A great end-of-year fundraising letter

Happy New Year, everyone!

As fundraisers, the end of every year is always a busy time (especially if your fiscal year matches the calendar year), and I hope everyone has recovered so we can all make 2012 the best year yet!

I want to share with you a fantastic end-of-year email appeal from the year before last. I have heard non-fundraisers discussing it, saying things like "I don't normally donate, but this email made me want to give," etc. It's from 350.org. It makes terrific use of multiple donate links, spacing, and text bolding, but I'm going to break down in detail what makes it so great.

From: Bill McKibben - 350.org

Subject: We hate doing this.

We can begin with the "From" and "Subject" fields. First of all, it has the name of a human in the From field, you know, like an email from an actual person. Secondly, what a strange, intriguing subject line. Doesn't it just make you want to open it? 

Dear friends,

This email violates all our precepts here at 350.org -- it’s the time of year we do something we hate, which is asking for money.

We hate it for two reasons:

One: many of our supporters are in the poorest parts of the planet and have no money to contribute. Even in rich parts of the world it’s been a tough year. If you don’t have funds to spare, don’t even think about giving.

This acknowledges the tough times that many people are facing in a way that is sensitive, but not a downer. The truth is you don't want to remind people too much about the current economic situation; it has a chance of deterring them from donating.

Two: Far more than we want people giving money, we want people taking action. That’s our first, second, and third priority -- that’s what we ask for 9 times out of 10.

But we’ve had so many people taking so many actions this year that this whole 350 project has grown like crazy. It’s completely great. And it means we need the resources to coordinate it all, to make it more than the sum of its parts.

This portion emphasizes the organization's successes over the year. But if you ask me, it's a subtle reminder that maybe the donor didn't do, physically, as much as he or she could have. The reader might feel a bit bad about that. The reader might want to write a check to ease that feeling of guilt.

So today, we’re asking you to donate to help the movement grow. Click here to chip in whatever you can.

Our crew is small and frugal -- and we’ll make your donations go far. We’ve never had a busier year than 2011: we stopped a massive oil pipeline, ran activist trainings all over the world, had our third giant day of climate action, orchestrated a creative project to take over the airwaves, joined forces with the Occupy movements, and on and on and on.

It truly was a banner year, and our crew has put together an amazing “Top 11 Moments of 2011” recap. Check it out here.

Again, reminding supporters of the work that has been accomplished over the past year, but, more importantly, reassuring the reader that her money makes a difference and the organization's "small and frugal" crew will "make your donations go far."  

Next year is going to be big. We’re going to try and take on the oil and coal and gas companies directly -- strip away their subsidies, and take away their political power. To do it we need not just your activism but, if you can swing it, your financial help. Most of us (me included) are volunteers, and the young people on the staff are paid too little. But they make up for it with big-hearted effort; if we can raise more money we can hire more of them, in every corner of the planet.

This does a nice job of inspiring the reader with hope for what's to come in the following year, and reminds him of the hard work that the staff and volunteers put in. People respond to the hard work and sacrifice of others; this is why 5K runs, 3-day walks, marathons, etc. are successful fundraisers. (I mentioned this before in my post about what the Occupy movement can teach us about fundraising.)

You’ve already helped this year -- helped take the passion and creativity of thousands and channel it into real, tangible progress on our climate trouble. If you can help a little more before year’s end -- well, we will put it to good use. Click here to make a donation.

This year surprised me a lot. I didn’t think I’d spend some of it in jail, and I didn’t truly think we could slow down the Keystone Pipeline. But I’m mighty glad we did -- and I’m ready to be surprised again in 2012.

Informing/reminding that the letter writer went to jail for the cause? Talk about sacrifice and dedication! It inspires this feeling: "If Bill can go to jail, I can write a check, can't I?" Especially because right before it he recognized the supporter: "You've already helped this year."

So many thanks,

Bill McKibben for 350.org

Again, thanks and recognition. And it's a very genuine, very human sign-off. When in doubt, ask yourself: What would a person say? At the end of the day, the letter is from a person, to a person. That connection is what development is all about.