Make Your Direct Mail Fundraising Appeal Letters More Friendly With Informal Design

There's a scene in the movie, Anne of Greento compose ontypewriters. So don't fully justify your
Gables, where Anne gets on her knees and praysbyparagraphs. Makethem ragged right.
her bed. Marilla is sitting on the bed, listening.Indent the first line of paragraphs
Anneconcludes her prayer by saying to God, "IIf you want your letter to look formal, format all
remainrespectively yours, Anne, with an e."yourparagraphs flush left. If you want them to
Anne then asks Marilla how she sounded. "Fine," sayslookinformal, indent the first line of eachparagraph.
Marilla, "if you were addressing a business letter totheAvoid the newsletter look
catalog store."You may be tempted to include
Marilla's point was that Anne's prayer to Godphotographs,sidebars, call-outs and other graphic
shouldnot have been impersonal and formal. Thedesignelements to make your letter look more
samegoes for your fundraising letters. They need toappealing. Butyou will actually reduce it's appeal,
bepersonal and informal, and they need to lookliterally. The moreyour appeal letter looks like a
personaland informal. Here are some design tips tobulletin or page from anewsletter, the less it looks
help youachieve those goals:like a piece of personalcorrespondence from one
Justify paragraphs ragged rightindividual to another. Youwant your donors to read
Formal business, government andyour newsletter. But you wantthem to respond to
legalcorrespondence features fully justifiedyour appeal letter. So make yourfundraising letters
paragraphs. Sodo books. But you want your appeallook like letters.
letters to look likepersonal letters, the kind we used