Put Your Donor In The Chair

Many Agitator readers deal regularly with the crafting of direct mail appeals — either writing themselves or commissioning and approving the copywriting work of others. And there’s plenty of advice out there on what makes for effective fundraising letters … length, formatting, structure, signers, etc. But let me suggest that at the core is the voice of the letter … what does the reader hear as he or she reads? Recently, master copywriter and direct marketer Denny Hatch paid tribute to his own mentor, copywriter Malcolm Decker. He quoted Decker at length on the subject of crafting a great letter.