THE CONGREGATIONAL “ASK” LETTER
Best Practices
One of the most vital parts of a successful Annual Giving Campaign is an effective “ask” letter, when the stewardship team of the parish reaches out to the congregation to invite support of the church’s mission and ministries. As you begin to think about what content to include in your letter, we encourage you to consider these best practices:
- Keep it positive— highlight the exciting things happening in your church, how the church is serving others and helping to create the Kingdom of God; share a vision of joy
- Keep it short— one page, bullet points when useful, lots of white space
- Personalize it— Dear Joseph and Mary works better than the generic Dear Friends
Above all, focus your story on how the money that is given will be invested wisely in ministries to people. Money follows mission.
Letter Templates
Using this year’s theme, we created downloadable letter templates aimed at particular categories of potential pledgers, from the newcomer to the consistent giver, that we invite you to modify and use as you wish. We’ve also included a fully fleshed out example letter for your study.
It’s worth thinking about how best to communicate with the various generations represented in your parish. While these templates assume an Annual Giving Campaign with a traditional postal mailing of the ask letter, you may have parishioners who will respond better to email or text. Here is a chart outlining generational characteristics which you may find helpful.
Generation |
Characteristics |
Message |
Strategy |
The Greatest Generation (Born before 1930) |
|
||
Subset of The Greatest Generation (Born between 1930-1945) |
|
Legacy (You build this!) |
You are converted – visit from the authority figure. |
The Baby Boomer Generation (Born between 1946-1964) |
|
Prioritization of Charitable Giving. |
Narrative budget, lose language of obligation, Impactful storytelling. Have actual recipients of giving speak, appeal to their idealism “Could your parish be where they spend their third age?” |
Generation X (Born between 1965-1978) |
|
We are a people/ Put individuals in front of ministries. |
Year round thinking on giving. Don’t just focus on the fall, allow them to work independently for your agency on their own terms. |
The Millennial Generation (Born between 1980-2000) |
|
Your gift is important and will impact lives.
Now, how can we |
Mentor relationship initiatives, immediate gratification of giving, online community presence, and online stories of impact. |