Daniel Mansoor is the founder of GoodWorks -- a fundraising and development consultancy that seeks to improve the performance of nonprofits and the rewards of giving.

"What makes for a great fundraising letter?" [No such thing as perfect!]

This question was posed to me at the completion of a three-hour workshop I led in Cleveland this past Friday. We'd spent time discussing the "science of giving" and the importance of creativity and design in fundraising work. But this question about the principal way we fundraise for charitable gifts (direct mail) got me thinking. For some reason, the answer came quickly: "Write a letter that when the reader is done they really understand the soul of the letter's author!"

"What about the message of the letter?" Yes, that's critical too, but in the end the reader must feel two connections to motivate their giving: (1) a connection to those who are helped through their donation, and (2) a connection with the author of the letter.

We give when we can imagine how those who benefit from our altruism are "like us" or similar to us. We give when we respect, admire, relate to the person who wrote the letter. Despite the appearance to the contrary, giving is a communal (or pro-social) activity. We respond when others we respect or who seem like us give. We also want to trust the person asking us to give.

Trust and authenticity must be conveyed in our solicitations - whether face-to-face, by phone, email or letter. So get personal when you write. Get emotional. And definitely be original.

At the Friday workshop, as I described my philosophy, I thought of the letter I wrote to my college classmates -- a letter I have been writing annually for 20 years to raise funds for the Class Memorial Scholarship Fund. So I quickly retrieved the letter and read it to the audience. I was grateful for their reaction. Please share yours and please comment on this blog.