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How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters
For busy fundraisers, writing letters of appeal can be confusing and laborious. Now, a guide from the nation's premier letter-writing tutor--direct mail expert Mal Warwick--shows fundraisers what makes the best letters work. Whether its general advice about the most effective mail strategies, or specific advice for those interested in the details of a direct mail campaign, Warwick keeps fundraisers on track when he "You're writing for results--not a Pulitzer Prize." In How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters , Warwick's step-by-step model for writing a successful appeal walks you through the critical stages; his topics range from laying the groundwork for a prosperous campaign all the way through to the importance of thanking donors. Supported by an extensive collection of model letters, Warwick's no-nonsense, jargon-free work has helped thousands of fundraisers achieve results. Read a review written by Charity Channel Founder/CEO Stephen C.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
5 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
About the author
Mal Warwick
29 books489 followersMal Warwick has been reviewing books on his blog, www. malwarwickonbooks.com, since January 2010, typically posting three to five reviews per week. He is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the Northern California Book Reviewers and serves on the board of directors of the Bay Area Book Festival. He is also a member of the Author’s Guild and has been a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America since the 1970s.
Mal’s most recent book is Hell on Earth: What We Can Learn from Dystopian Fiction (July 2017). He is the author, co-author, or editor of 20 other books, including The Business Solution to Poverty: Designing Products and Services for Three Billion New Customers and the best-selling fundraising text, How to Write Successful Fundraising Appeals, Third Edition.
Mal is a principal in two businesses: a fundraising agency for nonprofits named Mal Warwick Donordigital, which he founded in 1979, and the One World Play Project, manufacturers of a virtually indestructible soccer ball that benefits more than 50 million children in 176 countries. The One World Play Project is a B Corporation and a California Benefit Corporation. Mal serves on the board of directors.
For three decades—the 1980s, 90s, and 00s—Mal focused on the nonprofit sector as an author, consultant, and public speaker on marketing and fundraising for nonprofit organizations and on the private sector as an advocate for socially and environmentally responsible business policies and practices. He is the founder of Mal Warwick Donordigital, which maintains offices in Berkeley, California and Washington, DC. The firm has served nonprofit organizations nationwide since 1979. MWD is a Founding B Corporation and a California Benefit Corporation and is now employee-owned. Mal remains as chair of the board.
A serial entrepreneur, Mal has been active in promoting social and environmental responsibility in the business community nationwide for more than two decades. He is the co-author of Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World, Make Money, and Have Fun with Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. Along with Cohen and others, Mal was a co-founder of Business for Social Responsibility in 1992 and served on its board during its inaugural year. In 2001, after more than a decade as an active member of Social Venture Network, he began a six-year stretch (2001-7) on its board, serving as Chair for four years. He also was a member of the Founding Advisory Board of the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2002-3.
Among the hundreds of nonprofits Mal and his colleagues served over the years are many of the nation’s largest and most distinguished charities as well as six Democratic Presidential candidates and scores of small, local, and regional organizations. Collectively, Mal and his associates have been responsible for raising more than one billion dollars in the form of small gifts, all of them from individuals.
From 1965 to 1969, Mal was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Michigan.
Mal’s most recent book is Hell on Earth: What We Can Learn from Dystopian Fiction (July 2017). He is the author, co-author, or editor of 20 other books, including The Business Solution to Poverty: Designing Products and Services for Three Billion New Customers and the best-selling fundraising text, How to Write Successful Fundraising Appeals, Third Edition.
Mal is a principal in two businesses: a fundraising agency for nonprofits named Mal Warwick Donordigital, which he founded in 1979, and the One World Play Project, manufacturers of a virtually indestructible soccer ball that benefits more than 50 million children in 176 countries. The One World Play Project is a B Corporation and a California Benefit Corporation. Mal serves on the board of directors.
For three decades—the 1980s, 90s, and 00s—Mal focused on the nonprofit sector as an author, consultant, and public speaker on marketing and fundraising for nonprofit organizations and on the private sector as an advocate for socially and environmentally responsible business policies and practices. He is the founder of Mal Warwick Donordigital, which maintains offices in Berkeley, California and Washington, DC. The firm has served nonprofit organizations nationwide since 1979. MWD is a Founding B Corporation and a California Benefit Corporation and is now employee-owned. Mal remains as chair of the board.
