A (MidLevel) Appeal You can Steal

If you're not sure what I mean by mid-level donor -- it's that group of donors who are giving around $500-$1,000 (or maybe as much as $5,000 or even $10,000) every year.

They're the group that sort of falls in between your annual fund donors and your major donors.

They can sometimes get forgotten in the mix because they're not giving quite enough to have a dedicated relationship with someone in your nonprofit, but also giving more than the typical annual fund donor might be giving.

I could write a whole post on mid-level donors, but that's not the purpose of this particular post.

I wanted to share an appeal with you -- one that I presented at the For the Paws Summit on March 4,2026, with John Lepp, Creative Director at Agents of Good. 

It's a great appeal and one I think you might be able to steal some ideas from for your own use. 

The image below is the large, 9 x 12 white outer envelope this appeal was mailed in. You can't help but notice the nine bright and beautiful stamps in the top right corner, along with a stamp indicating there's a 'project proposal' inside. 

Would you open this if it came to your mailbox?

Next comes the letter. It's simple, emotional, to the point.

You can see right away why you're receiving this -- and what you're being asked to do.

There are too many animals in shelter and not enough space. Yes - a new shelter has been funded and is in process of being built -- but that won't help animals right now, will it?

The ask is clear: $275 will help care for an animal in shelter right now. 

NOTE: The ask was tailored to the donor's capacity.

If the donor was capable of giving $500, they got an ask of $550 to help save two animals. If they gave $750 or more, the ask was bumped up again and they'd help three animals.

Also I'd love you to take notice of the feeling language in the underlined text: "you're a compassionate friend to animals" "it's because of your caring heart". 

This phrasing speaks to the donor's personal motivations for giving.

The second page of the letter gets into some more details about the how and the what the donor's gift will do -- a teaser into the full proposal that is also included in the envelope.

This is something I recommend you do for newsletter packs as well: include a brief listing of the content of the newsletter for people who may not want to take the time to read it. 

Also note the friendly photo of the ED and her dog next to the very readable signature, and the fact the donor can pick up the phone and call her if they want. This builds an immediate personal connection with the donor. 

Now let's look a the personalized proposal document:

The photo draws your attention and pulls on the emotional heart strings. The cover is highly personalized and brings in the same tailored ask featured in the letter copy. 

The inside of the proposal dives deeper into the Problem and then provides two Solutions the donor can support with their gift. 

I gathered this content through two personal conversations -- one with Becky, the ED, and one with the Shelter Manager. Both conversations helped me to really understand exactly how the donor's gift would help -- so I could explain it more clearly to the donor.

These solutions are in-depth, multi-faceted, and also show the donor how helping humans can also help the animals.

The back of the proposal shares one more solution (and a nod to the cat-lovers in the room!) -- and then shares an emotional story to illustrate the outcome of the donor's gift.

The ask is re-iterated in big bold text. Becky's contact info is provided again at the bottom.

This gives the donor permission to reach out directly, or they can send back the reply form, which was also included in the pack -- using a personal return envelope with another big beautiful stamp already applied!

And that, my friends, is the full pack!

It did really well for our client - pulling in an average gift of $719 and a 9.5% response rate. Plus, the client noticed a big uptick in response and income to their Holiday appeal (this pack was mailed in the Fall).

There was obviously a LOT more that John and I had to say about in our presentation. 

If you'd like a copy of our slide deck, shoot me an email and I can share it with you!

Otherwise, I hope you've found something you can 'steal' from this pack for your own use.

And, if you'd like to talk about writing, strategy or coaching support for an upcoming appeal, newsletter, case for support, gratitude report or other donor communication -- please do get in touch! Always happy to chat.