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How To Write A Fundraising Email That Gets Donations
A good fundraising email can be one of the simplest ways to generate more donations for your charity challenge. While social media is useful for spreading the word, an email lets you speak directly to friends, family, colleagues and other potential supporters without relying on them seeing a post in a busy social media feed.
Whether you are running a marathon, taking part in a sponsored walk or completing another challenge, knowing how to ask for donations by email can make a real difference. You can explain why the cause matters to you, share your progress and give someone a simple way to support your fundraising when the time is right.
The important thing is not to treat email as a single request for money. Used at different stages of your fundraising journey, it can help you announce your challenge, share the story behind it, celebrate progress and eventually show supporters what their donations helped you achieve.
Why Use Email For Charity Fundraising?
Email gives you something that can be difficult to achieve through social media: a direct conversation with a potential supporter. Your message arrives in someone's inbox rather than competing with hundreds of posts, videos and advertisements in a social media feed.
It also gives you more space to explain your story. You can tell people what you are doing, why you have chosen your charity, what you hope to raise and why their support would mean something to you. Most importantly, you can include a direct link to your fundraising page so donating only takes a few clicks.
Email does not need to replace social media, WhatsApp or conversations with people you know. It works best as another part of your fundraising activity, particularly when you use it to reach people who might otherwise miss your updates.
How To Write A Fundraising Email
The best fundraising emails sound as though they have been written by a person rather than copied from a fundraising campaign. You do not need clever marketing language or a lengthy explanation of everything your charity does.
Start by telling the recipient what you are doing. Explain the challenge, introduce the charity and tell them why you have decided to support it. If there is a personal connection behind your fundraising, explain it in your own words rather than trying to make the story sound more dramatic.
Then tell people what you are hoping to raise and provide a clear link to your fundraising page. Keep the email easy to read and make the donation link obvious rather than hiding it at the end of a long message.
A Simple Fundraising Email Plan
You do not need to email supporters every week. A simple sequence could begin with announcing your challenge, followed later by a meaningful training update and then a fundraising milestone when you have genuine progress to share.
As race day approaches, send a countdown email before following up after the event with your result, photographs, fundraising total and a proper thank you. This gives your campaign a beginning, middle and end without overwhelming the people you are contacting.
Your social media posts, WhatsApp messages and face-to-face conversations can continue between those emails. Used together, these different channels give supporters several ways to discover and follow your fundraising journey.
How To Ask For Donations By Email
Asking someone for money can feel uncomfortable, particularly if you have never fundraised before. You do not need to apologise for asking, but equally you should not make someone feel under pressure to donate.
A straightforward approach is usually best. Something as simple as "If you would like to support me, you can donate through my fundraising page here" makes the request clear while allowing the recipient to decide whether they want to contribute.
Give people a reason for the request too. Instead of simply saying that you want to raise £1,000, explain why you are supporting the charity and, where possible, what donations can help it achieve. Your fundraising target provides the number, but your story gives people the reason to care.
What To Include In A Fundraising Email
A good fundraising email should quickly answer the questions someone is likely to have. What are you doing? Which charity are you supporting? Why have you chosen it? What are you hoping to raise? How can they donate?
You do not need to answer each question separately. A short, personal message can cover everything naturally, particularly if the recipient already knows you.
Including a photograph can make your email feel more personal too. It could be a training photo, an image connected to your reason for fundraising or something from the event itself as race day gets closer.
Fundraising Email Subject Lines
Before someone reads your fundraising email, you need them to open it. Your subject line should make it clear that the message comes from you and give them an idea of what the email is about.
Subject lines such as "I'm running the London Marathon for [Charity]", "Can you help me reach my fundraising target?" or "I'm taking on 26.2 miles for [Charity]" are simple and clear. Later in the campaign, "One week to go!" or "I'm nearly at my fundraising target" can create a natural reason to open an update.
Avoid making the subject line sound like an advertisement. You are usually contacting people who know you, so a message that sounds like you is more likely to feel genuine.
Who Should You Email About Your Fundraising?
Friends and family are an obvious starting point, but think beyond the people you see regularly. Former colleagues, running club members, neighbours, customers, suppliers and people you know through clubs or community groups may all be interested in your challenge.
Look through your contacts rather than relying on memory alone. Fundraising often reveals how many people we have accumulated in our personal and professional networks over the years.
That does not mean sending a fundraising email to everyone whose address you possess. There should be a genuine connection, and you should be particularly careful with professional contacts and any email addresses obtained through work or business.
Personalise Your Fundraising Emails
The reason a close friend might support you could be very different from the reason a colleague becomes interested. Dividing your contacts into a few groups allows you to adjust the message without writing a completely different email for every person.
