Help your local charity and profit

If you can write a letter that persuades readers to donate money or volunteer efforts, you should know that your local charity may just be able to put your writing talent to work --- and perhaps pay you as well.

When readers receive such letters, they not only want the facts, but what's in it for them if they give money. What do these readers get in return? A drawing for a car, for example? A momento of some kind? A free subscription to a publication that they love? That item should be something tangible, some kind of evidence that the person has donated money and has made a difference.

That letter should establish an urgency as well. Why give today rather than tomorrow or next month or next year? What will happen if no donations are forthcoming and how will that situation eventually affect the letter's readers?

Getting the words down shouldn't be too difficult if you put yourself in your reader's place and pretend that the letter is addressed to you. In fact, you could write your name after the word "Dear" and convince yourself in writing why you should donate money to such a worthy cause. Since this is a rough draft, the important thing is to get the words down and allowing some time for the draft to cool off. The next time you read that draft, pretend that someone else wrote that letter. Does that letter motivate you to give money to the charity? If not, why not? What sentences and paragraphs ring a hollow note? How should they be revised?

If this sounds like a lot of work, well, it is, especially if you have never done something like this before. Writing such letters is a skill that could help you to earn bigger bucks. It's shorter than an article and way shorter than a book project. Plus, it may yield great results sooner rather than later. So, get ready, set.....and write!