By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
The one thing to remember when asking businesses for donations is that businesses don’t give donations. People give donations, and sometimes those people work for or own a business, and donate on behalf of that business.
Keep this in mind when you sit down to draft a fundraising letter for a business or corporation. You are writing to an individual. Even though you are writing to an institutional donor, your letter is going to an individual person who, like you, has a mind and a heart. Your letter needs to reach both.
This means your letter should never be addressed to “The President” or “Business Owner.” It should be addressed to an individual by name and job title.
This also means your letter must avoid the formula approach. You must avoid all language that makes your appeal letter sound like it’s being mailed to every business in your city without exception.
The easiest way to avoid the formula approach is to learn something about the business you are approaching, and include that in your letter. For example, in London, the city where I live and work, Bell sponsors a soccer league for children who have Down syndrome. If I was crafting an appeal letter on behalf of the London Down Syndrome Association, and mailing that letter to someone at Bell, I would mention that Bell already supports this worthy cause.
Another way to avoid the formula approach is to inject enthusiasm into your letter. A business owner or executive will not catch your vision unless you touch that person’s emotions.
Making a business case for giving a donation is not enough. You must also stir the feelings of your business reader. The word is passion. Your letter must communicate your enthusiasm in ways that stir the emotions of your reader.
