How to Write a Statement That Encourages Donors to Make Big Gifts

NEW BOOKS

Seeing Through a Donor’s Eyes: How to Make a Persuasive Case for Everything from Your Annual Drive to Your Planned Giving Program to Your Capital Campaign
by Tom Ahern

The process of writing a successful statement of why a charity deserves big gifts usually takes about six months, writes Tom Ahern, owner of his own communications firm, in this step-by-step guide to constructing such documents.

The book instructs readers on what background materials to gather to write such a statement, who to talk to and what to ask during interviews to prepare the document, and how to write it effectively.

Mr. Ahern draws parallels between crafting case statements and magazine journalism. “A good case and a good magazine piece share key similarities,” he writes. “Both kinds of writing try to anticipate the audience’s questions and answer them convincingly. Both use information, surprise and entertainment to persuade.”

He also offers samples of fund-raising materials and a section called “the five dirty secrets of capital campaigns.”

Publisher: Emerson & Church, P.O. Box 338, Medfield, Mass. 02052; (508) 359-0019; fax (508) 359-2703; http://www.emersonandchurch.com; 169 pages; $24.95; ISBN 978-1-889102-34-4.