A well-written solicitation letter can mean success for nonprofit goals.
Funding charity or nonprofit efforts requires finesse and knowing your targets within the corporate and private sectors. To ensure you reach the right people whose own mission or interest is in line with your organization's goals, a solicitation letter can become an arena not only for fund raising, but also for building lasting social networks that can later lead to collaboration efforts. Occasional follow-up letters are equally important once a relationships have been established between your organization and its sponsors.
Instructions
1. Brainstorm keywords that identify your organization's mission. Use these keywords to identify corporations, fellow nonprofits or private sector organizations that hold similar ideals or have contact with population segments that will find benefit from supporting your organization. Once you know what type of sponsors you seek, begin searching for corporations or private organizations whose mission statements are in line with the brainstormed list you created.
2. Create an outline for the points you wish to cover when soliciting potential sponsors. The outline should include keywords that your organization shares with theirs, a brief list of what you most wish to focus on in the middle, and the first sentence or "lead in" sentence of your third and final paragraph. Each paragraph will be brief--no more than three or four sentences each. A longer letter might seem overwhelming and be tossed in the recycle bin before anyone takes time to read it.
3. Research the organization to discover who among the organization's staff will most likely be responsible for reading and responding to your letter. Begin the letter with a professional greeting directed to this specific person within the organization. Your level of prior acquaintance with this person determines how you address the person in the salutation. If you have never met, a formal title, "Mr." or "Ms." followed by the surname is appropriate, such as "Dear Ms. Schultz." However, if you met at a social gathering before or went to school together, you may find it easier to address it to their first name alone, as in: "Dear Janet."
4. Write the first paragraph to highlight the known merits of the potential sponsor's organization. These reminders of the sponsor's work should align with your own organization's list of keywords or its mission statement. Opening statements such as, "In 2011, your organization provided," "As you know, your organization recently," or "When I read about." Show this potential sponsor you know enough about the organization to indicate you are not attempting to waste anyone's time, that you are efficient and well-researched and that you have already done some work to get to know the sponsor. This will make you stand out better than those who begin with a standard spiel about their own organization's work.
5. Highlight how your own organization's goals can promote those of your sponsor in the second paragraph. Focus on one or two specific details where the sponsor's work and your own are in direct harmony, and mention a recent achievement your own organization recently celebrated. Showing that your staff or volunteers have been successful puts your organization in a better light. Avoid lengthy discussions about tragedies; no matter what goals your organization works toward, brevity will hold your sponsor's attention better than long-winded pleas for aid. A single fact or a reference to a known issue within a sentence should suffice.
6. Give your potential sponsor the opportunity to offer you assistance. Having already discussed the sponsor's virtues and your own, let the sponsoring organization know best collaborate with you and in what ways such an alliance will support the sponsor's own mission statement. Keep this portion of your letter to two sentences, and wrap it up with a third sentence that thanks the organization for its hard work and time.
7. Close your letter with a simple farewell. "Sincerely" is most commonly accepted. Follow it with your first and last names, title, organization and one or two ways that the sponsor can reach you.
8. Include with the letter a simple brochure with a donation envelope tucked neatly within its folds. Place the letter, brochure and envelope into a business envelope addressed by hand. The address itself should include the name of the business or organization and an note of attention to the specific person to whom the letter was written.
9. Follow up with first time sponsors and long-standing collaborators with letters to thank them for the assistance provided. Include a small token such as an invitation to an upcoming event, a button or other gift to ensure appreciation. Avoid enclosing a second donation envelope in your thank-you letter, and wait until at least the next fiscal quarter or year before attempting to reconnect with them with further fund-raising efforts. However, keeping them in touch with your organization throughout the year by offering a subscription to a newsletter or to participate in an upcoming event hosted by your group will assist in retaining contact and further building a relationship between the organizations.
