The least surprising statement you’ll read in this book:

This is the twenty-first century.

If you’re aware of the fundraising ramifications of that statement, you also are aware of the difference between the fundraising ambiance of the kinder, gentler 1980s and 1990s. Oh, certainly the nonprofit world was competitive, but the competition didn’t include the World Wide Web.

You may or may not agree with the assertion that all fundraising is competitive with other fundraising, but consider: The local library competes with the local symphony orchestra … which competes with the local hospital, which competes with national hospitals . . . which in turn compete with organizations soliciting funds for helping the poor or eradicating diseases . . . which in turn compete with the local library.

Carrying that conclusion to its own logical conclusion, we add the reality of competition: Donors have a finite amount of money to contribute to all causes.

That makes competition hypercompetitive. But it always has been that way. What has changed during the first decade of this century is the obbligato theme the Web has added to any siren song we chant, imploring existing donors for our rightful due . . . and demanding of individuals whose demographic and psychographic profiles suggest they parallel our donors, “We deserve your attention.”

Attention is one of two operative words here, because our best potential donors are the ones whose attention is most in play. They’re the ones whose e-mail boxes are the most crowded. They’re the ones most likely to be jaded by constant “We need help” messages from various nonprofit sources. They’re the ones most likely to be courted by every competitor, whether library, orchestra, college, hospital, or major cause. And theirs is the attention most likely to be fragmented.

So we need the second operative word: relevance. Those others out there, they aren’t as relevant as we are. They don’t offer as much personal recognition, which in turn means they don’t offer as much personal satisfaction.

Too many newcomers to our ranks believe the medium is the message.

So we turn on the psychological afterburners. And we go for the emotional jugular vein; otherwise, we’re just one more lifeboat bobbing aimlessly in the roiling competitive seas.

Too many newcomers to our ranks believe the medium is the message. They literally fall in love with e-mail, assuming that because it’s cheap to use (which it is) and one-to-one (which it is), it automatically aces out any other means of reaching and influencing potential donors (which it may or may not, especially since “reaching” is 90 percent easier than “influencing”).

This is a deep-into-twenty-first-century book, attacking the deep-into-twenty-first century not-for-profit climate. So yours is a 501(c)(3) and theirs isn’t? Big deal. Do your best donors and potential donors regard that fact as attention-getting and relevant?

Some years ago, I authored a book titled How to Write Powerful Fund-Raising Letters. The publisher of the book you have in your hands graciously offered me the option of updating that book, rather than replacing it with this one. Nope. We’ve moved too far from those kinder, gentler times.

So the challenge for all of us is not only to recognize that we’re competing (for many, an unwelcome intrusion) but also to see the many options available to us, some classic and some new.

So now you know the purpose of this book.

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 Let’s Get Under Way

“We Need Help.” You Certainly Do.
“We Need Help”—a Cry of “Wolf!”?
Some Old Standbys Seem to Be Tapering Off
Do Spartan Messages Work?
“In-Group” Benefit and Drawback
The Provocative Question: Does It Provoke?
“Buying” Response
Go Thou and Do Likewise

Chapter 2 What Do You DO with My Money?

Two Parallel Appeals. You Choose.
Assumptive Nonprofit Marketing: The “Huh?” Factor
How Far Do You Want to Go?

Chapter 3 Getting Our Share of the Pie

The Challenge Exists
Meeting the Challenge
Does This Approach Seem Calloused?

Chapter 4 A Little Ego Food Goes a Long Way

Two Easy Pieces
Let Them Think It’s for Real
Certified in Elegant Type
All “Boards” Aren’t Created Equal
Rhetorical Bullets for the Ballots
We Haven’t Come a Long Way
“They Don’t Know Who I Am. And They Don’t Care.”
Then What?
It Starts With the Envelope
Can You Personalize?
Stems, Not Flowers
Straightforward Pays

Chapter 5 Shifting the Focus from US to YOU

Five Easy Pieces
Cold Can’t Beat Hot
A Few Examples of Exclusivity in Action
Cynical or Not, Here We Come
Reflections on Our Reflectivity
Anger as a Fundraising Tool
Select, Maximize, and Test

Chapter 6 Match the Word to the Target

Aid for AIDS
Narrowing the Range to Match the Appeal
Easy Self-tests
They Care About . . . What? Better Guess Right
“What Does That Have to Do With Me?”
Riding the Third Rail
The Point Being. . . .

Chapter 7 Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Imagination Can Bring in the Dollars
Bricks and Mortar
On the Other Hand. . . .

Chapter 8 What’s Wrong with This Picture?

