Step By Step Fundraising » Sample Letters

5 Components of a Well-Written Fundraising Letter

Jim Berigan — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 21:20:34 +0000

One of the most important tools available to any leader of a non profit organization is the fundraising letter. With a finely-crafted missive, the leader will be able to clarify the mission, excite the audience, and deliver on the stated need.

However, getting the letter to the point where it is “finely-crafted” is the hard part. I believe there are five key components that should be implemented to give your letter a much better chance of hitting its mark.

Before you begin writing, I recommend that you jot down a quick outline. This will help you plot your individual points, provide your supporting evidence, and generally keep you on track.

The outline should be broken down into five sections. These are: attention, interest, desire, conviction, and close. By following these five “guideposts” you are taking your reader on a directed journey, exactly where you want him to go. And fortunately, since this progression makes rhetorical sense, the reader will actually be happy to go along for this ride, as opposed to a letter that is all over the place and never really gets to the point.

Let’s break down each of the sections.

1. Attention

First, there is “ATTENTION”. This is where you really grab your readers. Give them something to chew on right away. Most of us read thousands of words each day, so the competition for our readers’ attention is great. Don’t mess around with long winded introductions- get right to the point. Use words and word-pictures that have real impact with the readers. In the case of school fundraising, I like to focus on the benefits to the children.

Let’s say, for instance, you were writing a letter in hopes of raising enough money to subsidize a trip to Washington D.C. for the eighth grade. I would start by writing:

Dear Parents, Our school has the amazing opportunity to provide your child with an incredible hands-on learning experience, right in our nation’s capital. For four days and three nights, our students will be in the epicenter of our executive, legislative, and judicial activity. With behind the scenes tours, meetings with our local law-makers, and admission to some of the most significant historical sites in our country, your child will have the experience of his or her life.

Ok, there’s the first paragraph. We were aiming for grabbing their attention, and I think we have it. We emphasized the benefits to their children and even touched on a bit of patriotism!

2. Interest

Next, we come to “INTEREST”. This is where we expand a little bit more on what we wrote in the “attention” paragraph. The goal is to raise your readers’ interest by more specifically highlighting the benefits and features of the event. By the end of this section, your reader should really be primed to hear your pitch.

To continue with the sample letter:

All year long, we have been studying how bills become laws, how our government operates, and how our democracy was created. By planning this trip to Washington D.C., we will be able to take this theoretical knowledge and breathe life into it for our students. Instead of just reading about the Library of Congress, we’re going to go there! Rather than just watching CSPAN, we are going to enter the U.S. Capitol and observe Congress actually in session! What better way is there to really learn about our country than to see it up close and in person?

3. Desire

All right, this is where we start to really sell, sell, sell. Your job in this section is to place such a strong desire for this experience in the hearts of your readers that they’ll do just about anything to make the goal a reality. To accomplish this, you only need to remind them of the idealistic things they already hold dear. Do this with the right stroke, and you’ve got them.

As parents, we know you always want the best for your children. You want their schools to be first rate and be able to provide them with only the finest instruction and guidance. We at Al Gore Middle School share this desire, right along with you. For years, the eighth grade has been making this annual journey to Washington D.C. And, year after year, we have witnessed first- hand how this experience changes lives for the better. This is truly a monumental event for our young people.

4. Conviction

So far, we have excited our readers, we’ve got them genuinely interested in our cause, and we’ve done all we can to convince them that they, too, want what we want. Now it’s time to prepare them for the challenges that stand in our way and get them to commit themselves to the hard work that will certainly follow on our way to the goal. This is called “CONVICTION”.

But getting to Washington D.C. is never easy. Moving an entire grade of children is expensive and logistically difficult. Making this dream a reality is a daunting task, but it is also one that many parents before us have successfully undertaken.

Through our research, we have determined that this trip costs $400 total per child. This includes everything- transportation, lodging, food, and admission to all the sites. The only thing beyond this is spending money, which you and your child can determine privately.

