Things You'll Need
- Telephone
- Internet
- Website
- Spokesperson
- Letter head
Instructions
Teach your audience how a microchip will help animals and meet the mission of the animal shelter. The make up of the audience can be people who have funded special projects for the shelter before, people who have adopted animals with a microchip implant and people who are looking to belong to a cause.
Write an appeal letter, but keep it short. A person receiving an appeal letter may consider it junk mail so the quicker you get to the point the greater the chances you will receive the donation. One thought per paragraph with no more than three sentences making a paragraph. Show pictures in the letter of lost and abandoned animals and tell a story of how a microchip could have kept them from getting lost. Remember the goal is to pull at the heart strings of a potential donor.
Give away a small token of appreciation in hopes of receiving the donation. These work as a constant reminder to the potential donor and include key chains, refrigerator magnets and pens or pencils with the shelter's name etched on them. Also include a self-addressed-stamped-envelope (SASE) with the appeal letter. Since the goal is to solicit microchip detection devices for the animal shelter the appeal letter may ask for financial donations or the purchase of a microchip detector from the shelter directly.
Resist letting the donor make up their own mind about what they want to donate. If soliciting a cash donation be sure to state a dollar amount. If requesting the purchase of a microchip from the shelter, give the price of the microchip. For both requests, provide a card asking for credit card information for the donation or purchase. The goal is to make donating as effortless as possible.
Take the time to personally hand write a thank you note for a donation solicited and received. The personal touch is effective, remembered and appreciated by donors.