What your letter looks like can sometimes be just as important as what it says, according to a panel of nonprofit consultants.
Luke Vander Linden, formerly vice president and senior marketing director at Carl Bloom Associates; Christine Shiloski, senior account executive for Mal Warwick Associates/Donordigital; Lori Burns, senior vice president at Russ Reid Company, and Ami Tripi, president of Tripi Consulting teamed up for a panel session at a recent fundraising conference.
The quartet bandied about various suggestions about how to make your letter look as good as it reads:
- Use short declarative sentences;
- Try occasional underlining or bolding of words or short clauses – but not entire sentences;
- Employ one-line or indented paragraphs;
- Incorporate wide margins and more white space; and,
- Keep the donor reading by inserting incomplete, non-grammatical sentences that start with “and” or “but.”