$400 is a lot of money. We understand that this can be a burden to many. Therefore, we have a goal to help subsidize this amount by at least 50% per student. Between now and the time we leave for Washington, we plan to hold several mini-fundraisers within the community.

Your involvement with these fundraisers is vital. We need every parent of an eighth grader to volunteer his or her time to help us reach this overall target. This will mean planning meetings, committee meetings, volunteer recruiting, organizing, decorating, etc. This is a significant commitment.

However, when we remember why we are doing this, we know that in the long run, all the time and energy will be worth it for our children.

5. Close

At this point, our hope is that parents are ready for the fight. They believe in the cause and are prepared to enter into battle. Now, they just need to know specifically what is being asked of them. In each school’s case, this might be different, but it is crucial to work in an effective call to action. And that comes in the “CLOSE”.

On Tuesday November 5 at 6:30pm, we are holding an organizational meeting in our school auditorium. We will be talking a lot about the upcoming trip, as well as how we plan to pay for it. We sincerely ask that at least one parent from each family come to this gathering. If you can not attend, we ask that you contact our school office, so we can get you all the pertinent information.

Thank you for your consideration of this journey, and we can’t wait to give your child the memories and experiences that will help shape the rest of their lives. See you at the meeting!

And that’s it. Now, please remember that I completely fabricated this above scenario, so some of the details may not make sense, but I wanted to illustrate the path a persuasive fundraising letter should take. Start with getting your readers’ attention, heighten their interest, stir their desire, strengthen their conviction, and close the deal with a call to action.

Plug your own specific information into this plan, and you’ll be well on your way to sending out a fundraising letter that will produce results!

8 Things to Admire about Jimmy Wales’ Appeal Letter for Wikipedia

Jim Berigan — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:03:08 +0000

It’s always helpful to study how the big boys do it, even though most of us aren’t in that league. Most of us struggle with small budgets and only a local outreach.

However, if we look carefully enough, the “big boys” do teach us many important lessons that we can scale down and apply to our own situations.

Like millions of other people, I have had the occasion to use the online resource, Wikipedia. I’ve needed to research something quickly, and Wikipedia has done an adequate job in providing me the information I require. I’m aware of the arguments against Wikipedia and the kind of user-generated and edited facts it offers. However, in my own limited experience, I’ve never really had a problem with it.

In the past few months, however, whenever I’d visit Wikipedia, I’d notice a very prominent message displayed at the top of every page I searched for. The message is placed inside a box, and there is a picture of a very hopeful-looking man. The bold text next to him says, “Please Read: An Urgent Appeal from Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales”. The text is also a link to his donation request letter.

When I first read the letter, I was impressed by many things, right off the bat. Here is the text of the letter. Take a minute to scan it and see for yourself if there’s anything that stands out to you. (There should be. The guy has raised 12.5 million dollars so far this year!)

I’m a volunteer.

Like the thousands of others who write and edit Wikipedia, I don’t get paid a cent. But I have been here from the beginning, and I can tell you, we weren’t prepared to get this big.

We are a non-profit, but we are the fifth most visited website in the world. Last year we operated with around 30 staff and dangerously few servers. The other top ten websites are hundreds of times bigger than us.

This year we are finally adding critical technology and people we’ve needed for years. We can’t wait another year to take this step.

Last year about one in 1,000 people who use Wikipedia donated. To reach our goal this year, we need two in 1,000.

It’s a stretch. We’re the only major website in the world that is primarily supported by its users. It’s worked for 10 years, but this year we are struggling to reach our goal with only 7 days left of 2010.

Please help us keep Wikipedia free and stable with a donation of $10, $20, $35 or whatever you can afford.

Jimmy Wales
Wikipedia Founder

Ok, so what do I like about this letter? Here are eight things that I think smaller non-profits can learn from Wikipedia’s example for effective donor solicitation through an online appeal letter. Please feel free to add your own thoughts in our comment section.

