Tiny Essentials of Writing for Fundraising published
Howard Lake | 11 December 2003 | News
George Smith’s latest book reminds us why the power and potential of fine words should still matter to fundraisers.
George Smith is not happy with the state of writing by fundraisers. “We live in a world where words are increasingly without meaning”, he arges. “Where clichés rule. Where the power of words to explain, to communicate and to convince is currently in abeyance.” Fundraising appeals are too often dull rather than delightful, wearisome rather than welcome, and they are seldom inspriational.
So George has decided to try to put this right. His new book, “The Tiny Essentials of Writing for Fundraising”, is a ‘how to’ book designed to help fundraisers to communicate much more effectively. According to publishers White Lion Press it shows fundraisers how to describe what they do in terms “that will have prospective donors simply begging for more.”
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George writes: “I suggest your heart would soar if – once in a while – you received a letter written in decent English which said unexpected things in elegant ways, which moved you and stirred your emotions, which angered you or made you proud, a letter which you wanted to read from beginning to end, a letter apparently written by one individual to another individual. For you never see these letters any more…”
The Tiny Essentials of Writing for Fundraising tells you what you need to know to write more clearly, more convincingly and more accessibly. The book is indeed physically tiny so there is just no room for anything other than the essence of what really matters in creative writing for fundraising.
George certainly has long experience in writing, fundraising and marketing. He wrote his first copy for an Oxfam advert in 1962, was chief executive of Smith Bundy direct marketing agency for 20 years, and became Chairman of Britain’s Institute of Direct Marketing in 1997. He is also the author of “Asking Properly: the art of creative fundraising”, published in 1996 by The White Lion Press.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.