Appeal of Fall

The air is crisp, the leaves are turning, and Walgreens has been fully stocked with Halloween candy for the last 4 months. All this can only mean one thing to a fundraiser—fall appeal time!

It is a time of great work and great reward. As you write the appeal letter, prep your mailing lists, gather your army of volunteers and a big box of labels, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of glue sticks and stamps. Suddenly you’re dreaming about mail merges and local mailbox pickup times. You don’t see the top of your desk for at least a week, and people learn not to talk to you about anything non-appeal related. Finally, the last of the letters go out the door.

And then … you wait.

Soon you find yourself attacking the mailman when you see him (even on the street before he’s made it to your door) and keeping a letter opener handy at all times. Not to mention obsessively checking your email for new online gift notifications. Then those little envelopes start coming back. And they don’t just come back with gifts—but with wonderful notes, warm wishes and congratulations for recent successes!

As a fundraiser, I should be used to the idea of people donating their hard-earned money to support what your company does. But I’m not. To me, taking the time and personal resources to support what you believe in is not an ordinary thing, but rather an extraordinary thing. I’m reminded of this—and inspired by it—with every single gift I open. And on behalf of everyone at TimeLine, I would like to thank all of our extraordinary supporters. I hope you know that we truly could not do it without you.

Inspired to learn more about making a gift to TimeLine? Yay! Visit our Web site …