We’ve talked at great length about the principles of good fundraising, from timing your appeal right to telling great fundraising stories. This advice will have a significant impact on your fundraising.

Unfortunately, we often overlook one sentence in your appeal or on your landing page: your call-to-action.

In a mail appeal, it’s on the reply device. In digital, it’s the call-to-action above the give matrix. This simple sentence tells a story.

You can either tell a story of the donor or the nonprofit taking action.

The best call-to-action is donor oriented:

Yes, I will join Compassionate Heart Ministries to end hunger in Minneapolis with my generous gift.

Here’s how you might write that from the perspective of the nonprofit:

Donate today so Compassionate Heart Ministries can provide food and emergency support to end hunger in Minneapolis.

Both are good calls-to-action, but the first tells a story the donor can see in their mind about what will happen when they give to end hunger in Minneapolis.

When a donor can see themselves as a part of the solution, they’re more likely to give.