Published on Alliance1 (http://www.alliance1.org)
Year-End 2008—Your Season of Stewardship Lost?
How many thousands of dollars does it take to be treated as an individual?
That’s what I uncharitably thought when I opened the annual late fall letter from Agency X, which I have supported with thousands of dollars in personal and memorial gifts over the past three years. Worse yet, key executives and officers in the organization know me and have involved me in service to the organization beyond my financial gifts.
The letter was a mass mailed form letter sent via first class mail to current and past donors. It was addressed in the plural. “Dear Friends of …” it began.
Why do writers of mass mailings forget that one person reads their letters at a time, generally in solitude? A “Dear Friends” salutation is appropriate only for donors with multiple personalities, or for those couples whose compulsive togetherness actually propels them to read their M/M addressed mail to each other.
It’s the 21st century. Use your computers! Address mail to donors, prospective donors, volunteers, everyone as the individuals we are.
You want me to take the time to write a check?
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About the Author
Len Iaquinta is president of Excellence in Communications in Kenosha, Wis. He is a member of the Resource Development Services Advisory Committee and serves as a consultant for the Alliance’s Executive Consultant Select Group.
He is known for the breadth of his skill set and his depth of experience in nonprofit fundraising. Throughout his fund development career, he has raised millions of dollars in major gifts, grants, and annual fund donations. He has created successful fundraising programs at public and private institutions from New York City to Milwaukee and Chicago.
Iaquinta earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from Northwestern University (Medill School) and Columbia University in the City of New York (Pulitzer School), respectively.