Special Report: Fundraising 101 Direct Mail

Rookie Mistake No. 7 — Forgetting that the letter is a letter
Beginners sometimes think that a fundraising letter should be a polemic raging against poverty, animal abuse or whatever the cause is. Not so. A fundraising letter is, first and foremost, a letter. Sure, there are times when the right tone is outrage. But even then, your letter still should read like a letter from one person to another. Not an essay. Not a philosophical treatise. Not a journalistic think piece.