blog by arwen

I promised the participants of my recent appeal letter workshop that I’d share two great resources we discussed.

First, we have an academic examination of the typical language included in appeals. I found this fantastic linguistic analysis last autumn and was surprised it didn’t get more notice in the arts blogosphere (the intrepid Artful Manager covered it). Written by Frank C. Dickerson, Ph.D., the work is based on doctoral research he conducted while attending Claremont Graduate University’s Peter F. Drucker School of Management. Mr. Dickerson has an extensive resume and decades of experience working in fund raising, so we would do well to heed his warning.

What is he saying exactly? Well, the title says it all when it comes to the direct appeal (also known as an “ask” or solicitation letter): “The Way We Write is All Wrong“. He argues that most appeals are written in the style of an academic treatise or worse yet official government documents, which creates distance and alienates the reader. He proposes that we write with personal passion and infuse our appeals with stories that connect emotionally to the reader instead. As a measure of his commitment to public service, he has made several important documents available for free on his website. For that, I’d like to say “Thank you, Frank!” on behalf of independent artists everywhere.

The other important resource is a recent market research report called “The Next Generation of American Giving“.

A landmark research study into the charitable giving behaviors and attitudes of Gen Y, Gen X, Boomer and Mature donors from Convio, Edge Research and Sea Change Strategies. The art and science of fundraising, as we know it, is undergoing rapid and permanent change driven by technology, the imperative to attract new donors, and by the evolving traits of different generations of supporters. This report is a contribution to understanding this change and offers some strategic guidance for fundraisers who are struggling to keep up with it.

This is huge to anyone undertaking an individual campaign – especially given the rapid evolution of fund raising trends & techniques as we now straddle the worlds of the old school (unsolicited direct mail form letter) and the new school (online & email appeals, donating via text messages, Facebook causes etc). You have to provide your contact info to download the report, but in my opinion it is WELL worth it. Nonprofit marketing expert Nancy E. Schwartz agrees and offers a quick summary of the findings.

When looking at these resources together, I think two big takeaways are:

1. when asking for money, effective writing for individuals is completely DIFFERENT than effective writing for grants, so do your homework and figure out how to tell a compelling story (as opposed to demonstrating your capacity for program success via measurable criteria);

and

2. appeal letter writing/campaigning might require just as much work as writing a grant if you want to do it right, given technological advances in digital media and the range of generational preferences relating to communication channels.

What do you think about these reports? Any additional appeal letter resources we should add into the mix?

I have spent the last few weeks writing, researching and editing a chapter proposal in advance of an Aug. 31 deadline for a writing contest about the future of arts in America. From the Call for Entries:

20UNDER40 is in search of essays demonstrating the most innovative and unique perspectives on the future of the arts and arts education from artists, teaching artists, researchers, administrators, and cultural activists under the age of forty.

This anthology will provide a unique arena for new ideas by formally gathering the thoughts of young artists, teaching artists, administrators, researchers, and other arts and arts education professionals—legitimizing the talent of young leaders by bringing their ideas out of the margins and into the forefront of our dialogue.

If you are interested in submitting something, I encourage you to move quickly as the deadline is now less than a week away. All you need to submit is a two page proposal (double spaced – yikes!)  outlining a need/problem that you see as a big deal and your proposed response/solution. Full details are here.

currently in the middle of week four of the artist’s way which forces you to abstain from any and all reading for one week. i’ve been following the decree pretty strictly but it is HARD! today i remembered that i don’t need to read in order to write, so to satisfy my lust for reading, i will write about it instead.

what has life without reading shown me?

• i love reading – always have – but i never realized how MUCH i actually read nowadays since it is mostly on the computer.
• i’ve come to see that i waste at least two hours a day reading what i will call “casual” virtual content (blogs, op-eds, media of personal interest ).
• i have gotten SO much more done having the reading removed. at the beginning of the week i made a quick & dirty list of random things i could do instead of read and i haven’t even gotten to half of them. i plan to keep it visible to remind me of creative things i can do when i feel the need to break away from the computer screen.
• i never considered that too much reading could be a harm, but i see now the affect it has had on me in the past. i realized i will fill my brain up to capacity unconsciously with other people’s ideas to avoid having to synthesize and release my own into the world – it’s so much easier just to agree or disagree than to speak your own truth.

i am working as a freelancer exclusively now for the first time since (ahem) 2002. it is a MAJOR transition from “going” to work to “having work live with you” in your home space. i find it difficult, so i’m trying to figure out ways to behave myself, stay focused, avoid distractions and create structures for my time & energies to help me give shape to all the ideas  spinning around my head & heart that want to come into corporeal form.

seems like restricting my casual reading would be a good tool to add into the mix of restructuring my life as a freelancer, especially when i think about what i could do with that time instead…

i love little insights like this.