If you run a charity organization or you are just a member, you will agree with me that donation is one crucial aspect you can’t ignore. Fundraising ensures that charity organizations have adequate finances to run their activities. A poorly funded organization will have its activities poorly managed, threatening its survival. However, before an organization decides to make successful fundraising, they need adequate planning and preparedness.
With that being said, one of the most significant approaches to getting the most out of your donations is writing a donation request letter.
What is a Donation Request Letter?
In simple terms, a Donation Request Letter is a fundraising letter written by organizations to potential donors to request a donation. Usually, the donation request letters can either be written by business owners or charity organizations. Research has it that writing these letters to your donors increases the chance of building a healthy and positive relationship and rapport with them.
In return, they will get encouraged to donate as per your request. As much as these letters can be sent any time of the year, it’s often recommended that they get sent during the holiday seasons of November and December. This is because, during this period, the majority of people are often in the mood of sharing hence the charitable feeling.
How to Format your Donation Request Letter
Donation Request Letters are formal letters. Therefore, they need to follow the official formats, just like any other official letter. While the contents may vary from one letter to the other, structuring and formatting will always remain the same.
Below is a professionally designed format that will make your letter meet the required standards:
- Start with the header of the letter. This can include the organization’s logo (if present) followed by the name and official address. Additionally, you can include the contact number and email address.
- Follow the head with the date. Preferably, you can begin with the month, the date, then the year, all of which are separated with a comma.
- Add the recipient’s name, address, and contact information. Note that recipients’ addresses should be written after skipping a line.
- Include a salutation after the recipient’s address information.
- Create the body of your letter. In the body paragraphs, mention why you are writing the donation request letter in the first place. As a bonus, your body paragraphs should be clear, brief, and specific.
- Conclude your letter using the appropriate format. This can be formal or informal, depending on your relationship with the recipient.
- Sign off the letter to make it legal. Here, you can include your name, signature, and title.
Donation Request Letter Template
[Your Name]
[Your Organizations Name
[City, State, Code]
[[Date]
[Donors Name]
[Donors Address]
[Donors Contacts]
Dear [Donors name],
The Good Health Organization is a community-based organization that seeks to help patients and families affected by cancer and other related illnesses. Currently, we have about 50 patients suffering from various types of cancer. At our organization, we aim at giving them the best kind of support as possible. This includes providing medicine, affordable therapies, and screening. Additionally, we provide emotional support and encouragement to those families affected by this disease in one way or the other.
Owing to the increased rate of cancer infections, we seek to expand our facilities to help rowing cancer patients manage this disease without any problem. However, our major setback is financial limitations. As we are all aware, the machines and equipment used for screening and cancer treatment are very much expensive. Therefore, we are asking you to kindly donate any amount so that we can realize our goal of helping the community beat these diseases. Your donation will be received with the warmest heart.
Thank you very much for your time. If you would like to communicate with us further regarding the issue please don’t hesitate to get in touch through [input your contacts] or [Input your email].
It is through generous donations that we have reached this milestone. Through dedication, determination, and focus, we believe we will continue impacting the lives of your community members positively.
Sincerely,
Dwayne Stevenson
[Signature]
Managing Director
Good Health Organization.
Downloadable Donation Request Letters
Following are free downloadable donation request letter templates that can be edited as per needs:
Important Things to Know Before Writing a Donation Request Letter
Writing a request donation letter is not everyone’s cup of tea. While some find it an easy task, others find it much more complex than they can imagine. Most experts will tell you that it requires commitment, creativity, and focus.
Therefore, if you are planning to write a donation letter for your organization, the following tips will help you write an effective letter:
Be specific in your letters
Usually, most donors don’t have the time to review your donation request letters. Therefore, it’s always wise to use specific and to-the-point sentences to grab their attention. Also, you can provide concrete information to make your letter legitimate. That being said, make sure you add some statistics, data, or graphs to your letter to make it more persuasive.
Refrain from mentioning the amount
As a rule of thumb, it’s always advisable not to mention the amount in your donation request. Specifying a specific amount does have its advantages and disadvantages. For instance, the donor may be willing to donate more than you request.
Since you’ve already indicated the required amount, it will be difficult for them to go overboard. Again, the donor may have a little amount to donate. And therefore, they may be discouraged from giving since it may not meet the requirement. Therefore, in order to remain neutral, do not mention the amount.
Know your target audience
Knowing your target audience helps you write the donation request letter more efficiently. When you know the donor by name, addressing them becomes very easy. Also, you will know which language and writing format and the right words to use. Therefore, take some time and dig out the donor’s profile, contacts, preferences, and other details.
Be honest and sincere
If you want to win your donor’s trust easily, be honest in your letter. Clearly express yourself in a manner that is straightforward and understandable. Note that in case something fishy comes out in your letter, the donor will be turned off automatically.
Explain how the donation will impact your organization
Often, donors want to know exactly how you’ll put the donation into use before they give out their donations. Therefore, you need to define the problem your organization is facing and how the donation will come in to address the problem. For instance, you may run an organization to save endangered animal species. However, due to a lack of awareness, you may want additional funds to run a campaign program to help stop the poaching of the engendered animals.