Checklist: Does your fundraising writing suck?

Maybe your fundraising doesn’t work like it should because it sucks.

Here’s a quick checklist of common sucky qualities in fundraising. Does your fundraising have these things?

• Pretentious, over-formal language that doesn’t connect with your donor.
  
• Empty superlatives like “cutting-edge” and “innovative.”
  
• Lack of a clear “what’s in it for me” for your donors; it’s based on “educating” your poor, ignorant donors, as if charitable giving were entirely am intellectual proposition.
  
• Reliance on jargon and insider talk.
  
• Shortage of the word “you.” It’s “we, we, we,” all the way home.
  
• Big numbers.
  
• Call to action (“give”) is hidden, indirect, passive, or non-existent.
  
• Long words, long sentences, long paragraphs.
  

Don’t let your copy suck. It’s a waste of time, doesn’t work, and it’s rude to donors.