1. The “ad box”. It’s clean, simple, and to the point. No wasted words or unnecessary fluff. I also like his picture- I know it’s a little corny, but he’s looking up, toward the future, with a very hopeful look in his eyes. That’s something we can all do. It sends a good, subliminal message to potential donors.

2. I like the very fact that he’s asking for donations online. How many of us really use our website to raise funds? I know Wikipedia is entirely Internet-based, and most of us operate in the real world, but we should not ignore the power of a “Donate Now” button on our sites. PayPal works.

3. He starts the letter right off with a statement- “I am a volunteer”. He avoids using the “Dear Friends” platitude. If you have one New Year’s resolution this year, let it be to never write the words “Dear Friends” again.

4. The letter is thankfully short- only 183 words. We should all strive for more brevity.

5. He makes himself identifiable to the readers by claiming, “I’m a volunteer.” Right away, he’s putting his arm around us and saying in effect “We’re all in this together.”

6. He sets up his need very effectively, basically saying “We grew unexpectedly. Not enough staff. Not enough servers.” Sound familiar? He reminds us that sites of similar size are “hundreds of times bigger” We read this paragraph and realize that his need is legitimate.

7. He gives us an excellent way to visualize his goal. He says that 1 in 1000 visitors donated to Wikipedia last year. Then he issues a seemingly “do-able” challenge- make it 2 in 1000 who gives. Even though that’s a 100% increase in donors, the scale seems reachable. Heck, it’s only 2 people out of 1,000. That’s nothin’.

8. Lastly, he leaves us with a sense of urgency by saying that they are still short of their yearly goal, with only a few days remaining in 2010. Then he clearly asks us for money. He is specific in what he’d like. We know he’s not seeking the $1 million donation. His goal is achievable in increments of $25 gifts.

Well, I think there is a lot in letter to like. If you’re struggling with how to craft a donation letter, this isn’t a bad place to start thinking about it. Really, it’s not too complicated. There’s nothing fancy about his ask. But it has proven effective to an incredibly diverse group of donors, so there’s something working for it.

Do you have any thoughts? We’d love to hear them!

Guide to Writing Fundraising Letters

Sandra Sims — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:00:13 +0000

Fundraising letters sent through the mail are one of the most popular ways to request donations. However, if you’ve never written a fundraising letter before, you may have lots of questions…

How do you start the letter? How can you persuade the reader to donate without being too pushy? What will make someone take notice of your cause and want to give? Who should the letter be mailed to?

This short guide will help answer some of your questions.

Choose the audience

Before you start writing the letter, be clear about who will be reading it. Knowing who will be reading the letter will impact your decisions later on about what to say and how to say it. So if you haven’t decided on a target audience, do this first before even starting to write.

In general the audience will fall into one of two categories:

House (or renewal) mailings which are sent to your current supporters. After you have mailed to your donors a few times, you will get a good feel for your organization’s response rate. Some organizations have response rates in the 5 – 10% range while others have 25% or more.

Acquisition mailings are intended to acquire new donors. Typically, letters are sent to names from a rented or borrowed “cold” list with the hope that individual recipients will make a donation. Response rates on acquisition mailings can be quite low, usually less than 1%. Because of this low response rate, you will need to calculate the number of letters that need to be sent in order to reach your goals.

Create a compelling letter

Keep in mind that your goal is not really to write a letter. It is to communicate the essence of your mission and vision in an insightful and compelling way, so that readers will respond with a donation.

One of the most successful ways that you can get your message across is to tell a story of a specific person or situation where your organization has made a difference. When writing a fundraising letter remember to include stories that will engage the reader, not just show off accomplishments. Take a look a these suggestions for attention getting openings for fundraising letters for more tips.

As you write remember to speak to the interests of the reader. So you have a great cause… why should they care? Appeal to them based on what benefits they personally receive from donating, either tangible benefits or the intangible sense of satisfaction they will have when they support a cause they believe in. An effective writing technique is to address the reader directly by using the word “you”.

