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This is the 179th Fundraising Writing Newsletter. If you find value here, please tell a fundraising friend. (Your fundraising friend can subscribe here for free.)
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Hi Elia,
When I was a kid, I loved reading.
I would read Book Fair books and Dear Abby columns and even the backs of cereal boxes.
But I wasn't drowning in words. I'd spend some of my free time watching The Brady Bunch and Tom & Jerry and Saturday morning cartoons, and I'd play outside with my neighborhood friends for endless blissful hours. Oh yeah, I also went to school.
I still love reading, but these days I have to be careful not to become a Word Zombie, mindlessly consuming all the emails, texts, articles, and social media posts that forever swirl around me like debris in a tornado.
Alas, we've inherited a doom-scrolling world.
The stream of content shall never end.
We're drowning in words.
Even. . .
Your donors are drowning in words.
"Know your audience" means both know who they are and what they're going through.
Your donors are giving.
Your donors are busy.
Your donors, like you, are constantly deciding whether or not to pay any attention to the words before them.
They're holding a phone and ready to keep scrolling.
They're sitting at a computer and ready to click 🗑️.
They're standing over the 🗑️, mail in hand.
Our job is to be worth it.
Worth the time to stop scrolling. To click on that subject line. To open that envelope. To read, feel, and act.
If you keep this top of mind, you'll make fundraising writing choices that serve you and your donors well. You'll raise more good money for your good cause.
So:
- Sound like a human, not an organization. When was the last time you read anything memorable that sounded like it came from an organization?
- Sound like a human, not an AI. When was the last time you said to yourself, "This sounds like AI" and kept reading happily?
- Make it easy to read. (Avoid jargon. Use lots of white space and plenty of short words, sentences, and paragraphs.) When was the last time you saw a WALLOFWORDS and thought, "Yay, this will be a nice challenge"?
Caveat: You might think you should give your donors fewer words. That won't work. There are too many other words all around them, over which you have no control. But you can make your words worth holding onto, a shelter from the doom scrolling, a life raft in a sea of empty messaging.
Your words can be uplifting, compelling, and well worth your donors' time if they're written to be readable and personable. Heartable. It's not easy, but it is simple.
Randomly yours: to inspire and recharge you
For your brain, heart, and funny bone...
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Fundraisingly Informative — Respecting the Donor’s Time as a New Measure of Success by Beth Ann Locke (a helpful blog post about looking at things from a donor's perspective and approaching them in ways that fit their needs and preferences)
- Theatrically Useful — Use the Difficulty: A Life-Changing Philosophy by Sahil Bloom (a fascinating blog post featuring a real-life anecdote from actor Michael Caine and how what he learned might help you)
- Timelessly Smooth — CityLights by HolyBrune (a 4-minute YouTube music video of a chill, jazzy new song with a bit of an 80s vibe)
Until next time: May you always remember your donors are drowning in words... and be sure you don't just offer them "more of the same."
Grateful,
Brett Cooper & Julie Cooper
Fundraising Copywriters
FundraisingWriting.com
100% human, thank you very much.
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