to need financial support from their members. With fewer members attending services every week, there is a greater need to look for other ways to collect donations. Church fundraising letters can be sent to re-connect with both current and lapsed members to ask for needed funds – just be sure to adjust your messaging according to your audience!
Donorbox is helping thousands of churches across the globe collect tithes and offerings online through the simplest yet most effective fundraising solution.
Here are a few additional tips to make your church fundraising letter effective and appealing.
The feel of these donation letters should be different than those sent from other nonprofits. While many church fundraising letters are formal, a donation letter from your church still needs to have a warm tone.
Churches do not often have events, but if you are holding a fundraising event, now is the perfect time to send out a donation request letter. Events often bring lost members back to the fold, so in your letter, explain the fun they may miss out on if they do not attend. You can give details on what to expect at the event, why the event is being held, and where exactly their donation will go, all in one fundraising appeal letter.
Instead of asking for donations every Sunday, churches are trying new ways to reach out to their congregation for help. A great way to reach younger members is with text giving. Churches can include a campaign ID and text number in their program, mention it during service, or send a campaign letter with an explanation on how text-to-give works. Donors simply send a text to the given number and receive a link to your mobile-friendly donation page!
After donors give once this way, it is easy to repeat their gifts. The Donorbox Text-to-Give system is automated, so you only have to remind your members that repeating the donation requires one text with another keyword – no inputting details or filling out additional forms. Here’s how our repeat donation looks:
Along with donations, many nonprofits need volunteers to keep their organizations running. A great way to remind your donors about this need is with a volunteer request letter. Use this letter as a way to reintroduce your organization to lost donors and explain how they can continue to help.
Nonprofits often have various roles for people who want to volunteer. In your letter, you can explain a few of your biggest needs. For example, if you have an upcoming event, you can send out a letter explaining the different ways people can volunteer before or at the event.
Let supporters know how their volunteer work will help the organization. Does it keep an event running or do they have a direct impact on a specific population? Just like their money, people do not like wasting time. Make sure your volunteers understand how important they are to the organization.
Technology has changed the ways nonprofits solicit. One of those ways is with social media. Peer-to-peer fundraising has given donors ways to play a larger role in fundraising for their favorite nonprofits.
Asking your donors to take part in peer-to-peer campaigning can bothexcite and confuse them. It is best to explain how this type of fundraising works and give them the tools to be successful. One of these tools is a donation letter template to send to their friends and family. This way, they can quickly personalize their letter and easily send it to their prospective donors.
Pro tip: Let your donors make the campaign their own whenever possible. Sending them a template that includes your campaign’s branding will help donors raise more funds. Here’s an example –
Along with the donation letter template, send fundraisers pictures and success stories to keep their community encouraged. Let them know how they impact the campaign by linking a goal meter to any messages you send out to your fundraisers. Give donors access to this link to use in their communication with friends and family.
Donorbox’s peer-to-peer fundraising feature has great storytelling potential and helps your fundraisers get started within minutes. The fundraising pages whave great add-ons like a goal meter, a recurring donation form, social media sharing buttons, dedicated space for the fundraiser’s photo, a background image, and more. Check the feature out here.
Now that you know the types of letters to send and when, you can start writing your next donation request letter. Here are a few tips on ways to make your letters more effective.
When sending out an appeal by direct mail, you will want to keep it as professional as possible. The easiest way to keep this appearance is with an official letterhead. Your organization should have this letterhead for other official correspondence, so be sure to use the same!
Another way to keep the donation request letter professional is by including the date and the donor’s full name and address. These additions are common to formal business letters and will make a difference in solicitation letters you send to businesses.
Finally, one of the easiest ways to get a donation is by showing your organization is tax-deductible by including your organization’s EIN. Businesses and many individuals will need this information for tax purposes and to do further research on your organization.
Keep the tone of the letter warm yet professional. This should also depend on your target audience.
When sending out these request letters, you will want to explain your campaign and the goal donors can help you achieve. By giving as many specifics as you can, your donors will understand the reason for their gifts.
In addition to details about the campaign, you will want to show how their donations have made a difference in the past. Include a personal success story from one of your organization’s beneficiaries. This story will give a face to the organization.
Another way to show success is with a few facts and figures. Some donors want a personal story, but others want to see proof that their donations are reaching more people. If your organization has been around for a while or affects large numbers of people, some data points may be quite compelling.
When reaching out to donors and asking for gifts, it is best to segment your donors. Using your donor management system, you can segment donors by the amounts they donate, campaigns they support, and more. Donorbox makes it a breeze for you!
After segmenting your donors, you have the information to write a more personalized letter that focuses on the campaigns they find interesting, typically resulting in a higher return rate.
When writing about these campaigns, it is crucial you avoid jargon and technical language. People want to know more about the work you do, but using too much technical jargon can get confusing and turn donors away.
The most important part of your request letter is the actual request. This is, unfortunately, an area that can be forgotten. When sending out these letters, always remember to include a call to action. Give donors a reason for your letter and let them know what they can do to help.
It is also essential to make this step as easy as possible. If you are sending a letter with a request for a donation, include an addressed prepaid envelope. Also include other ways to give, like online donation links and information on recurring donations and peer-to-peer fundraising opportunities.
When sending a request, you will get a better response if your letter includes an actual signature from the board president or executive director. If your donor list is too large, add the signature to your Microsoft tools and have your executive sign the letters to all major donors.
Pro Tip: If you are sending a request letter online, you can use electronic signature tools to get a sign from the board president or executive director.
A personalized note – preferably handwritten in ink – can also help your request letter stand out, especially during year-end campaigns when donors receive direct mail letters from several different organizations.
Many donors expect an acknowledgment within 48 hours after donating. If they donate online, they will receive a receipt right away, but a mailed acknowledgment makes their end-of-year tax preparation easier. Plus, it helps them feel as if their gift is truly needed and appreciated!
Looking for inspiration? Take a look at these effective fundraising appeal letters.
ACTS is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit that provides speech and occupational therapy to men, women, and children in their community. Their appeal is an online donation request letter with every element for success one can think of.
This appeal was clearly written to appeal to donors who feel connected with the cause of children’s health. The picture and story are a great way to personalize and draw donors’ attention. Here’s what we love –
Angel Songs was an event held by Little Angels Centre for Exceptional Care to raise money for taking care of the kids and young adults living in their homes. This donation request letter is a great example of a sponsorship request letter sent to potential corporate sponsors.
Here’s what we absolutely love about this donation letter –
The Health Education Centre hires and trains health professionals to serve the marginalized communities in Connecticut. This donation letter can be a classic example of an in-kind donation request letter, as well as that for corporate sponsorship. If you’re planning for a silent auction to raise money for your cause, this should be helpful.
Here’s what caught our attention –
Donation request letters are vital for a nonprofit’s financial health. Be it via direct mail or email, every nonprofit needs to send out these fundraising appeal letters to raise money. However, donors get tired of getting the same types of fundraising letters for each campaign. Successful nonprofits make each letter unique to the campaign and the donor.
Donorbox lets you securely store and manage your donor data. You can use this effective donor management system to uncover details about your donors and personalize your donation letters to each of them.
If you have more questions about different types of request letters and fundraising campaigns, visit our blog. On the hunt for an affordable online fundraising system for your nonprofit? Learn more about Donorbox and our incredible suite of fundraising tools. Our platform is simple to use and offers powerful features like Crowdfunding, Peer-to-Peer, Text-to-Give, Events, Memberships, Donor Management, and more. Sign up for free today!
Kristine Ensor is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience working with local and international nonprofits. As a nonprofit professional she has specialized in fundraising, marketing, event planning, volunteer management, and board development.
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Kristine Ensor