You’ll want to proofread your letter to make sure you have not left out any important elements. Take a look at this letter template which describes all of the sections and important pieces of information that need to be included in a fundraising letter.

Make it easy to respond

Besides the letter itself, you need to consider and coordinate all the other pieces that are printed and mailed along with it. A typical direct mail fundraising package consists of:

an outer envelope
a letter
a response card
a return envelope

The response card and return envelope are important elements of your mailing. These two pieces further encourage them – and make it super easy – to mail in a donation. The response card takes out all doubt in the reader’s mind as to what to do next, including how to make out the check, what level of donation levels are suggested and whether they can specify a particular project. The envelope removes the hassle of figuring out where to send the gift.

Finally, if a reader wants to respond but for whatever reason cannot do so that day, it’s likely that they will throw away the letter and keep just the card and envelope. In this case it’s even more important to have a response card. It helps remind them why they wanted to donate in the first place. Just the envelope may not be enough, especially if they are not current supporters.

A Step by Step Guide to Writing Fundraising Letters – Your Direct Mail Fundraising Campaign from Start to Finish

I’ve collaborated with Sandy Rees, a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), to write a guidebook called 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail. Even if you have “writer’s block” or don’t feel creative at all, this new resource provides step by step instructions, ideas and phrases that will help unlock your inspiration.

Most of all, you will be able to communicate persuasively with current and potential donors and increase the number of financial gifts you get in return from your direct mail campaigns.

Find out more about this guidebook

Fundraising Donation Letter Template – 12 Items to Include in Donation Letters

Sandra Sims — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:34:31 +0000

Is there really such a thing as a one size fits all, donation request letter template? Not really. Every cause, organization and audience is different. The letter that your group sends to prospective donors should be tailored to your own circumstances and to the interest of the reader.

On the other hand, I also know the reality of being charged with the task of writing a donation letter. Where do you start? What should be included in the letter? It can be a tough assignment. While the largest nonprofits hire professional writers and consultants, I would guess that the majority of organizations must write these letters themselves, in addition to their other duties. A template of some sort will help you get started.

Sections that need to be included in every donation request letter

There are certain elements that should be included in every fundraising letter. Some of the sections listed below might seem obvious, but I have read quite a few letters that mistakenly leave out an important point.

Here are the 12 sections of a letter, from top of the page to the bottom:

1. Name of Organization & Contact Information – It should be perfectly clear what organization is sending the letter. You can print your letter on the organization’s letterhead or paper that was printed just for this particular letter appeal. Either way make sure that your organization’s name, its logo, address, phone number and website address are included.

2. Date – It is important to include the date of the mailing. If you are using bulk mail, be aware of US postal regulations that require the date on the letter be the same as the mailing date. If you are unsure of what day the letters will actually go to the post office, just include the month and year. This way as long as you mail during the month the letter will still be in compliance with US Postal requirements.

3. Address of Donor - Traditionally an “inside address” (the address where the letter will be delivered to) was standard on all business correspondence. This is not quite as strictly followed today. Many letters leave off this piece of information. However including the recipient’s address on the letter itself can be an advantage when it comes to mailing. By using envelopes with see through windows it can make the task of stuffing the envelopes faster and easier.

4. Salutation – Going through my continually growing stack of letters that I get from non-profits, I am surprised to see so many organizations still using “Dear Friend” instead of the recipient’s name. It is much more personal and appealing to the reader to get a letter address to them by name. Depending on the audience you may wish to use last names only or first names, i.e. Dear Mrs. Smith, or Dear Jane. Whether you are using a printing company, mail house or printing the letters yourself, a mail merge can be used to automatically insert the names.

5. Your Story - The components in 5-7 all reside in what is traditionally called the body of the letter. This is the core section where you strive to connect with the reader, show them why the cause matters and what benefits they gain by donating. In other words, what difference will their contribution make?

