How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters (Paperback)

~ (Author) "These first five chapters examine the stuff of which successful fundraising is made: An appreciation for the broad range of motives that lead people to..." (more)
Key Phrases: member welcome package, membership renewal letter, grassroots peace organization, Co-op America, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Attorney General (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

According to this practical handbook, a "fundraising letter is like a personal visit." Writing from extensive experience in guiding companies and organizations through fund-raising efforts, Warwick offers detailed advice and analysis along with copious examples and instructive case studies. Warwick, who is both personal and hard-hitting, suggesting a cross between a preacher and a salesman, views fund-raising by mail as a three-stage process. "First, donors are acquired....Then, they are converted into repeat donors...finally donors may be upgraded into higher levels of generosity and commitment." The well-organized instructions include the planning of whole campaigns, the phrasing of appeals, composition and punctuation, information packets, and follow-up. In a time when fund-raising is perquisite to nearly all professions and organizations, library managers of all types as well as library users should find this both fascinating and worthwhile.
Margaret Bush, Simmons Coll., Boston
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Warwick sets the tone for this book, which may prove as valuable for library administrators as for patrons, with the advice contained in the first chapter's title: "You're Writing for Results--Not a Pulitzer Prize." How to get results is the theme here, and the advice offered ranges from the broad ("How a fundraising letter is like a personal visit") to the specific ("What to put on the outer envelope"; the injunction "Use `I' and `you'"). Warwick also examines focus groups' responses to a fund-raising letter and, step-by-step, a successful fund-raising appeal. Attention to detail (e.g., in a whole chapter on laying the groundwork before composing a fund-raising letter and another on thank-yous to donors) distinguishes the book, especially for nonprofessional fund-raisers. An excellent tool for an endeavor in which many people become involved only occasionally, good enough to consult in itself or to use as a guide in hiring a professional. Mike Tribby --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; Rev Upd edition (February 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078795652X
• ISBN-13: 978-0787956523
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #351,601 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book of its kind ..., December 14, 2002

By	Pamela Grow "www.pamelasgrantwritingblog.com" (Haverford, PA USA) - See all my reviews

There are many many books and courses on how to write a funding proposal but few out there on how to write and develop your organization's annual campaign. Fortunately Mal Warwick's is the only book you'll ever need. Thorough, loaded with examples, not only of solicitation letters but follow up and thank you letters as well -- if you're a development professional this is one book you must have on your shelf. Using Mal Warwick's books and website, along with a great deal of marketing reading, I successfully redesigned my organization's membership campaign - raising our overall donations by 33% the first year and an additional 25% the second year.
While geared to annual campaigns/individual donors, this book will also aid you in writing foundation proposals - particularly to those smaller foundations that may merely require a letter proposal. Mal takes the best of both worlds - marketing and nonprofit management - and gives you a guide that the development professional will refer to daily. With the thousands of foundations in the United States, not every one is a Kellogg or a Kresge or a Pew and this book is an invaluable aid to getting your proposal read. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (as are all Mal Marwick's books).

77 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My top recommendation for fundraisers, July 6, 2000

By	Thomas Ahern (Foster, RI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters (Paperback)

In my seminar on nonprofit communications I strongly recommend several titles, chosen from the dozens on my shelves. Mal Warwick's How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters tops the list. It is pretty much a model, I think, for good how-to books: it is well organized, comprehensive (in ways you'd never anticipate), filled with case studies and annotated examples, brief, to the point, practical, and extraordinarily reader-friendly. I wrote fund-raising letters before I read Mal's book; some letters worked, some didn't. After I read his book, I never wrote an unprofitable letter again. You will not regret buying this book: it removes the veils from so many mysteries of successful direct mail fundraising.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Non-Profit Should Have This Book, March 23, 2004

By	James Sadler (Plano, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fundraising is a very specialized area of copywriting and marketing. Unlike the more common direct mail letter wherein you are selling a product or service, fundraising often offers nothing more to the receipient than a chance to feel good about doing good.

As a consequence, fundraising letters for charities and oher non-profits literally have their own rules that vary from the traditional approach to direct mail. Warwick is the recognized master of this field and is a legend in fundraising circles.

Every charitiable organization and non-profit group should have this book on their shelf, or have a copywriter available to them that does. And even if you aren't going to apply the principles in the book to fundraising, its still a great guide to writing effective marketing copy.