Sample Donation Letter for Charity
A donation letter is what you write to a person you expect will give away some of his money to assist your good cause. But how to ask a person to part with his hard-earned money, however noble the task in question? Perhaps your job will become a whole lot simpler with this letter which you can send.
Sample letters asking for donation are not at all easy to write. It is hard to make a person part with his hard-earned money, however good the cause may be. It takes some really great writing skills to write such a letter. So here are some writing tips for letter writing and a sample donation letter for charity following it.
Slightly Informal Tone: The donation letter for charity isn't exactly a formal letter for business communication. Hence you need to take a slightly informal tone while writing the donation letter. Make sure that you know the name of the recipient and address the person as 'Dear Mr. X' to sound more like a friendly gesture. The language too should not be exceedingly rigid and should be casual and persuasive.
Clarity: Make sure that in your letter asking for donations, there is no ambiguity of facts. Make sure that you incorporate all the details regarding your program, your funds required, your plan for utilization of those funds, etc. Also ensure that you include the contact details in case the recipient has any doubts regarding the contents of the letter.
Benefits: The most important thing in writing the donation letter for charity is to mention how someone stands to benefit because of their contribution. Talk about how many lives your charity fund has been able to change and how many more you wish to change further. This may pull the heartstrings of the reader and convince him to make a donation towards your cause.
Amount: Include the amount which you expect the recipient to donate, within your letter. It makes more sense to mention either the lowest amount you intend to accept, or a range between which a donation can be made.
Proofread: A very important thing when drafting any bit of persuasive writing is to get your letter proofread by a third person. Third person proofreading helps assess the effectiveness and the tone of your letter.
Follow-Up: If you do get a person who regularly donates for your fund, make sure you send a "Thank you letter' so that the person sending the money feels good about sending it.
Format and a Sample Letter
A typical donation letter, if divided into four paragraphs, they would have to sound something like this -
First Paragraph: This will be an introduction to your organization, like what you do, how long have you been running, your past and current achievements.
Second Paragraph: This will give more details regarding your current goals, mainly, the benchmark amount that you're trying reach.
Third Paragraph: You use a more direct approach here, asking (politely) for any help. Keep it short and precise.
Final Paragraph: This is your conclusion, where you specify how the help received would be put to good use. Add a 'thank you' for any and all help received.
Here's a sample which you could use.
| Dear Mr. Recipient, I, Mr Sender, represent the [name of charity] and would like to inform you the speed at which our charity fund is growing. Ever since our inception [number of years] ago, we have been able to make a positive change in the lives of [number of people] children, imparting them the basic primary education which we believe is the right of every single child. The speed of our growth means that our existing facility is now insufficient to accommodate the children on our roll and hence we are looking to build an extension to our existing center. To this end, we are looking to raise $[amount] which will fund the construction and design of our center. So far $[amount] has been received. We would be ever so grateful if you would donate an amount between $[range of amount] addressed to [name of charity]. In case you have any questions, please feel free to call me on [phone number]. Yours Faithfully, Mr Sender. |
The example needs to be modified as per the charity motive of the organization. Just remember, you're asking for help with the good work that you do, so being nice to the person you're asking will go a long way to get it. Asking for donations is never easy, so I hope I made your tough job simpler this way!
