A Blast From the Past: Hot Copy to Melt Hearts During the Cold Months (August 2011)

FundRaising Success published its first issue in November 2003, making this our 10th-anniversary year. To celebrate, we've been taking a look back at some of the features, columns and other editorial content from the past decade.

If you are among the many nonprofits that raise 40 percent or more of their annual incomes in December, you might already be thinking about your year-end appeals. Indeed, with so much at stake, beginning the process during the hot summer months barely can be considered an early start.

Even so, you still have time to take a step back and really think about how to reach your donors during those tricky months when they're bombarded by requests for money. How might you best get their attention and then hold it with the copy you write?

More and more, people read less and less. Thank you, Internet. So whether it's a direct-mail piece, e-mail message or integrated campaign, you need to get to the heart of the matter as quickly as possible to not only get your readers' attention, but also to get them to make donations.
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