The first paragraph of the letter can be the most difficult to write. Avoid the temptation to start out talking about your organization or its mission statement. Instead write a short introductory paragraph using some of these attention getting openings for fundraising letters and/or go straight into telling a compelling story. (see below)

Organizations who have multiple project areas may be inclined to include information about everything they do in one letter. However, this can overwhelm the reader. Instead focus the letter on a particular project or theme. One of the most successful ways to get your message across is to describe a story of a specific person or situation that your charity has helped. Always remember to include stories that will engage the reader, not just show off accomplishments.

6. Ask for a donation – Sending a donation request letter is for nothing if you do not ASK for a financial gift. Encourage the reader to make a donation by making it clear what you are asking for and how to respond. Include a reply envelope to make it even easier for them to respond.

7. Say thanks – Show gratitude in advance of the reader making a donation. If they have given in the past acknowledge how their previous contributions have helped make a difference in the cause.

8. Closing – Traditional closings such as “Sincerely” or “Kind regards” are acceptable, but you may find other closings that would fit your situation well.

9. Signature – Each letter should be hand signed individually, or a scanned image of the signature inserted into the document before printing. Do not use a script font instead of a signature and do not leave the signature area blank.

10. Name – Beneath the signature spell out the full name of the person the letter is from.

11. Title – Don’t assume that your readers know who this sender is. Even if you are sending to previous donors, include their full title.

12. P.S. Statement - Reinforce the message with a PS statement. You may wish to state the date the donation needs to be in by or reference the story or project mentioned earlier in the letter.

An example of a letter that utilizes all of these 12 elements is a special appeal letter for Christo Rey High School in Sacramento. You can also view a larger version here.

While there are likely many needs at such a school, the letter focuses on one theme, the need for textbooks. The reader is drawn in to the story through the colorful description of the classroom environment and through the use of quotations from actual students. The reader may imagine in his or her mind what it would be like to try to learn without books.

The suggested donations are tied to something tangible, the number of books that can be purchased.

The letter closes appropriately by thanking the reader in advance for making a contribution. It ends with a postscript (PS) statement. If I were writing this letter I would have made the PS reference something talked about earlier in the letter. This way, if someone is just skimming and reads the PS they may go back tot he top to see what you are talking about. For example, “Your financial gift will help Rosa and students like her excell in the classroom by having their own textbooks.”

So what kind of impact does a letter like this have? Kimberley J. Satterwhite, the school’s Annual Fund Coordinator, reported that the letter raised $45,572.42! By sending out 3200 letters to a highly targeted list (this is a concept we cover in the book) they got a resulting 2.8% response rate and average gift size of $551.53.

By the way, this is just one of the letters that is included in the all new 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail.

Let Your Audience Speak for Themselves- Add Quotes to Your Letters & Newsletters

Sandra Sims — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:21:15 +0000

I recently read a great donation request letter from Cristo Rey High School. They are a Catholic, college prep school that provides a quality education for students from low income families. Some of these kids may otherwise not finish high school and have an altogether different life, if it were not for this opportunity.

Now I’d never heard of this school before reading this letter, but it certainly brought out an emotional response. Here’s the first half of that letter:

Cristo Rey High School students are energized to learn and ready to take advantage of their college-prep education. They have enthusiastic teachers; great classroom atmosphere, and plenty of school spirit. However, our students attend school deprived of one critical tool for their success: textbooks.

Each classroom has books for use while class is in session, but the students can’t take them home for additional study or to complete assignments. There just aren’t enough textbooks to go around. We want all Cristo Rey students to have the resources they need to maintain consistent academic performance. Will you help us meet this goal?

I was shocked at just the thought of a student not having their own textbooks. How could that be? It’s one of those reactions where you say, “That’s just not right!”

Then I read the quotes from real teenagers struggling to learn without their own books. My anger turned to sadness.

“If we had our own textbooks, we could finish our homework, avoid detention and study better for tests and finals.” Rosa

“Having personal textbooks would allow me to become stronger academically.” Nicholas

I don’t want Rosa to have to go to detention just because she was not physically able to finish her homework. How could she without a textbook?

