Have you ever played The Mennonite Game? When two Mennonites meet for the first time, they soon start asking each other questions designed to discover who and what they share in common. The game goes something like this:

Moses: You look like you're Mennonite. David: I am. My name is David Martin. Moses: Hullo. [Shake hands.] I'm Moses Yoder. Where are you from, David? David: Goshen, Indiana. How about you? Moses: Steinbach, Manitoba. David: Oh, Steinbach. Do you know John and Mary Hostetler? Moses: No, I don't think I do. Where do they fellowship? David: Bethel Mennonite Church. He's one of the deacons. He's a carpenter. Moses: Does he work for Yoder Construction? David: Yes. Moses: I know Cliff Yoder, the owner. His son and my son served together in Belize with Voluntary Service. David: You must know John and Sarah Statler, then. Moses: Yes, I do. We're second cousins. David: We had John and Sarah at our church just this past week for revival meetings. Moses: Imagine that!

And so it goes, The Mennonite Game, played by complete strangers the world over to build rapport and discover what—and who—they have in common.

Your goal is similar when writing a fundraising letter to an unknown donor. You want to be friendly and personal, to establish rapport between the two of you. But how can you be personal with an impersonal letter, one that you are mailing to someone you do not know personally and will likely never meet?

The answer is personalization, particularly database personalization. Your database is a mine of information about each donor. You can use just about every single fact you know about each donor in a creative way to build rapport, sound conversational, be genuine and strengthen your relationship.

Here are a few ideas:

Personalize by first name: Dear

Bill, Personalize by last name: Dear Mr. Phillips, Personalize by prefix: As a doctor, you appreciate that . . . Personalize by state/province: Child abuse is a problem in every state of the union—including Ohio. Personalize by date of first gift: When you first supported us in 1991, we were a small, struggling operation, as I am sure you remember. Not today! Personalize by donor interests: Here is the update on East Timor that you asked me to send you.

These tips are taken from 53 Creative Ways to Personalize Your Fundraising Letters, Handbook 23 in the popular Hands-On Fundraising Series from Andrew Spencer Publishing. Learn how to build rapport, sound conversational, show genuine interest and strengthen your relationships with donors. Learn more here.

© 2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the Author" message).

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