Adding Impact to Animal Welfare Fundraising Material
Want your fundraising material to help you, well, raise more funds? Guest blogger Heidi Miller, ASPCA Senior Director, Fundraising Strategies, has some questions for you.
There’s a great post from Fundraising Fundamentals: 23 Questions For More Effective Fundraising Copy, which features questions you should ask yourself when writing your fundraising copy, such as “Do I have a compelling hook?” and “Does my copy inspire action?”
For our purposes in animal welfare, I would add the following questions:
Did I include a photo of the animal featured in my story?
Our eyes are naturally drawn to images. I encourage you to use happy ones—if you are using a “before” photo, then always include an “after” photo, too. Including only a disturbing photo of an animal could prevent people from reading on, as they don’t want to get upset.
Did I put the animal’s name under the photo?
Putting a name to the face of the featured animal draws people in right away, and they’ll want to know what happened to “Jimmy.”
Did I place the photo on the first page of the letter?
Having the photo on the first page hooks them in and gets them reading. Photos should not be an afterthought or buried somewhere else in the letter. They are just as important as what you write.
Did I include a story in my letter?
There is no better way to get across the amazing work that you do. Try telling the story of just one animal. There was an interesting study conducted by Dr. Paul Slovic showing that the larger the number of stories people see, the less inclined they are to take an action. This even holds true when two stories are told instead of just one—fascinating stuff.
In this eNewsletter, Austin Humane Society focused on just one animal—Libby, a cancer survivor—and included a compelling photo.
Have any more questions to raise? Drop them in the comment box.
Related Links:
Hot Shots: Getting Great Photos of Your Animals
“Every Village Needs a Mayor”
“Getting to Know Heidi Miller”
Tags: Fundraising, Heidi Miller, Marketing & Media, Photos, Saving Lives
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Heidi Miller Says:
P.S. From Heidi: unlike my cat Ted in our photo above, the animals you are featuring in your stories should always be looking directly at the camera. That eye contact with the reader is important. This is of course more difficult to do with “before” photos, but does apply to “after” ones.
Golden labradoodle Says:
I think there are lots of people who’re willing to go that extra mile when it comes to animal welfare fundraising. I’ve come across many people who donate generously for the cause.