This is the 181st Fundraising Writing Newsletter. If you find value here, please tell a fundraising friend. (Your fundraising friend can ​subscribe here for free.)

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

Hi Reader,

Brett and I are big Taylor Swift fans.

One reason: she's an amazing songwriter.

As writers, we none too seldom find ourselves appreciating one of her lyrics and raising an imaginary glass in tribute. Cheers, Taylor!

For example, from the song "Ruin the Friendship" on Swift's new album The Life of a Showgirl:

This line is great because it uses the familiar and the specific to quickly, efficiently convey meaning and feeling.

"Don't make it awkward" uses a common phrase that feels familiar (and therefore right) while hinting at the meaning of the song — which is that in high school it's all too easy to avoid taking a risk for love because it might "Ruin the Friendship."

"in second period" us a nicely specific detail to help you 'time travel' to the high school setting of the song; it also suggests potential: the beginning of the school day mirrors the beginning of a potential romantic relationship following from a friendship. You're left feeling the stakes.

It works in fundraising too.

"Don't make it awkward in second period" (do this instead)

In our most recent piece about developing your appeal letter "prime real estate", one key element we explored was the Johnson Box.

The Johnson Box is crucial.

Along with the outer envelope teaser (to get the envelope opened in the first place), the Johnson Box is the biggest, boldest, most important "headline" in your appeal letter.

When Brett and I are writing an appeal, we'll occasionally spend as much time nailing down our Johnson Box messaging as we will on the whole body of the appeal (especially for shorter, 2-page letters).

As the saying goes, "An error in the beginning is an error indeed."

So, make sure you get your Johnson Box just-so.

If you don't grab your donors right away, you're in danger of losing them right away.

Here's where you might take inspiration from Taylor Swift.
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Example #1:

Familiar: taking a child to a nature center.
​Specific: the baby's first word is "turtle."
​Meaning: a nature center can change a life.
​Feeling: how wonderful; I'd like to be a part of that!
​

Example #2:

Familiar: the concept of life turning on a moment.
​Specific: "This could be your moment."
​Meaning: I can really help this girl.​
​Feeling: I'm worried about her; what happened?!

Example #3:

Familiar: the notion of working hard and following the rules.
​Specific: which didn't protect the senior quoted here.
​Meaning: some seniors in need have been victimized.
​Feeling: how awful, someone should do something; me...?
​​
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​Simple approach, right?

Yes. But simple is not necessarily easy.

It takes practice.

I encourage you to practice combining the familiar and the specific to quickly, efficiently convey meaning and feeling so your donors keep reading and giving!
​

Fancy a little more lyrical inspo?

Here are 11 additional Taylor Swift lyrics you might ponder as you work on your fundraising writing — one from each of the other songs on her new album.

Each of them follow the idea above: familiar and specific for meaning and feeling.

From "The Fate of Ophelia":

From "Elizabeth Taylor":

From "Opalite":

From "Father Figure" [POV of a villainous mentor]:

From "Eldest Daughter":

From "Actually Romantic":

From "Wi$h Li$t":

From "Wood":

From "CANCELLED!":

From "Honey":

From "The Life of a Showgirl":

🎤 ✨

Randomly yours

For your brain, heart, and funny bone...

• Fundraisingly Informative — The Angels’ Share​ by Steven Screen (a fascinating blog post about how securing matching funds leadership donors is about more than providing an opportunity for doubling impact ... and that, like the trace whiskey that evaporates during distillation, the extra good done via matching funds amounts to "the angels' share."​
  ​
• Appropriately Festive — 21 Facts About Throwing Good Parties by Angela Chen (a blog post with some interesting party ideas such as "Co-host parties with someone you like a lot but who isn't in your exact social circle, so that your two friend-sets can intermingle.)
  ​
• Helpfully Taxonomic — I stole this idea and now use it with every single employee​ by Alex Lieberman (an X post that categorizes 5 levels of work, starting with "There is a problem" and ending with "I identified a problem, figured out what caused it, researched how to fix it, and I fixed it. Just wanted to keep you in the loop.”)

Until next time: May you never so fear "ruining the friendship" with your donors that you avoid doing what it takes for a deeper, more rewarding relationship!

Grateful,

Julie Cooper & Brett Cooper
Fundraising Copywriters​ (and Cavapoo Charlie)​
​FundraisingWriting.com​
​100% human, thank you very much.