
Are you forgetting the ING in your fundraising writing?
The simple -ING verb technique that makes your fundraising stories feel like 'you are there'
An -ING verb can be your fundraising time machine.
When your donors have "traveled back in time" with you, they’re there for the nitty gritty, to feel all the feelings.
Here's a not-bad-at-all before for you:
Jamal lay on the thin hospital mattress. The infection had spread to his lungs. His breaths were short. The skin at his temples was damp with sweat. His mother sat in a hard chair beside him, holding his hand.
And a slightly more memorable after:
Jamal lay on the thin hospital mattress, coughing in shallow bursts, pulling for air, his small fingers tightening around his mother’s hand, his eyes fluttering open and closed.
The second example is more memorable because it uses the progressive -ING verb tense, which is the one that's most representative of things happening right now. Which makes you (and your donors) more likely to feel like "you are there."
Try sprinkling this kind of sentence for emphasis at a crucial moment. (But cool your jets! Don't go bananas!)
Small moments can make a big difference. 💙
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