Asking for donations by email

vixki

Hi,
I'm part of a small charity and we're currently writing around to companies asking for donations (of items/vouchers) for a fete we're holding.
I take the view that you can never ask too many people for donations as most places say No anyway.
Anyway as well as physically writing, as increasingly things are dealt with online, I was thinking of emailing some places (not those we've already written to) to ask for donations.

Now I was wondering, is there a certain ettiquette for emailing? Obviously with a letter you can set it out nicely and put it on a letterheaded paper and sign it and all that.
With email it's kind of different. I don't have much experience of asking for donations via email, so if anyone has any tips that would endear me to the people I'm asking... please share!

Ianna

I love hearing about people's charity exploits! It's so inspiring hearing about what other people are doing to help charity :j

I think the most important thing is making sure you email the right person otherwise your email will probably never be answered. I suggest ringing the company and asking who you should email then sending them a bright and personal email. If people think it's spam they won't read it and certainly won't reply....if they know it's something you've sent personally they're much, much more likely to respond. Also make sure you follow up if you don't hear back just incase the email has gone to someone's junkmail or they've forgotten about it.

Format wise I don't personally think it matters as long as it's not riddled with typos and spelling errors

fran-o

Hi Vixki

I second what has already been said about spellcheck and reaching the right person. I think you can be more personal and less formal in an email than in a letter. And make it clear what you want people to do, ie if you want donations sent to you provide them an address. If they have to make a phone call or search for a reply address it may bar some responses.
Also to think about, as these are the first impressions your potential supporters will see -
- the email address you send from (and how the name shows in other people's inbox - your name, your charity's name?)
- what you put in the subject line - short enough so the subject shows in full in the inbox, but not looking like spam.
I work for a charity, we always send our email bulletins within our own colleagues before they go to the public so that people can spot mistakes and give feedback.

Good luck!

Savvy_Sue

fran-o wrote: »

Also to think about, as these are the first impressions your potential supporters will see -
- the email address you send from (and how the name shows in other people's inbox - your name, your charity's name?)

This reminds me, I think that if you are emailing on behalf of a charity, the email should include full details, including registered address and charity registration no.

Even if that's not required (and I'm getting confused with the info required in all emails from a ltd co), then I would say it is 'best practice' to include it.

Also worth noting that many charities are also ltd cos, so it would apply!

LittleVoice

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

This reminds me, I think that if you are emailing on behalf of a charity, the email should include full details, including registered address and charity registration no.

Even if that's not required (and I'm getting confused with the info required in all emails from a ltd co), then I would say it is 'best practice' to include it.

Also worth noting that many charities are also ltd cos, so it would apply!

Definitgely include the registered number. This is required for any charity fund-raising - letters, flyers, posters, collection tins, emails, . . .

SD1_2

I would be very careful about approaching potential donors via email.

In recent years the number of fake charities sending out mass emails asking for donations has been enormous. Recent examples have included scammers diverting donations intended to help kids affected by the earthquakes in Haiti and Christchurch.

I've just posted a message on Twitter warning my followers to be aware of the potential for scams related to today's events in Japan.

The advice from scam awareness websites is often to ignore ALL approaches from charities sent by email.

Your efforts would probably be more productive in approaching potential donors in writing.