One of the hardest sales letters to write has to be for a Non-Profit.
2:23pm
East of the Mississippi
Non-profit fundraising is tough work.
Not at a gala. Those things are attended by wealthy donors who want their name in the press.
I’m talking about direct mail.
The reader of your letter has to be persuaded to take action… often without any immediate benefit to themselves.
And the appeal has to go beyond altruism.
Because we all want to be altruistic. The hard part is deciding where to put our resources.
The Parkinson Research Foundation mailed a letter from 2006-2009 that brought in millions of dollars by focusing on a key emotion that drives people to action:
Fear.
The fear that 135 people are diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease every day.
And yes, it might be you… but more impactfully (not a word?)… the disease might affect your loved ones, your friends, your neighbors.
The letter painted a terrible picture of what this disease looks like:
Trembling hands. Stiffness in walking. Slurred speech. The relentless assault on the brain and nerve centers.
It’s a master class in non-profit persuasion and fundraising.
The Parkinson Research Foundation letter is one of 17 letters focused on fundraising found in “The Secrets of Emotional, Hot-Button Copywriting” by Denny Hatch and Paul Bobnak, now available on Amazon after being out of print for 15 years.
*|FNAME|*, you can read this letter in full in Chapter 1 of this book –– appropriately titled FEAR –– available to you for free as a member of Goldmine Marketing:
https://hotbuttoncopy.com/secrets_of_emotional_hot-button_copywriting_2026_preview
Jeffrey G Thomas
Direct Response Copywriter