You should be hearing from them any day now.
Email subject line: “We need your support at the end of our fiscal year.”
Let’s break this email subject line down.
Need
Support
End of the fiscal year
Donate
First, Your longtime supporters and fans — those who have been with you for a while — will most likely send you something in your time of need.
For almost everyone else, like fans who’ve been to a couple of your performances, you will need something additional to get a check.
People who have heard of you, and maybe they’ve seen you online, or over social media, they also need something additional to get a check.
But before we talk about what that “something additional” is, let’s talk about the words you use in your messages to your contributors and future contributors.
Need: There is some debate over this word. Some believe it implies desperation…neediness, a “cry for help.” For others, the word and message is considered being direct.
Either way, there is no wrong answer. It’s a matter of your intuition, what’s worked in the past, and your philosophy.
Support: What is “support”?
It’s money.
“Money” is direct, specific, and states clearly what you are asking for. Ask for the money that ensures you can continue doing the important work you do. (See below.)
End of the fiscal year: Besides your longtime supporters and fans, who cares?
That’s harsh I know, but the work you do must answer the question, “why should they care.”
Donate This one is subtle. It’s a small thing, perhaps, but sometimes it’s the small things that quietly make a loud difference.
You donate to your favorite charity, your religious institution, nonprofit, or political candidate or party.
You contribute to a chamber music ensemble, orchestra, concert series so they can continue to be the entity you wish them to be, and to help them grow. It’s exciting to contribute because you get to go along for the ride.
The creative work you are doing is not a charity.
“When I contribute, I become a “part-owner.” I listen much more actively, much more often, and with even greater intention to experience the music’s full capabilities” I’m invested.”
(Kent U. - a long-time listener to his public radio station in Texas. He regularly sends them money.)
The arts are not a charity. They are a necessity. They are essential to the well-being of your community. That’s why the work you’re doing is important, and people will miss it if you don’t create it.
Some possible subject lines or opening lines:
Turn prisons into concert halls. Music for Detroit’s prisons facilities.
“New Voices” — Commissions and opportunities for talented composers under 30.
Venezuelan composers whose music have been hiding in plain sight.
Why do you need my support for the end of the fiscal year? For your answer, “keep it real.”
“The money you contribute goes directly towards our ‘Instrument Petting Zoo’ program for K - 6 Schools in Rochester.”
*********