Take the guesswork out of writing great appeals

Right now, you should be in full-on writing mode, since you'll be sending several emails to your supporters this season, including 2-3 appeals during the last week of December.

While some people approach this as a dreaded task that takes them away from the "real" work of their organization, here are some tips to turn appeal-writing into something you might actually enjoy!

• Reconnect. This is a great time to take a step back and think about why you get up every morning and do the work you do. Close your eyes and picture the people, animals, habitats, art, whatever it is that you're helping, then write about that.
• Answer the right questions. Every donor wants to know the answers to these four questions: Why me? Why now? What for? and Who says?
• Give it time. Write a draft, then sleep on it and come back to it fresh. If you try to perfect it in one sitting, you're likely to burn yourself out. 
• Use a conversational tone. Very few people like reading reports, so don't write one as an email! Read your appeal aloud. If it sounds stilted or uses words you wouldn't use when telling a story verbally, take another stab at it. 
• Get help from a friend. Ask someone to read and edit a draft and give you honest feedback, then thank them for it.