When trying to solicit donations from people you must remember that people make decisions, firstly based on emotions, which are then secondly backed up by logical reasoning. So if you do not pull on their emotions they will not even bother with the logical reasoning behind why they should give to your great cause!

So when writing your fundraising letters you need to draw your readers in emotionally before you give them the logical reasons behind why they should give to you... And you do this most effectively by creating a scene or telling a story!

By setting the scene you will be taking your reader to a place he/she has never been before. You will be making the read exciting for him/her, and you make him/her feel a part of the great cause before they have even helped.

Your story may make your reader feel sad, angry, amazed or even uplifted! Obviously you must decide which emotion you want to provoke, based on which emotion you think would work best for your cause...

But wherever you take your reader you must make them realize through that emotion they are feeling, that your cause is doing a great thing and that by helping you they will also be doing a great thing!

Here is a quick example of a great way of setting the scene in a fundraising letter...

"We were frozen with shock, amazement, and fear all at the same time...

It had been a long and hard journey through Sudan, and at the end of it we were met by the frail, gaunt and starving bodies of children, teenagers, and adults all rushing towards us. Protruding rib cages and depressed stomachs. Legs as frail and thin as match sticks. It was the most shocking sight we had ever seen.

But with this sight came their smiles, their laughter, their cries of joy, and their warm embraces. Tears were shed on all our shoulders as we were hugged and thanked by many different people.

And suddenly, we all realized how much what we were doing, meant to all these people!"

So, make those fundraising letters of yours more appealing by creating a scene and telling a story. Take your reader somewhere where they have never been before. Draw on their emotions! By doing this you will increase the positive responses from your fundraiser letters!