Fashioning Fundraising Appeals in Times of Disaster

In certain situations, Ball adds, it might be appropriate for non-disaster-relief organizations to mention the disaster in their copy. An example he gives is Sept. 11, "which was such a world-changing event, especially in our country, it just didn't make sense not to acknowledge it."

In some cases, he says, it meant rewriting whole appeals while in others it meant just acknowledging that the event occurred.