To build on the blogs recently posted about greetings and letters, I wanted to share a bit about FundRaiser’s word processing capabilities. FundRaiser Software comes with several pre-loaded letter templates. These templates have places for you to list your organization’s accomplishments and goals. So, it’s always good to review the letter templates before sending your first mailing.
When you open FundRaiser Software, you’ll notice a menu item marked Communications. Here you’ll find everything you need to send letters as well as update them. The Letter Templates menu option allows you to see all your letter templates, review their content, and even determine if you want to make them active or not. (We’ll talk more about active/inactive letters next week.) If you see a letter you need to personalize, for example a “Thank you” letter that has a place marked to put in accomplishments for your organization, then click on Edit Letter to go straight to the built-in word processor.
Speaking of the word-processor, you can access it from Communications > Word Processor. This is where you will draft letters and edit existing ones. Go ahead and update information in the letter, then save it.
Don’t think of your letters as a static document that never changes. For example, a “generic thank you” letter may list your organization’s achievements over the last few months or the past year. But after some time, it’s good to update it. After all, no doubt you’ll have accomplished more and you will want to share that information with your donors. The same goes for a “generic appeal letter” as well. Your organization’s goals and objectives will change over the course of the year as you complete some goals and work toward new ones. Update the letter to reflect this.
Because FundRaiser Software makes it so intuitive to craft letters to your donor base, my advice would be to not be afraid to customize the letters to make your organization stand out. I have no doubt that you’re proud of the work you’re doing. Share that with your donors. It’ll make them feel good about supporting your organization.
Read more about how FundRaiser Software can help you with your fundraising: