# Annual Appeal Letter

Drafts a year-end or annual appeal letter to individual donors. Use it for your biggest fundraising mailing of the year, whether that is a printed letter, a PDF, or the body of a long-form email.

## Prompt

## Context
You are helping a development staff member at [ORGANIZATION NAME], a nonprofit that [MISSION IN ONE SENTENCE]. The letter will go to [AUDIENCE DESCRIPTION: e.g., current donors who gave last year, lapsed donors who have not given in two years]. The appeal is for [CAMPAIGN NAME OR PURPOSE: e.g., the 2026 Annual Fund, the Holiday Appeal]. The letter will be signed by [SIGNER NAME AND TITLE].

## Task
Draft a donor appeal letter of approximately [TARGET LENGTH: e.g., one page, 400 words] that includes:
- An opening story or scene that puts the reader inside the work: [STORY OR SCENE: describe a real program moment, client outcome, or concrete image in two to four sentences].
- A clear statement of what the organization does and who it serves, grounded in [KEY PROGRAM FACTS].
- The specific ask: a gift of [ASK AMOUNTS OR RANGE] to support [USE OF FUNDS].
- One or two proof points drawn only from [PROGRAM OUTCOMES PROVIDED].
- A clear call to action naming how to give: [GIVING INSTRUCTIONS: e.g., return the reply card, give online at the URL].
- A P.S. line restating the deadline or matching opportunity if one exists: [DEADLINE OR MATCH DETAILS].

## Standards
- Write to one person, not a crowd. Use "you" throughout.
- The opening must be concrete and human, not a statistics dump.
- All impact figures, program outcomes, and dollar figures must come from [PROGRAM OUTCOMES PROVIDED]. Do not invent statistics, client counts, dollar figures, or program results.
- Do not name specific funders, grants, or restricted funds unless I provided them.
- No hype words: life-changing, transformative, urgent crisis, powerful, incredible, remarkable.
- The letter must close with a specific action the reader can take today, not a vague invitation to consider giving.
- If the story, ask amount, giving instructions, or program outcomes are missing or unclear, ask me before drafting.

## Variables

- ORGANIZATION NAME
- MISSION IN ONE SENTENCE
- AUDIENCE DESCRIPTION
- CAMPAIGN NAME OR PURPOSE
- SIGNER NAME AND TITLE
- TARGET LENGTH
- STORY OR SCENE
- KEY PROGRAM FACTS
- ASK AMOUNTS OR RANGE
- USE OF FUNDS
- PROGRAM OUTCOMES PROVIDED
- GIVING INSTRUCTIONS
- DEADLINE OR MATCH DETAILS

## Input checklist

- [ ] A real story or scene from your program, written in plain notes, even rough ones
- [ ] Outcome figures you can source: from your annual report, program data, or board-approved statistics only
- [ ] The specific ask amount or range and what the gift funds
- [ ] Giving instructions: the URL, reply card instructions, or mailing address
- [ ] Deadline or matching gift details if any exist
- [ ] Confidentiality: strip beneficiary names, ages, and identifying details from your story, or confirm your AI tool is approved under your organization's data policy

## Verification checklist

- [ ] Every statistic and outcome figure in the letter matches a source you can point to. Delete anything the AI added that you did not supply.
- [ ] No funders, grant programs, or restricted fund names appear unless you provided them
- [ ] The ask amount and giving instructions are correct and match your current campaign setup
- [ ] The story uses a composite or anonymized subject if it involves a real beneficiary. Confirm your communications policy allows the framing used.
- [ ] No outcome is stated as a promise or guarantee of future results
- [ ] The P.S. line, if present, matches your actual deadline or matching gift terms exactly
- [ ] Read the letter aloud. Cut anything that sounds like nonprofit marketing boilerplate.

## Sample output

Sample output. Generated by AI from sample inputs:

Dear Margaret,

Last March, a father named David walked into the Riverside Youth Coalition's after-school center with his nine-year-old daughter, Lily. She had not been to school in three weeks. He did not know where else to go.

Our staff sat with both of them for two hours that afternoon. Lily started our tutoring program the following Monday. By June she had caught up to grade level in reading.

That is what your gift makes possible.

The Riverside Youth Coalition runs after-school and summer programs for children in the Eastside neighborhood, where more than 60 percent of kids qualify for free or reduced lunch. Last year our programs served 312 children. Eighty-one percent of students who completed our full-year tutoring track improved at least one grade level in reading or math, based on teacher assessments.

We are asking you to make a gift of $100, $250, or whatever you can manage before December 31. Every dollar goes directly to program staff and materials. Nothing fancy. Just people showing up for kids.

To give online, visit riversidesyouth.org/give. To mail a check, use the enclosed reply envelope.

Thank you for being in our corner.

With gratitude,
Sandra Webb
Executive Director, Riverside Youth Coalition

P.S. Gifts received by December 31 will be matched dollar for dollar by an anonymous donor, up to $10,000. Your $100 becomes $200 if it arrives by the deadline.

## Customization notes

For a printed letter, keep it to one page with a reply card. For a long-form email, the same structure works but shorten the body by 30 percent and make the call-to-action button the primary ask. If your audience segment is lapsed donors, add one sentence in the second paragraph acknowledging their past support. For smaller organizations without outcome data, the story carries more weight; put it in the first three paragraphs and keep statistics to a minimum.

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From The Nonprofit Grant & Fundraising Library at vetslearn.com/libraries/nonprofit