Make Your Direct Mail Fundraising Appeal Letters More Friendly With Informal Design

Theres a scene in the movie, Anne of Green \rGables, where Anne gets on her knees and prays \rby her bed. Marilla is sitting on the bed, listening. Anne \rconcludes her prayer by saying to God, I remain \rrespectively yours, Anne, with an e.
\rAnne then asks Marilla how she sounded. Fine, says \rMarilla, if you were addressing a business letter to \rthe catalog store.

Marillas point was that Annes prayer to God should \rnot have been impersonal and formal. The same \rgoes for your fundraising letters. They need to be \rpersonal and informal, and they need to look personal \rand informal. Here are some design tips to help you \rachieve those goals:

Justify paragraphs ragged right
\rFormal business, government and legal \rcorrespondence features fully justified paragraphs. So \rdo books. But you want your appeal letters to look like \rpersonal letters, the kind we used to compose on \rtypewriters. So dont fully justify your paragraphs. Make \rthem ragged right.

Indent the first line of paragraphs
\rIf you want your letter to look formal, format all your \rparagraphs flush left. If you want them to look \rinformal, indent the first line of each \rparagraph.

Avoid the newsletter look
\rYou may be tempted to include photographs, \rsidebars, call-outs and other graphic design \relements to make your letter look more appealing. But \ryou will actually reduce its appeal, literally. The more \ryour appeal letter looks like a bulletin or page from a \rnewsletter, the less it looks like a piece of personal \rcorrespondence from one individual to another. You \rwant your donors to read your newsletter. But you want \rthem to respond to your appeal letter. So make your \rfundraising letters look like letters.

About the author
\rAlan Sharpe is president of Raiser Sharpe, a full-service direct mail fundraising agency that helps non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors. Sign up for free weekly tips like this, and discover other helpful resources, at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com

2007 Sharpe Copy Inc. 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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