Less Can Be More
Which Works Better, Successes or Challenges?
Wishing for Candice
Somewhat Off the Point—Celebrities Galore

Chapter 9 The Not-So-Great Creative Civil War

The Obverse Side—Proclaiming Positives
The Reverse Side—Proclaiming Negatives
Everybody Needs Help
We Walk the Tightwire
What If It Isn’t An Emotional Issue?
Two Little Rules Ignored. Classical Music on the Rocks.
Sopranos, Look Out
Peculiar Public Relations
Speaking of Deadly Public Relations and. . . .
A Strange Coda

Chapter 10 Let Your Best Donors Do the Milking

A Communication from Whom?
Is This a One-shot? Why, Sure!
“We Need Help”? For What?
How to Kill Off Multi-donors
The Rules of Multi-donor Elimination Avoidance
How Would You Contact Family?
No Surprising Public Announcements, Please
And in Poorly Used, Abused E-mail. . . .
Awareness Is in Order

Chapter 11 A Heap O’livin’ and Other First Lines of Text

The First Line Is the Teller
Pennies from Heaven
The Rule of Negative Subtlety
How Did You Rate Those Letter Openings?
Do You Agree?

Chapter 12 Are You Testing Envelope Treatment?

Does the Window Get in the Way?
Does CARE Care?
What Should the Envelope Say . . . or Not Say?
In Election Years, Envelopes Fly
Don’t Take My Word for It
Don’t Be So Gentle on Your Envelopes
Pleasantries Please, but How About Pleasant Results?
Does Your “Provocative” Provoke?
Relevance versus Personalizing
The Old Dependables

Chapter 13 Can You Really Raise Funds through E-mails?

The Grab-and-Shake Medium
Don’t Bother Googling
The Easiest Rules for Online Solicitations You’ll Ever Read
Do You Need a High-powered Web Site?
If You’re Testing. . . .

Chapter 14 Solidifying the Strands of Your Web

Fast, Open, and Clear
You’ve Stopped Them. Now Nail Them.
Professionalism versus Sincerity
Make Sense? Or Not?

Chapter 15 Last Word: Creative Doesn’t Mean Too Creative

A Worthy Cause? So What?
Squeezing Response While Squeezing the Wallet
The Key to Donor Door-opening
Statistics Don’t Sell


Addendum: Oh, You Have a Clever Idea—Address Labels?


Index

"Herschell Lewis, through Hot Appeals or Burnt Offerings, reminds us all that little things can make a big difference in our work with our donors and prospect. For our organizations to truly be their best, we need to clearly state why and how our donors can join us in our mission. This book can help us in that journey."

Linda B. Carter
President/CEO
Community Foundation of Broward County

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Pay no attention to the man behind the scr . . . oh, wait, you probably need to pay attention to the Wizard of Words, Herschell Gordon Lewis.

Frankly, anyone who has been alive as long as HGL really has seen everything. The guy has made a medium-sized fortune consulting with for-profits and charities on direct response techniques and language. They wouldn't keep sending him checks with all of those zeros on the end if the concepts weren't top of the line.

The problem with HGL is that he actually cares about charities. His words are direct and to the point. He makes sense and everything he touts has been time-tested—a given since he'd older than dirt. He teaches his clients to actually say what they mean—clearly. Five minutes with him is well worth the $1.5 million he'd probably charge for those idiosyncratic minutes. Or, you could just read the book. Of course, he'd never let you use idiosyncratic in copy, unless the premium was a thesaurus.

Paul Clolery
Vice President/Editorial Director
NPT Publishing Group/The NonProfit Times

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For fundraisers who seek a comprehensive solution to the "hypercompetitive" fundraising environment, Hot Appeals or Burnt Offerings is a must-have resource. Herschell is a luminary in the direct marketing community and in this insightful work he underpins the most crucial element of a successful campaign: relevance. Anyone interested in capturing the attention of—and influencing their potential donors needs to get their copy now!

John A. Greco, Jr.
President & CEO
Direct Marketing Association

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Herschell Gordon Lewis might look twinkly and avuncular and a darling to have round for dinner, but his censure can pin you to a wall. Here he is again, this time at his crustiest, with a battering ram of a book for the 21st century marketer. But it’s not a book you READ, dear gentle soul . . . open it up and this King of Communication HOLLERS at you. If you haven’t ‘got it’ at the beginning of this tome, you sure as hell will by the end of it . . . or you’ll have HIM to deal with! HGL is one mean marketers’ mentor and this is another thumping, ripping stomp through the copywriter’s world. It’s fun and it’s fabulous and, actually, so’s he.

Sally Hooton
Editor
Direct Marketing International magazine

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Herschell Gordon Lewis practices tough love in his new book on fundraising. First he describes the field as almost feral. Then he offers no-nonsense advice on how to compete in it. Want to do good in the world? You could do worse than to absorb these lessons from the direct mail master.

Ray Schultz
Editorial Director
DIRECT