Before You
Hit Send
Your appeal is almost done. Read it the way a donor will.
A free, 8-page guide for fundraisers in the final stretch. Use it to catch the drift before your appeal goes out.
The letter starts as a note. It ends as a report.
Most year-end appeals don't fail because the writer lacks skill. They fail because they drift. Under deadline, with an Executive Director, a board chair and a program lead all weighing in, a note to a donor slowly turns into a report about the organization.
This field guide is a final read-through for that moment.
Diagnostic questions
Donor Focus, Clarity, Emotional Connection, Impact and Call to Action. Each one is a quick test you can run against your draft.
Before/after rewrites
One for each question, so you can see the shift instead of just reading about it.
Printable checklist
Ten checks to run before your appeal goes to print or into your email platform.
This year, Riverside Youth Alliance expanded our mentoring program to three new schools, hired two additional coordinators, and strengthened our evaluation framework.
Because of you, 140 more kids walked into school this fall knowing an adult would be waiting for them, in three schools that had no mentors a year ago.
The facts barely changed. What changed is who gets the credit, and who the reader is asked to picture.
It won't write your appeal for you.
Your voice and your donors' history are what make the letter work. It helps you see your draft through your donor's eyes.
Send me the guide