Just Slightly Contrarian: Hey, Will You Give a Guy a Lift?

Yes, that technique still works today. But if you think through the purpose of a lift note, you can come up with several more innovative and strategic methods of using it. For example:

1. Sell the response premium. Hype it. Tell them what it weighs. How it smells. What it feels like when they touch it. How they can use it. Sure, you’ve already mentioned those things in your letter, but the lift note drives the message home. Hangs it on the ceiling. Nails it to the wall. Saves it to the hard drive.

2. Give your donor some serious stroking. Remind him that he’s receiving this letter because he is really, really, really special. Unique. One of a kind. Smart. Sophisticated. Generous. A progressive thinker. A compassionate soul. Tell her that, unlike most other people, as in the case of the good Samaritan, “You don’t turn aside and go in the other direction. Instead, you go to the trouble to cross the road and lend a helping hand.”