What Is The Perfect Length For A Fundraising Letter

This is a question a lot of fundraising directors put to me, and one that’s not always easy to answer. That’s because, in a perfect world, every fundraising letter would be exactly as long as it needs to be in order to ask for a donation and explain the need – and not a sentence longer or shorter.
But when was the last time you got the sense that the world was anywhere near perfect?
In the real world, fundraising direct mail has to work with a lot of constraints, not the least of them is the addressee’s attention. Fail to write enough, and you’re probably not going to raise much money; go on too long, and you run the risk of losing the reader.
After a bit of trial and error, I’ve come to the conclusion that the ideal length for fundraising letter – one that’s sent via mail, not electronically or otherwise – is right around 2 to 4 pages. Of course, there are times when you can get away with more or less, but here are four reasons why most of your fund raising letters should be right in that length:
It has a much higher chance of getting read. You can’t get donations if you can’t keep attention, and an excessively long fundraising letter is likely to get put aside to be read at some other time… or skipped over altogether. You want prospective donors to pick up your letter and feel like it’s only going to take a moment to read – and it should.
It keeps costs down. The other side of the coin is just as important. The whole point of fund raising letters is to raise money for your cause, not spend a small fortune on postage and printing. Shorter letters, when you factor in the hundreds of thousands of people on your mailing list, make economic sense.
You can ask for what you want… If you can’t tell people what you’re asking for in two pages or less, and why, then you haven’t thought hard enough about what you’re trying to accomplish. That’s plenty of space to ask for a donation, and then explain how you are going to spend it.
It forces you to be succinct. Sometimes, the notes I get from fundraising directors go eight or ten pages deep. That’s great, in terms of background information, but it’s too much to send to most prospective donors. People don’t even have time to keep up with their own lives; they need “highlights” on the news, and e-mail, and in every other area. Take that knowledge to heart and keep your fundraising letter to a length that’s easy to read and act on.
I always like to say that the perfect fundraising letter isn’t the one that’s the “best written,” but the one that helps you meet your financial goals. Two to four pages might not be everything you want to say, but it should be enough to gather the funding you need.