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Write Fundraising Letter Overlines That Donors Cant Resist (Includes Samples & Examples)
The headline that appears over the salutation in a fundraising letter is known as the overline. Overlines have one goal: to persuade your donor to read your letter. According to direct mail copywriter and author Hershell Gordon Lewis, the best kind of overline to use in a one-to-one piece of communication like a fundraising letter is a hand-written overline, one that looks like a spontaneous burst of enthusiasm. Hand-written overlines, says Lewis, should not look "produced." I agree. Your goal, then, if you decide to use an overline, is to work up more enthusiasm in your readers than your letter can generate without the overline. Here are some guidelines to follow. Don't give too much away So instead of writing this: Your gift today will help us stop gun violence. Write this: How do you keep a pistol out of the hands of a 12 year old? Make the reader want to continue reading Think about signing the overline Please be sure to read the important update I've enclosed. A.J.S. Consider a 3M Post-it Note Tie your overline into your envelope teaser copy Your overline must work on its own after the envelope is discarded. Your readers, once they have read your outer envelope teaser copy, opened your envelope and started reading your letter, will not likely read your outer envelope teaser copy again. If they pick up your letter a week from now and start reading, they will not return to the outer envelope teaser copy and start reading there. For this reason, your outer envelope teaser copy and your letter overline copy must work on their own as two grammatical thoughts. When your outer envelope teaser copy ends with ellipses, for example, your letterhead overline must begin with a capital letter, even though the overline may be completing the thought that you started on the outer envelope. Make each letter overline a complete thought on its own, one that begins with a capital letter. About the author © 2005 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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