Quotations from your audience – students in this case, or clients, volunteers or community members – can speak volumes. Notice how in this letter the quotes relate directly to the subject of the paragraph above? This is important to have a logical flow and reason for the quote. It should not just be random.

No doubt, quotes can be overdone. More than one or two can cancel out the impact you were trying to have. If someone gives you a really long quote, just use the one or two sentences that are the heart of it.

The last half of the Cristo Rey High School letter then asked for donations specifically for textbooks. The entire theme of the letter tied together, with the quotes as illustration. Now I’m ready to donate.

Next time you are writing a fundraising letter, newsletter or brochure, consider how quotations can enhance your message.

P.S. I used this letter as an example when describing 12 Items to Include in Donation Letters. It is also included in the guidebook the 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail.

Example Fundraising Letter – Jeans Day Campaign

Sandra Sims — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 22:50:45 +0000

One of the example fundraising letters I happened to come across on the internet is from the Jeans for Genes campaign. It’s an organization that raises money for children with genetic disorders. They provide a lot of tools and templates for people who participate in the campaign including an example letter for parents.

This is also good example of what I try to teach letter writers — you can use other organization’s letters for inspiration and wording, but not usually an exact template.

Just like if you were writing a resume for a job, you’d get a book of example resumes. You’d copy the style, wording, layout from a variety of samples, picking and choosing what elements you like. But you wouldn’t copy Joe Smith’s qualifications.

For example, in the Jeans example appeal letter the first sentence reads…

As a friend of/member of a family with a child affected by a serious genetic disorder, I would like to bring to your attention the national Jeans for Genes Appeal.

It’s easy to take that as an example and use it for other purposes and causes…

As a mother of a child affected by a cancer, I would like to bring to your attention the upcoming cancer research fund drive…

Or how about this one from the third paragraph of the same letter:

In the UK, one baby in every 33 is born with a genetic disorder or other birth defect. This means that…

This can easily be updated to fit your own situation, such as:

In the United States every day [number] of people are diagnosed with [condition]. This means that…

See what I mean? Inspiration and highlighting great writing strategies are the real value of example fundraising letters. And another reason why in my book, the 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail, I also included 321 sample words and phrases. Because many times you can take example words, phrases and even content ideas and apply them to many different organizations and causes.

Using wording that’s clear and compelling helps make the letter more interesting. It can also make the difference between a ho-hum letter that doesn’t get results and one that inspires your readers to donate.

Thank You Letter Template for Charitable Donations

Sandra Sims — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:14:39 +0000

Looking for a sample thank you letter to send your supporters for their donations? The following is a very general thank you letter template that you can use as a starting place for your thank you letters. This particular thank you letter template is for financial contributions.

Simply copy and paste the following text into your word processing program to get started. Then fill in the details that are specific to your organization and edit it to give it a personal touch.

Print out the thank you letters on your organization’s letterhead. The letterhead normally includes the organization’s name, address and telephone number. Sending the thank you letter on letterhead is important for tax receipt purposes and makes your organization look professional and trustworthy.

Each letter should be hand signed after printing.

Thank You Letter for Donation Template:

[Date]

[Address of Donor]

Dear [name]:

On behalf of [name of organization] I would like to thank you for your generous gift of [amount donated]. Your commitment to helping [cause] in our community is sincerely appreciated.

Each year [name of organization] continues to advance its mission of [mission]. Through our programs [name of programs] we have seen many lives changed for the better.

In particular the [program] has enjoyed great success in the past year. [details about growth or goals achieved].

The goal of the [name of organization] is to continue to make a difference in the [cause]. With the help of donations from supporters such as you we will continue to see improvements in [cause].

Thanks again for your generous support of our efforts to [what your NPO does].

Best wishes,

[Signature]

[Name of Executive Director/President/Other NPO Leader]

There are several sample thank you letters included in the 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail.

