From Blank Page to Bold Ask: A Partnership Approach to Appeal Writing

Rikki Harry, CFRE, Med | Founder & CEO, LEAP Nonprofit Consulting, LLC

There’s something intimidating about a blank page.

You know your organization does important work. You know there are stories worth sharing. You know you need to ask donors to support that work.

But then you sit down to write the appeal, and suddenly it’s hard to know where to begin.

Here’s the good news: the problem may not actually be the writing.

One of the most important things I tell fundraisers is that writing should start before you try to put words on a page. Before you worry about the opening sentence, the perfect story, or whether your letter is too long, take some time to get clear about what you are actually trying to say.

When you know the problem, the partnership opportunity, the story you want to tell, and the invitation you want to make, the writing gets much easier.

Start by building your case for support

Before writing your appeal, answer three questions:

• What problem are we solving? This is the need.
• Why is it important to solve this problem now? This creates urgency.
• What impact will financial support have? This shows what is possible.

These questions sound simple, but answering them well takes some thought.

Your first answers may be filled with organizational language or assumptions that make perfect sense internally but won't mean much to someone outside your organization. This is a great place to bring others into the conversation. Ask staff, board members, volunteers, or even donors what resonates with them. The goal isn't to find the fanciest language. It's to get clear.

Remember: philanthropy is partnership

For years, many of us in fundraising were taught to make the donor the hero of the story.

There was value in shifting our communications away from being entirely organization-centered. But putting the donor at the center can create its own problems. Because let’s be real, a donation alone rarely solves the problem.

Real change happens because people work together: staff, volunteers, program participants, donors, community members, and other partners all have a role.

Before you write, consider:

• Who is already doing the work?
• Where are you seeing momentum?
• What roadblocks still exist?
• What shared values bring people to this work?
• Where can donors meaningfully join that effort?

That last question is especially important. Instead of presenting your organization as having a problem that only a donor can fix, show the work already happening and invite the donor to become part of it.

Tell a story  - without losing sight of the person

Facts are important. They help us understand the size of a problem and demonstrate impact. But facts inform. Stories connect.

A statistic might tell someone that hundreds of people used your services last year. A story can help them understand what that experience actually meant to one person or family.

That doesn't mean every story is ours to tell however we want.
As you choose stories for your appeal, ask yourself: How can I share this impact while preserving the person's dignity? And perhaps more importantly: Would I be comfortable if this were my story? People are more than their hardest moment. Ethical storytelling means resisting the temptation to reduce someone to a problem simply because it makes for a compelling fundraising letter.

Look for stories that demonstrate agency, progress, relationships, and possibility, while also showing how your organization and community are working together.

Make a specific invitation

Once you've explained the need and shown the work underway, don't leave your donor wondering what you want them to do.

Make an invitation. And make it specific.

Instead of: Your gift changes lives. 🡪 Your gift helps purchase adaptive equipment so more children can safely participate in our programs.

Or: Please support our annual fund. 🡪 Will you invest in the day-to-day work that makes our programs available year-round?

Specificity helps donors understand what their participation makes possible.

Keep the structure simple

Once you've done the thinking, the appeal itself doesn't need to be complicated.

Try this basic flow:

1. Explain the need.
2. Show the work.
3. Invite partnership.
4. Make the ask.

As you edit, watch for some of the most common appeal-writing traps: too much information about the organization, not enough partnership, an unclear ask, too many statistics, or trying to say everything in one letter.

Every paragraph should move the story forward. This doesn't mean every appeal needs to be short, however. You know your audience best. Simply put, every sentence should have a reason to be there.

One story can become much more than one letter

Finally, don't let all that work live in a single appeal.

Once you've developed a strong core message and story, ask what else you can do with it.

What is the throughline you want to carry into other communications? What moment could become a social media post? What perspective could become a follow-up email? Is there a quote that could stand on its own? Could you revisit the same story later from the perspective of a staff member, volunteer, donor, or family member?

One story can create many possibilities.

The goal isn't to copy and paste your appeal everywhere. It's to build consistent messaging across channels while giving people multiple opportunities to connect with the work.

So the next time you're staring at a blank page, don't start by trying to write the perfect opening sentence.

Start by asking:

• Have we built a compelling case for support?
• Have we shown where partnership fits?
• Have we chosen the right story?
• Have we made a clear invitation?
• Can this story continue beyond one letter?

When those answers are clear, that blank page becomes a lot less intimidating, and your appeal becomes more than a request for a gift. It becomes an invitation to be part of something your community is already working together to make possible.

To download the slides and workbook to help guide this process, visit https://leapnonprofitconsulting.kit.com/appeal. 

For more information about LEAP, visit www.leapnonprofitconsulting.com.