Why do fundraising appeal letters look so strange?

Something I get asked a lot in my line of work is “why are appeal letters so ugly?!”

It’s a fair question. We are used to seeing beautifully designed printed material, so the strangely formatted, often quite plain letters that non-profits use to ask for money can seem like a bizarre choice.

But experts in the field know what works to bring in the dollars – and strangely, it’s this!

Let’s take a look at some of the strange design choices you might be wondering about, and why they work so well. 

Bold, underlining, italics – a mess of formatting!

Yep, I know the strange mix of bold, underlining and italics can look like a bit of a dog’s breakfast on the page. But I’m sure you can understand why it matters: it draws the eye to the most important parts of the letter.

Choosing whether to use an underline or bold or a mix can be a matter of personal choice, but the most important thing to remember is that using these techniques can help you to lead your donor through the letter, drawing their attention to what you think is most significant.

A trick I like to use is to make sure that if a person only read what I put in bold or underlined, they’d still get the gist of the appeal and know how to respond.

I personally like to reserve italics for direct quotes, and occasionally short anecdotes. This helps to emphasise the humanity of your letter.

First line indentation

We’ve grown accustomed to reading material that is left aligned – and sometimes even right justified as well! So why do appeal letters often use a first line indentation?

Well, there are two reasons. One, it ensures easier readability! The beginning of paragraphs is easy to spot and short, impactful lines stand out even more.

Secondly, using indentation allows you to get away with a smaller space between your paragraphs, because you’re not relying on a heap of vertical white space to signify a new idea. That means you can fit more words on the page, perhaps meaning a slightly longer letter.

Serif typeface

The choice of typeface for an appeal letter could be dictated by what an organisation’s style guide says. But if your style guide prefers a sans-serif typeface, I recommend ignoring this for appeal letters.

Once again, readability is key here. What sorts of typefaces are used in newspapers and novels? Serif. The lines at the ends of the strokes of the letters make the letters more distinct and legible. It might be a small thing, but consider your donors who are older or have poor eyesight. Everything could make a difference to them.

Save your sans-serif typefaces for your email appeal, where they will absolutely be at home.

Few or no images

While it might seem counterintuitive to steer clear of impactful images on a fundraising letter, there is actually a reason for this trend.

If you were typing a letter to a friend or colleague, you’d be unlikely to add photos into the text. And that’s key here: you want donors to feel like they are receiving a letter from a trusted contact. Included images can make the appeal feel too much like a piece of marketing material.

Save the photos for your newsletters, social media and annual reports. Or if you really want to include pictures, consider adding them on the reply form or an included lift piece. Keep your letter as similar to a personal letter as possible! 

A disclaimer

All that being said: I am well aware that some organisations try to do more interesting, innovative things with their letters, and have good success! But it’s reassuring to know that if you only have a small budget – even if you can only afford to print in black and white! – you can still expect good returns from your slightly plain, strategically formatted letter.

Want to know more about how to tweak your fundraising material for maximum returns? Get in touch with Crossbeam today!