Sample 32:   Sample Fund Raising Letter
   
Committee to Elect
Ellen Farrago
1824 Greenview, Sunshine, CA 94086-1844
415/555-4418
 
Mass mailings may not be dated so that the same letter can be sent more than once.    

Use a Simulated Inside Address to avoid the tired "Dear Friend" salutation.		   How concerned are you
About the high rate
Of crime in Sunshine?
     
Pace by stating a problem.   Last year we had more than 9,000 burglaries...

 ...  more than 2,000 muggings,
 ...  more than 300 rapes,
 ...  more than 200 stolen vehicles,
 ...  7 murders,
 ...  12 carjackings
 ...  more than 1,000 cases of serious vandalism.
     
Lead by using what you know about the reader to include him or her.   Most of us moved to Sunshine to avoid the problems of big city living. Unfortunately, over the past several years, big city problems have also moved to Sunshine.
   
    Our current City administration has been unable to slow the increase in crime, which is up more than 200 percent over the past five years. Last year alone, nearly one home in ten--right here in Sunshine--was touched by crime.
     
Blend outcomes by promising a solution to the problem and showing how that promise will be kept.   Ellen Farrago wants to make our City safe again, and with your help, she can do it. Based on her previous experience in the office of the Mayor of San Francisco, Ellen has a specific plan for using the same techniques for reducing crime in Sunshine that have been used effectively in other cities.
     
    If elected Mayor, Ellen will work to

  • Combine the Police and Fire Departments into a Department of Public Safety, which will put more uniformed officers on the streets and provide both better police service and better fire protection at significantly reduced cost.

  • Use the City's computer system to establish a local area network for law enforcement, connecting Sunshine to the surrounding communities and to the State's database, which will make it more difficult for criminals to flee the scenes of crimes in Sunshine.

  • Establish Neighborhood Watch, Crime Busters, and Silent Observer programs, which have proved successful in reducing crime in other communities.

  • Encourage the City Attorney to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law rather than engage in plea bargaining, which lets too many criminals off the hook.

  • Obtain federal funds to help finance these and other important anti-crime measures.

     
Motivate by asking for what you want. Put the smallest amount last--when it comes first, people give that amount, but when it comes last, they typically give more than the minimum.   Ellen Farrago has the political savvy necessary to make our City safe again, but she can't begin working to reduce crime in Sunshine unless she is elected. And she needs your help. Your donation--for $1000, $500, $100, or whatever amount you can best afford--can make a difference in next year's crime rate in Sunshine.

To help reduce crime, please use the enclosed envelope to send your check to the Committee to Elect Ellen Farrago. You'll breathe a little easier knowing that you've done what you can.
     
    Cordially,
     
     
     
    Walter Taylor
Chairman

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