This is the 199th Fundraising Writing Newsletter. If you find value here, please tell a fundraising friend. (Your fundraising friend can ​subscribe here for free.)​

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Hi Reader,

Brett here:

The other day, Julie and I met with a new client who mentioned that their appeal letters had gotten "too Mad Libs," by which they meant too "cookie cutter" or too "plug and play".

My mind went back to 10-year-old me doing Mad Libs with my next door neighbor best friend, Billy Bolek. You can probably imagine some of the words a 10- and a 9-year-old might come up with when asked for a noun or an adjective. We laughed our @$$es off.

Every 5-10 years or so, Julie and I sometimes think to do Mad Libs on a lark, even though, yes, we are fully certified serious adults.

Here's one Julie completed at my prompting, to give you an idea of how Mad Libs work in case this is all new to you:

Mad Libs are great because they teach the parts of speech in a way that's amusing if not hilarious.

But not if you keep doing the same Mad Lib!

Eventually, it will get old.

Not funny.

Which brings me back to our client's comment about their appeals getting "too Mad Libs." That approach might work for a while, but eventually it will get old. Not funny.

Have you "jumped the shark" with "Mad Libs fundraising"?

There's an old tv show from the 70s and 80s called Happy Days. It's about life in the 50s. It's a retro show that's now retro.

It was pretty good, for a while.

The most popular character was the Fonz (aka Arthur Fonzarelli). The Fonz was uber cool. He was one of the first tv characters to have a catch phrase: "ayyy". (I know, it was early days; whaddya want?)

Everyone loved the Fonz. He'd usually be like this:

But the show went downhill. And alas, so did the Fonz. In one infamous later episode, the Fonz literally jumped over a shark in the water while on water skis:

For people my age, this became known as jumping the shark ... a way to say, "Oh, it got bad."

If you've jumped the shark, you were quite good once upon a time but, alas, you're now a parody of your former self.

Imagine you're a dedicated donor to your organization, reading the appeals that have been sent over the past few years or so.

If everything you read starts to sound the same — names and ages and brief quotes plugged in like the parts of speech in a Mad Lib — eventually you're going to feel as if you're not being spoken to directly. You'll feel a disconnect.

This is the same problem we see when appeals are written (or rewritten) by committee or by AI.

Eventually, it all sounds the same.

Again, this approach can work for a while, especially if you start with a good template. But it gets old. Your results will reflect that.

Ideally...

You build each appeal around a powerful fundraising story.

You interview the person who's closest to the details of the need, the urgency, and even possibly the eventual impact (which you can preview in your appeal and feature in your newsletter).

You build each appeal around the fundraising story's unique details that make you feel something.

You bring those details to life in story form, so your donors feel they were there (and they were!).

You surround your story with asks around a good offer backed by a miniature case for support featuring your best language about why the work you do matters so much.

But the story is the grain of sand that becomes the pearl.

The specificity of it speaks to the soul.

It feels like life, because it is.

Otherwise, your copy will read as too much or too little or just off. Your donors won't feel it any more than you do.

Donors who feel more, care more and give more.

Which can't happen if you "jump the shark" with "Mad Libs fundraising"!

* * *

Want to dive deeper?

You can read our book Heartable Fundraising Writing. It's free!

You can also book a call with Julie. It's free too!

Randomly yours

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

• Fundraisingly Informative — 13 Quick tips for your next fundraising appeal by Mary Cahalane (great blog post with timeless tips/reminders such as "Listen to the voices in your head" and "Don’t let anyone who doesn’t know what they’re doing operate on your appeal")​
  ​
• Verdantly Homely — ​Escape to the Country Season 25 Episode 33: The Yorkshire Dales (2024) | FULL EPISODE via Escape to the Country (45-minutes of jolly pastoral goodness; Brett and I have watched this dreamy show on Britbox almost every day for the past year)
  ​
• Practically Efficient — nesting party via 6.lair (an Instagram video about why you might want to be the kind of friend who throws a nesting party to help clean, organize, and generally prepare for the arrival of a little-one-to-be)​

Until next time: May you keep your Mad Libs relegated to the category of kids' stuff, and never let your fundraising jump the shark!

Grateful,

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

P.S. 2 weeks from tomorrow, on July 9th...

Are you ready for a webinar that could help you bring in millions? And will certainly be informative, lively, and fun? I highly recommend this one. Your training will be from world-renowned copywriter Tom Ahern and special unlimited Q&A guest star Professor Russell James. I will be moderating. Brett will be teching behind the scenes. It's in July! Unusual! Plan to bring a festive beverage or two??

It's called: "HOW TO MARKET BEQUESTS:
The Delicate (tho Highly Lucrative)
Art and Science of Asking for that Final Gift"