Lead with heart in your fundraising writing

A simple shift in your writing will have a big impact on how your donors feel and respond...

I'm a naturally caring person. But when my Aunt Jo died of colon cancer, suddenly I found myself caring far more than ever before about this horrible disease, because it now had a face and a heart.

Your fundraising stories can do the same for your donors.

I encourage you to...

Lead with heart.

It's not just that your donors will care more and give more if you use your fundraising stories to put a face and a heart on the problem.

It's that you can lose your donors if you lead with something other than heart. (We've made this mistake before. You don't need to do the same!)

Once your fundraising story is written and your problem "has a face," highlight it right away so your every donor can feel it in their heart.
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1.) E.g., in the Johnson Box at the top of your direct mail appeal letter:

Here, Fred is the face of an important problem. Already you can feel it in your heart.​
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2.) E.g., on your direct mail outer envelope:

Here, though you don't yet know her name, this "lucky duck" of a senior woman is the face of an important problem. Already you can feel it in your heart.

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3.) E.g., in your email subject and preview lines:

Here, this poor father is the face of an important problem. Already you can feel it in your heart.
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You want your donors to open your emails, open your direct mail letters, and read your appeals. So give them a face for your every important problem, and lead with it so they can immediately feel the urgency in their heart.