Team in Training Fundraising Letters

Sandra Sims — Fri, 27 May 2005 03:45:37 +0000

Here are the two letters that I have written to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through Team in Training. As you will see there are some elements that are similar in each.

First, with TNT letters I think it’s very important to be personal. Most, if not all, of the people you’ll send your letter to are people you know, including friends and family. Even though they know it’s a form letter of sorts, they should feel you wrote it just for them.

Including information about WHY you are raising money is also important. In fact, studies prove that by using the word “because” will improve the response rate! You can say something like, “please send a donation today because… ” and then include info about your interest in the cause, your honored heroes, and the need to fund cures and treaments for leukemia.

As I stated in the Guide to Writing a Fundraising Letter, it’s important to give a requested response date. This serves two purposes, one it increases the sense of urgency for the reader, making them more likely to send a donation. And second, it will help you keep track of your fundraising so that you can reach your goals.

Team in Training Letter, 2001

Dear Friends & Family,

Without a doubt, I am getting ready for the biggest challenge of my life. On June 24, 2001, I will be racewalking a marathon in Anchorage, Alaska! That’s 26.2 miles, and yes all at once. Luckily, I am not doing this on my own. I have joined the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training program. Through this program, I have great coaches, mentors and teammates whose support will help me cross the finish line.

More importantly even than my physical commitment to the program is my commitment to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in its effort to battle Leukemia and related cancers. These diseases strike some 107,000 Americans each year and acute leukemia is the number one cause of death of children under the age of 15.

One of the greatest contributions of the Society is toward research. Significant progress has been made in the treatment of this disease, and researchers are now optimistic that they will find a cure within 6 years!

I am not only walking this race for the Society, but also in honor of two young Leukemia patients in particular. In December of last year Adam received a bone marrow transplant, and is still undergoing treatment. Tony is an energetic little boy. He is currently in remission. Finding a cure for this disease will mean a long, healthy life for these boys.

Research is the key to finding a cure, and funding for this research is essential. I have set a personal goal to raise $4000 toward this effort.

As I walk the 26.2 mile marathon, you will be with me in spirit, and your sponsorship will inspire me to walk stronger and faster to the finish line. A donation of one dollar per mile is suggested, but whatever you can do to contribute matters…it all adds up! With over 75% of your donation going directly to research, you truly can make a difference.

If possible, please send your donation along with the enclosed pledge form by March 19th so I can monitor my fundraising efforts. However, I will continue to accept donations until the day of the race.

Thank you so much for your support and generosity!

p.s. visit my website for more info and the latest news on my progress! [web address was included here]

Team in Training Letter, May 2004

Spring Training has Begun!

No, not baseball. Marathon Spring Training!

Yes I am at it again! 3 years ago I walked a marathon in Anchorage, Alaska in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This time I will be a little closer to home.

I am walking a half-marathon in Dallas on May 16th, 2004. That’s 13.1 miles, and yes all at once. Luckily, I am not doing this on my own. I am training with other runners and walkers who are also getting ready for a race.

More importantly even than my physical commitment to the program is my commitment to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in its effort to battle Leukemia and related cancers. These diseases strike over 107,000 Americans each year and acute leukemia is the number one cause of death of children under the age of 15.

One of the greatest contributions of the Society is toward research. Great progress has been made in the treatment of this disease, and continued funding for this research is essential. I have set a personal goal to raise $1500 toward this effort.

I am walking this race in honor of two Wichita Falls residents. And I am happy to say both of our honored heros are in remission! In fact Daniel, who is 29, will be running a marathon with us! Desi, a sweet 7 year old boy, is also an honored hero and has been in remission from Acute Leukemia for 5 years! His mom is also joining us on this journey this season.

As I walk the course, you will be with me in spirit, and your sponsorship will inspire me to walk stronger and faster to the finish line. A donation of one dollar per mile is suggested, but whatever you can do to contribute matters…it all adds up! With over 75% of your donation going directly to research and patient services, you truly can make a difference.