When you are writing something, whether it be a fundraising letter or a newsletter article, think of your audience.

• Who is reading this?
• What are their interests?
• What will capture their attention, make them read more, and even take action?                     

These days people are bombarded with email and text messages, as well as snail mail. They don’t have time to plough through a lot of information.

Make your message count – make it short and sweet. When crafting messages, think of both what your audience is interested in and how you can make your point clearly and concisely.

When you are writing a fundraising letter, do you think your donors are going to want to weed through a lot of text and statistics?

• Find a way to engage them immediately, perhaps with a story. 
• Show them how their donations have helped your clients. 
• What do you think would inspire them donate to your organization?

If you are writing a newsletter article, especially if it’s an email article, is it short, to the point, and easy to read?

• Think of what will be of interest to your audience. They will likely be more interested in success stories about your clients than news about staff members.
• Here again, you can show your donors how their contributions have helped your clients. 
• Use short paragraphs and bulleted lists to make your article easy to read. 

Remember that your audience is getting information from many different sources. Make whatever you send out something they will want to read.


Photo by batmoo via Flickr