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Fundraising Renewal Letters: Four Goals to Strive For With Each One You Write
In the fundraising profession, appeal letters that you mail to existing donors are called renewal letters. They are designed to solicit a gift, but, more important than that, they aim to persuade your current donors to renew their support of your organization. Donors renew their support with their cash, of course, but they also renew it with their commitment-with their hearts and minds. And that's why renewal letters are so vital. They help you maintain your broad base of support year after year, cost-effectively. Renewal letters are part of a year-long program that is usually called the Annual Giving Program. "Annual" does not mean that you mail just one letter a year (you shouldn't). It simply means that you look at your fundraising efforts as a year-by-year activity, one where you must persuade your active donors to renew their commitment each year. Goal #1: Renew donor commitment This means that each letter you mail should aim to re-motivate, re-invigorate and rejuvenate your donors, encouraging them, explicitly or implicitly, to renew their commitment to your organization, or, more accurately, to the people that your organization serves. This is often done with the first appeal letter of the year, but donor renewal is really a year-long activity that takes place with every contact you have with each donor, whether it's a phone call, a personal visit or their presence at a banquet or other event. Goal #2: Renewed gift Goal #3: Upgraded gift Goal #4: Conversion to monthly giving 1. Send a letter whose primary goal is to persuade annual givers to join your monthly giving program. Spell out the benefits that the donor and your organization enjoy from monthly giving. 2. Use your postscript (your PS at the bottom of each letter) to invite annual givers to join your monthly giving program. 3. Include a buckslip or liftnote in your letters, describing your monthly giving program and inviting donors to sign up. Asking recent donors to send you another gift is a lot easier and less expensive than acquiring a new donor. That's why renewal letters play such a vital role in helping your non-profit raise funds affordably. Most donors who respond by mail do not send with their first gift enough money to recover your costs of acquisition. That's why their second gift and subsequent gifts are so crucial. My hope is that your fundraising letters will persuade your donors to stay with you for a long, long time. About the author
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