Maybe you’ve written fundraising letters in the past and weren’t happy with the results. Or, maybe you’re just getting started on your very first fundraising letter. Whatever your experience, this course will provide you with the basic structure for a good fundraising letter, writing tips, ideas for packaging your letter, and tools for tracking the results. (This course will contain ideas for both email and paper fundraising letters, and some discussion of the differences between those two.)

We highly recommend taking the Fundraising: Demystified course prior to taking this course, or that you have some general sense of the fundraising scene before you actually begin the fundraising process.

This course will take approximately 1-2 hours of your time, but you are free to move at your own pace – start and stop as you please!

Thanks for making art in the world, and I hope these tips help fuel your next Big Idea!

Course Instructor: Theron Shaw has worked in non-profit administration and fundraising since 1995, with wide-ranging experience in the fields of arts, education, environment and social services. His background includes experience with grantwriting, direct mail campaigns, capital campaigns, nonprofit management, and major donor campaigns. As a fundraiser, Theron’s consulting work focuses on creating inspiring, fun, and effective fundraising campaigns that achieve clients’ financial goals and strengthen their organizations. In addition to his consulting practice, Theron serves as Director of Development for InterPlay, an Oakland-based community arts organization that promotes community-building, peace-making, and social change through InterPlay’s techniques of improvised storytelling, movement, and dance. He has designed and led a three-year, $1 million capacity-building campaign, the largest fundraising effort in InterPlay’s twenty-year history. He has recently relocated his consulting practice and residence to Seattle, WA. Theron has a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from the Hubert Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. Theron is also an avid sailor, outdoorsman, musician, and performer. His favorite instrument so far is the huaca, a three-chambered ceramic ocarina designed by Sharon Rowell. He lives with his wife Elizabeth in Seattle, WA.