Essentials for A Nonprofit Sponsor Letter That Gets Results

You just had a wonderful impromptu meeting with the congressman at the gas pump and you were able to engage him about your nonprofit. He's interested and asks you to send him some more information. You can hardly contain your excitement because you need more sponsors for an upcoming event and this is the perfect opportunity to gain some support from your local politicians. 

Crafting your sponsor letter does not have to be stressful if you apply these essential steps for writing a sponsor letter that will get results. 

Here are essential elements to help you write a nonprofit sponsor letter to get results:

• A salutation relative to your relationship with the potential sponsor. If you know them personally, you can refer to them as friend, if not, their professional is appropriate as well. 

• The details of who, what, when, where and why of what you are contacting the potential sponsor about. You need to be as brief but detailed as possible here because you don't want to risk losing their interest because the letter is too long. The entire letter should not exceed a page, written on your organizations' letterhead with logo included. Let them know if this is an annual event or your first time hosting it. Sponsors want as many details as they can so they can guage how successful it may be (whether they support it or not). 

• In your next paragraph, you need a concise explanation of your nonprofit and how their specific donation will impact the overall goal and organization. This is your opportunity to go beyond the event for which you are soliciting funds and delve into the deeper mission of your charity. You should also try and illustrate a direct connection between their sponsorship and a positive outcome for your event. They also want to know if you are soliciting others for donations (indirectly). You don't need to write this in the letter per se, but a statement about how much you are raising in total in comparison to how much you are asking from them will give them a good idea. 

An example of this would be: 

"Your $500 donation will go directly into our homeless fund which helps us aid young women and children who find themselves without a home." In exchange for your generous donation, you will be announced at intermission as one of our platinum sponsors, and receive a half page in our program."

• It is essential to be as direct as possible when requesting a donation.  Do not be afraid to be specific about exactly what you need from them, and encourage them to give a specific amount by expressly saying so in the letter. You can give them a place at the end of the letter to fill in a different amount, or check off a greater or smaller donation. 

• A sincere and passionate tone throughout the letter can make all the difference in the world for sponsors. It is all in how the sponsor letter is written that determines if you successfully conveyed your passion and love for the cause. If your secretary is a great writer but not as passionate as someone else on the team, you might want to delegate this task to them. You can also contact us for help as well. 

• As you begin to finalize the letter, make sure you express how grateful your organization would be if they decide to donate. You do not need to make them feel guilty for not donating, but they need to know how important their role is in the matter. A gracious and thankful statement can be the difference between your letter being noticed vs joining the pile of other donation requests.

Before you close out your sponsor letter, make sure you have included all of your contact information, tax identification (if the donation is tax-deductible), and more than one option of how to donate. You should plan to follow up by driving to pick up donations if the sponsor is local, or a phone call for those too far. Following up can be a huge difference maker as well when it comes to actually getting donations vs. pledges.