| Member You |
Hubs | Hubbers | Topics | Request |
| #1 in Business | Subscribe Email Print |
|
You are here: Home > Business > Fundraising > Use Quotations in Your Fundraising Appeal Letters to Inspire and Motivate Your Donors |
|
Member You - Use Quotations in Your Fundraising Appeal Letters to Inspire and Motivate Your Donors
Your Picture of Success
preaching.I'm sure you've heard that the best way to achieve something is to have a clear understanding of your goal. The more detailed your picture or statement, the more likely you are to reach your desired milestone.Most people want to succeed in a career that is more fulfilling and meaningful than what they have now. In addition they want to be happy and live a good life. Of course each person has their own take on how they envision this So you search under the topic of Children, and find
this nugget from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
Hodding Carter: “There are only two lasting bequests
we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the
other, wings.” There you have a memorable way to
state your case. You could even turn this quotation
into a theme that runs throughout your fundraising
letter package, starting with the outer envelope
teaser. Someone like Mother Theresa. Mark Twain. Rosa
Parks. Ernest Hemmingway. Quotations are one of the most effective ways to
inspire and motivate donors. Think of all the topics
you could possibly want to write about in a
fundraising letter, such as apathy, challenge, faith,
freedom, generosity, injustice, love, optimism,
persistence, poverty and war. Chances are,
someone, somewhere, at some moment in history,
has said something quotable on your topic. So when you are stuck for the best way to say
something, reach for a book of quotations and turn
to the table of contents. Look up the topic you are
struggling with. Turn to that page and hunt for a
quotation that conveys your thought in a memorable
or wise or pithy or funny or epigrammatic way. Then
take that quotation and incorporate it into your
appeal letter. For example, let’s say you’re requesting funds for a
shelter for homeless people. You want to convey to
your donors the plight of people who end up living on
the streets. You pick up your book of quotations,
look under the topic Injustice, and find that Pearl S.
Buck, human rights activist and Nobel Prize winner,
once remarked: “Hunger makes a thief of any man.”
There’s a zinger that you can incorporate somewhere
into your letter. Or let’s say you’re writing to the same donor about
the same homeless shelter, but instead you’re
struggling to communicate how the streets are
especially hard on homeless children. You don’t want
to simply say, “The streets are especially hard on
homeless children,” because you’re afraid that you’ll
be stating the obvious, or sound like you’re
preaching. So you search under the topic of Children, and find
this nugget from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
Hodding Carter: “There are only two lasting bequests
we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the
other, wings.” There you have a memorable way to
state your case. You could even turn this quotation
into a theme that runs throughout your fundraising
letter package, starting with the outer envelope
teaser. So when you are stuck for the best way to say
something, reach for a book of quotations and turn
to the table of contents. Look up the topic you are
struggling with. Turn to that page and hunt for a
quotation that conveys your thought in a memorable
or wise or pithy or funny or epigrammatic way. Then
take that quotation and incorporate it into your
appeal letter. For example, let’s say you’re requesting funds for a
shelter for homeless people. You want to convey to
your donors the plight of people who end up living on
the streets. You pick up your book of quotations,
look under the topic Injustice, and find that Pearl S.
Buck, human rights activist and Nobel Prize winner,
once remarked: “Hunger makes a thief of any man.”
There’s a zinger that you can incorporate somewhere
into your letter. Or let’s say you’re writing to the same donor about
the same homeless shelter, but instead you’re
struggling to communicate how the streets are
especially hard on homeless children. You don’t want
to simply say, “The streets are especially hard on
homeless children,” because you’re afraid that you’ll
be stating the obvious, or sound like you’re
preaching. So you search under the topic of Children, and find
this nugget from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
Hodding Carter: “There are only two lasting bequests
we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the
other, wings.” There you have a memorable way to
state your case. You could even turn this quotation
into a theme that runs throughout your fundraising
letter package, starting with the outer envelope
teaser. For example, let’s say you’re requesting funds for a
shelter for homeless people. You want to convey to
your donors the plight of people who end up living on
the streets. You pick up your book of quotations,
look under the topic Injustice, and find that Pearl S.
Buck, human rights activist and Nobel Prize winner,
once remarked: “Hunger makes a thief of any man.”
There’s a zinger that you can incorporate somewhere
into your letter. Or let’s say you’re writing to the same donor about
the same homeless shelter, but instead you’re
struggling to communicate how the streets are
especially hard on homeless children. You don’t want
to simply say, “The streets are especially hard on
homeless children,” because you’re afraid that you’ll
be stating the obvious, or sound like you’re
preaching. So you search under the topic of Children, and find
this nugget from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
Hodding Carter: “There are only two lasting bequests
we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the
other, wings.” There you have a memorable way to
state your case. You could even turn this quotation
into a theme that runs throughout your fundraising
letter package, starting with the outer envelope
teaser. Or let’s say you’re writing to the same donor about
the same homeless shelter, but instead you’re
struggling to communicate how the streets are
especially hard on homeless children. You don’t want
to simply say, “The streets are especially hard on
homeless children,” because you’re afraid that you’ll
be stating the obvious, or sound like you’re
preaching. So you search under the topic of Children, and find
this nugget from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
Hodding Carter: “There are only two lasting bequests
we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the
other, wings.” There you have a memorable way to
state your case. You could even turn this quotation
into a theme that runs throughout your fundraising
letter package, starting with the outer envelope
teaser. So you search under the topic of Children, and find
this nugget from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
Hodding Carter: “There are only two lasting bequests
we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the
other, wings.” There you have a memorable way to
state your case. You could even turn this quotation
into a theme that runs throughout your fundraising
letter package, starting with the outer envelope
teaser. Quotations are an effective way to up the octane in
your fundraising letters for a number of
reasons:
When you quote people word for word, be sure to
mention who you are quoting. Imitation, as Charles
Caleb Colton said, is the sincerest form of flatter, but
quoting people without citing your source isn’t
imitation. It’s plagiarism. If you want help finding suitable quotes for your
fundraising letters, buy The Fundraisers’ Book of
Quotations, the latest e-book from Andrew
Spencer Publishing. It contains over 200 pages and
over 2,700 quips,
proverbs, aphorisms, witticisms, zingers, epigrams,
quotes, one-liners and words of wisdom to inspire
and motivate your donors. Details
here.
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
Related Articles:Fire in Your Belly - Making Money From Business Managing Change - To Change - You Gotta Change Build Customer Experiences, Not Relationships
|