A serial entrepreneur, Mal has been active in promoting social and environmental responsibility in the business community nationwide for more than two decades. He is the co-author of Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World, Make Money, and Have Fun with Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. Along with Cohen and others, Mal was a co-founder of Business for Social Responsibility in 1992 and served on its board during its inaugural year. In 2001, after more than a decade as an active member of Social Venture Network, he began a six-year stretch (2001-7) on its board, serving as Chair for four years. He also was a member of the Founding Advisory Board of the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2002-3.
Among the hundreds of nonprofits Mal and his colleagues served over the years are many of the nation’s largest and most distinguished charities as well as six Democratic Presidential candidates and scores of small, local, and regional organizations. Collectively, Mal and his associates have been responsible for raising more than one billion dollars in the form of small gifts, all of them from individuals.
From 1965 to 1969, Mal was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Michigan.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 6, 2017
f you’re a fundraiser, or know someone who is, I’ve got good news for you.
A completely revised Third Edition of my best-selling book on fundraising, How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters, will be available soon. By special arrangement with the publisher, Wiley, I’ve received an exclusive 30%-off pre-publication discount.
To order your copy now, go to http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTi.... Wiley will ship it to you on or about June 17, the day the book becomes available online and in bookstores.
After you enter your shipping information and create a password, you come to a screen that says "Promotion Code" at the top. You enter the code WARW3 in the box on the right-hand side of that page and hit Apply to take 30% off the total.
In all immodesty, every fundraiser who deals with individual donors needs a copy of this essential book.
How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters is in use as a textbook in college and graduate courses in fundraising and is used as a training tool in many nonprofit organizations and fundraising agencies. There are dog-eared copies on fundraisers’ shelves throughout the nonprofit sector—but they’re all out of date now. This Third Edition is completed revised and updated to equip you with the tools you need to flourish today in the 21st-century fundraising environment. I’ve even given the book a new title—How to Write Successful Fundraising Appeals—to reflect the new integrated fundraising reality.
This amazing offer is good only until the book reaches bookstores on June 17. Why do I call it amazing? Because Amazon.com has discounted the book only 11%—just one-third as much.
Go to http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTi... to order your copy now, and get ready for the new key to fundraising success: integrated fundraising.
Thanks for listening.
A completely revised Third Edition of my best-selling book on fundraising, How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters, will be available soon. By special arrangement with the publisher, Wiley, I’ve received an exclusive 30%-off pre-publication discount.
To order your copy now, go to http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTi.... Wiley will ship it to you on or about June 17, the day the book becomes available online and in bookstores.
After you enter your shipping information and create a password, you come to a screen that says "Promotion Code" at the top. You enter the code WARW3 in the box on the right-hand side of that page and hit Apply to take 30% off the total.
In all immodesty, every fundraiser who deals with individual donors needs a copy of this essential book.
How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters is in use as a textbook in college and graduate courses in fundraising and is used as a training tool in many nonprofit organizations and fundraising agencies. There are dog-eared copies on fundraisers’ shelves throughout the nonprofit sector—but they’re all out of date now. This Third Edition is completed revised and updated to equip you with the tools you need to flourish today in the 21st-century fundraising environment. I’ve even given the book a new title—How to Write Successful Fundraising Appeals—to reflect the new integrated fundraising reality.
This amazing offer is good only until the book reaches bookstores on June 17. Why do I call it amazing? Because Amazon.com has discounted the book only 11%—just one-third as much.
Go to http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTi... to order your copy now, and get ready for the new key to fundraising success: integrated fundraising.
Thanks for listening.
February 17, 2017
Words of wisdom from the master
July 31, 2008
easy to read book on writing appeals.
October 10, 2008
A must read for fundraisers. Mal teaches you that the best opening line for your letters is usually a few paragraphs into your text. Mal challenges you to think outside the norm in writing letters.
Currently reading
May 31, 2012itS BEEN A GRT EXPERIENCE, AS A DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL PATRIOTS UNION, I HOPE TO EFFECT ALL IVE LEARNED...
Currently reading
June 4, 2013i feel good with this book
Read
April 18, 2016Brilliant. Clear and practicle. Apply what he says and money will happen for your charity
December 15, 2012
Useful.
April 16, 2017
I read this book for a paper I'm writing, and have to admit that I ended up genuinely enjoying it way more than I expected.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews