It seems so much easier when they give you the papaer to fill out! What kind of opening lines/paragraph do you use? What works best? What bombs? We want to ask local businesses for gift cards for door prizes and raffles. Our "local" businesses are 30 miles away, in a bigger town, and a lot of them never even knew we were here. How do we get them to care? Is "Dear Store Mananger" ok, or are actual names better? How did you word yours?
Thanks, y'all :)
Mufasa,
In my experience with fund raising, it is better to use specific names. You can have a volunteer core call the stores to ask them the name of the decision-maker, meaning, the person who can give you the gift without getting permission- generally the president or manager. Although some places have directors of community relations, a fund raising division, etc. Depends on the size of the company.
For the actual letter, I would stick to no more than a page. Your letter should be, a catchy intro as first paragraph, the case for support in the next two or three, and the request in the fourth. The fifth could include instructions on follow up, such as, I will follow up with you by XX to confirm you have received this and to coordinate details. Can have less paragraphs if need be. Play to their egos . . . I'm writing you because of your eminent importance in the community. ALWAYS Include in your letter info on the organization you represent, especially important for you since they probably have not heard of you. Direct them to your website, or, include a brief info sheet or success story from your org.
What bombs? Typos, Getting names spelled wrong, only asking for the item, cheap looking stationary . . . too small of font.
That is a great question and I have to agree with the other poster response. If you are still looking for additional resources please visit our online toolkit and download some of the sample documents (including a donation letter) we have available.
http://kaboom.org/tabid/564/Default.aspx