In the last few months, I’ve had a few projects where other people have done a large portion of the work because of workload around the office. When someone else has done a project for me who is a better writer or has experience, I usually take their work at face value. I often do the same thing when a solid editor is checking my work for grammar and style.
There are many kinds of proposals and styles of writing, and not all of them lend themselves perfectly to fundraising. One value we have is as a development filter, we spend our time understanding the donors that we work with and what messages resonate with them. For this reason, we can be a valuable asset to others in our organizations, even if we are not directly writing collateral or building our own proposals. Frankly, sometimes there is just too much work for one person, and we need the help of our co-workers.
We know our fundraising campaigns and development key messages better than anyone else. So take the opportunity whenever you receive a proposal, letter, or collateral to review it with your specially tuned development ear. Is the message compelling? Is there a donor story that could fit really well? Is the letter colloquial enough that it doesn’t sound like a form letter?
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