Fundraisers Beware: Wrong Words Can Dink Appeals

http://news.aol.com/article/college-uses-blah-blah-in-money-pitch/219893
1
College’s ‘Blah’ Money Pitch Falls Flat
FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (Oct. 21) - An attempt
to reach younger donors with a
breezily written letter that uses the word
“blah” 137 times has some Framingham
State College alumni questioning the
school’s professionalism, judgment and ...
blah, blah, blah.
The Sept. 5 letter, signed by the president of
the school’s alumni association, was sent to
about 6,000 recent graduates who hadn’t
donated to the school. It used standard
fundraising pitches, interspersed with sentences
of nothing but “blah.”
“With the recent economic downturn and
loan crisis, it has become even more important
for Framingham State College to receive
your support. Blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah,” one part of the letter
read.
Christopher Hendry, the school’s vice president
of college advancement, told the
MetroWest Daily News of Framingham he
approved the letter, which he said was written
in a marketing style expected to appeal
to younger donors.
Alumnus Ken Shifman, a 2003 graduate,
said the letter “insults the intelligence” of
alumni.
“It just doesn’t seem like something from a
legitimate university,” Shifman said.
After several complaints, Hendry sent a letter
of apology a month later in which he
called the first letter a “misguided and embarrassing
attempt to connect with alumni
in a different way.”
However, Hendry notes that after the
“blah” letter was sent, the school collected
about $2,000 from nearly 40 alumni who
had never previously given money.