First Readers Workshop Replay

Start making your fundraising messages stronger

Thank you for being one of the first readers of Stories That Raise Money.

In this workshop, Chris Davenport walks through several of the book’s core ideas and shows you how to begin using them in your own fundraising.

You do not need to finish the entire book before watching. Bring a recent appeal, fundraising email, gala script, donor report, or other message. You can use the workshop to see what may be missing and what you should fix first.

WATCH THE WORKSHOP REPLAY BELOW

DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION SLIDES - CLICK HERE

In this workshop, you’ll learn:

Why caring has to come before the ask

A donor can understand your work without feeling moved to help. You’ll see why the strongest fundraising messages help donors care before asking them to give.

The difference between a story and a scene

Most fundraisers think about telling a complete story. But the part donors remember is often one small scene: a line of dialogue, a physical detail, or a human moment that makes the story feel real.

How to avoid “popcorn paragraphs”

Some parts of a message keep the donor reading. Other parts make them lose interest and mentally go looking for popcorn.

You’ll learn how to spot the difference.

How to use Story. Offer. Ask.

Every strong fundraising message needs three things:

Story: Does this make the donor care?

Offer: Is it clear what the donor’s gift will do?

Ask: Is it clear what you want the donor to do next?

Chris will show you how to use these three questions as a simple diagnostic for almost any fundraising message.

Three ways to find a scene

You’ll learn how to start with:

• A statistic
• A sentence written from your desk
• A made-up “stand-in” story that helps your team recognize the real story when they see it

Simple ways to make a flat story stronger

The workshop also covers techniques such as:

• Starting later in the story
• Finding the detail that sticks
• Using dialogue
• Creating cause and effect with “but” and “therefore”

Bring a fundraising message with you

The workshop ends with a simple Story. Offer. Ask. review.

Pull up a fundraising message you have already written and ask:

• Can the donor picture who or what this is about?
• Can the donor picture what their gift will do?
• Is the ask clear and direct?

Your answers will help you decide which part of the book to read next and where your message needs the most work.

Need help applying what you find?

Sometimes it is easy to see that a message has a problem. It can be harder to know how to fix it.

Chris and Josh help nonprofit professionals strengthen their stories, offers, asks, appeals, campaigns, and individual giving programs.

If you would like to talk about what you are working on, contact us here: