For Grinch-proof appeals. This is the 173rd Fundraising Writing Newsletter. If you find value here, please tell a fundraising friend. (Your fundraising friend can ​subscribe here for free.)​

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Hi Reader,

I'm a naturally caring person. But when my Aunt Jo died of colon cancer, suddenly I found myself caring far more than ever before about this horrible disease, because it now had a face and a heart.

Your fundraising stories can do the same for your donors.

I encourage you to...

Lead with ❤️.

It's not just that your donors will care more and give more if you use your fundraising stories to put a face and a heart on the problem.

It's that you can lose your donors if you lead with something other than heart. (We've made this mistake before. You don't need to do the same!)

Once your fundraising story is written and your problem "has a face," highlight it right away so your every donor can feel it in their heart.
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1.) E.g., in the Johnson Box at the top of your direct mail appeal letter:

Here, Fred is the face of an important problem. Already you can feel it in your heart.​
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2.) E.g., on your direct mail outer envelope:

Here, though you don't yet know her name, this "lucky duck" of a senior woman is the face of an important problem. Already you can feel it in your heart.

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3.) E.g., in your email subject and preview lines:

Here, this poor father is the face of an important problem. Already you can feel it in your heart.
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You want your donors to open your emails, open your direct mail letters, and read your appeals. So give them a face for your every important problem, and lead with it so they can immediately feel the urgency in their heart.

Plot twist: your donors' hearts may grow 3 sizes that day!

Randomly yours: to inspire and recharge you

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

• Fundraisingly Informative — Do You Assume Donors Don’t Want to Be Asked? by Claire Axelrad (a helpful blog post about how donors, like anyone else, are motivated by love and meaning... and being asked to donate is a good thing because it's a way to share love and find meaning)
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• Poetically Just — You’re Always Building Your Own House by Sahil Bloom (a thought-provoking parable about a carpenter who comes to regret cutting corners after he's gifted the house he thought he was building for someone else)
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• Purposely Sleepy — I Can’t Sleep. Now What? by Dani Blum (a New York Times article featuring simple tips you can try to kick sleeplessness to the curb)

Until next time: May you always remember the importance of making the abstract specific, asap, so your donors can really see the problem and feel the urgency.

Grateful,

Brett Cooper & Julie Cooper
Fundraising Copywriters​
​ FundraisingWriting.com​
​​ 100% human, thank you very much.