09 Nov Stop Sending “Junk” Mail
10 November 2026
By David Allen, Development for Conservation
Look critically at your Appeal Letter this week.
If you approach your Fall appeal as if you were sending junk mail, you will succeed – in sending junk.
Instead, try sending something useful – that your constituents will appreciate learning about.
Like:
- That you know their names.
“Greetings!” or “Dear Friend” is just junkier.
- How much you appreciate them.
Try leading with “Thank you!” and ending with “Thank you!”
- How important their gift was last year in the organization’s programmatic success.
When you give to ____ Land Trust, you directly support success stories like this.
- That you are responsive to them as people and not just as ATM terminals.
If you have questions or concerns, please call me at ###.###.####
- That they are valued parts of a valuable mission.
You can help _____ Land Trust be there for the next couple who love their land and want to see it protected for the next generation and those who follow.
So what makes something “junk?” Jeff Brooks recently posted a pretty good list. I’ve paraphrased it here:
- Junk mail uses organization-speak and jargon.
Some of this is obvious like “NFWF grants,” “aquatic indicator species,” and “ecosystem services.” Some is less obvious. Few people know how big an acre is, so letting people know that “we” protected another 4.96 acres is doubly meaningless. Similarly the words “watershed” and “stewardship” mean a lot to us and not a lot to many people.
- Junk letters are more about what the organization has done and not enough about what donors can do.
Good fundraising letters use stories to provide an emotional case for giving instead of sounding like a performance report.
- Junk letters fail to ask.
In plain language, tell people what you want them to do. “Please consider a gift this year of $100. If you can do more, please be as generous as you can. If $100 is not the right number for you, please consider giving at a level that is comfortable. Every gift counts.”
- Junk letters are overly designed.
Appeal letters work best when their design is subtle. For example, black letters on a white background instead of white letters reversed out of colored backgrounds. Photographs are completely unnecessary – they distract readers from the “please give” message because they do not convey the “please give” message. Use plenty of white space and easy-to-read 13pt type, instead of 10pt type and narrow margins in an effort to make the letter fit on one page. When design overwhelms message, the letter becomes “junk.”
Some junk mail signs are unavoidable because the alternatives are expensive – dot-matrix printing on the address block, bulk mail indicia, and scannable barcodes are all dead giveaways. So dress up your envelope also. This is where design can make a meaningful difference. Use a different color or an unusual size. Print a leader’s signature just underneath the return address block. Print a teaser in the lower right or on the back. Think in terms of: How can I invite more people to open this?
How about:
Thank you for making land conservation a priority this year!
Of course, in a perfect world, you would have communicated that they are valued parts of a valuable mission and how important their gifts were to programmatic outcomes many times this year before now. And using multiple channels – letters, email, paper and electronic newsletters, and at least one phone call.
So the feeling they have gotten is that they are genuinely valued and that you aren’t only sending them information when you want money.
But now it’s November.
It’s time to ask.
Cheers, and have a great week.
-da
PS: Your comments on these posts are welcomed and warmly requested. If you have not posted a comment before, or if you are using a new email address, please know that there may be a delay in seeing your posted comment. That’s my SPAM defense at work. I approve all comments as soon as I am able during the day.
Photo by Willfried Wende courtesy of Pixabay.
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