Friends and family might already know the personal story behind your challenge, while colleagues may need more context. Running club friends might be particularly interested in the challenge itself, whereas someone with a connection to the charity may respond more strongly to the cause.
Even changing the opening paragraph can make an email feel considerably more personal. If someone believes you have written to them rather than simply added their address to a huge list, you have a much better starting point for the conversation.
Fundraising Email Template For Friends And Family
An email to friends and family can be personal because these are the people most likely to understand what the challenge means to you. Give them enough information to understand what you are doing without turning the message into a formal charity appeal.
"Hi [Name],
I've decided to take on [event/challenge] to raise money for [charity].
I've chosen to support them because [brief personal reason]. I'm hoping to raise [target], and the training is already well underway.
If you'd like to support me, you can find my fundraising page here: [link].
Any donation would be hugely appreciated, but I'd also be really grateful if you could share my page with anyone who might be interested in supporting the challenge.
Thank you for being part of it."
Use this fundraising email template as a starting point rather than something that has to be copied word for word. Adding your own reason, experiences and personality will almost always make the message stronger.
Fundraising Email Template For Work Colleagues
Your workplace can introduce your fundraising to a completely different group of potential supporters. Keep the message friendly and remember that colleagues should never feel obligated to donate.
"Hi everyone,
I wanted to let you know that I'm taking part in [event] and raising money for [charity].
I'll be taking on [brief description of challenge], and I'm aiming to raise [target]. The charity is particularly important to me because [short explanation].
If you'd like to support my fundraising, my page is here: [link].
There's absolutely no pressure to donate, but any support or sharing of the page would be greatly appreciated. I'll keep you posted on how the training goes!"
Before sending a fundraising message widely at work, check whether your employer has any rules about company-wide emails. It is also worth finding out whether your employer offers matched giving, as this could increase the value of the money you raise.
Tell Stories, Not Just Ask For Money
Your first email might introduce the challenge, but subsequent emails give you the opportunity to tell the story of what happens next. Training provides plenty of material without every message becoming another request for money.
You might have completed your longest run, struggled through a difficult week, reached an important fundraising milestone or discovered that preparing for your challenge is much harder than expected. Sharing those moments demonstrates the commitment behind your fundraising and gives supporters a reason to continue following your progress.
Humour can work particularly well if it suits your personality. A disastrous training run, terrible weather or an unflattering finish-line photograph can sometimes tell a much more engaging story than another polished fundraising appeal.
Use Your Email Signature For Fundraising
Your email signature can quietly promote your fundraising without you having to ask for a donation every time you send an email. Add a short sentence explaining your challenge alongside a link to your fundraising page.
For example, you could use: "I'm running [event] for [charity]. Find out why and support my fundraising here." Keep it short enough that it does not dominate every email you send.
Every normal email then creates another opportunity for someone to discover your challenge. This can be particularly useful at work, although you should check that your employer is happy for fundraising links to be included in company email signatures.
Send Fundraising Update Emails
Do not assume that everyone who wants to support you will donate after your first email. Someone may read it while they are busy, intend to donate later and simply forget.
A genuine update gives you a reason to contact people again without repeating the same request. Reaching 50% of your fundraising target, completing your longest training session or having one month to go until the event are all natural opportunities.
Mention your fundraising page again at the end of the update. This gives people another opportunity to donate while ensuring the email still contains something new for those who have already supported you.
How Often Should You Send Fundraising Emails?
There is no perfect number because every fundraising campaign is different. The important thing is that each email has a reason to exist rather than simply repeating the same request for a donation.
For a marathon campaign lasting several months, you might send an announcement when you start fundraising, a couple of meaningful training or fundraising updates, a race-week message and a thank-you email afterwards. If something particularly interesting happens along the way, you have another genuine reason to get in touch.
Think about the recipient rather than your fundraising target. You want people to enjoy following the challenge rather than feel as though every message they receive from you contains another request for money.
Send A Race Week Fundraising Email
The final week before your event is one of the strongest opportunities to contact potential supporters. Months of training have led to this point, and there is now a clear deadline attached to your challenge.
Tell people how you are feeling, how the training has gone and how close you are to your fundraising target. If you are £150 short of £1,000, saying so gives supporters something tangible they can help you achieve.
You can also explain how people can follow your progress on race day if tracking is available. That helps turn people who have donated into supporters who are actively following your challenge.
Ask For More Than Donations
Not everyone receiving your email will be able or want to donate, but that does not mean they cannot help. Someone sharing your fundraising page could introduce your campaign to a person you would never otherwise have reached.
Ask people to forward your email, share your fundraising page or tell someone else about the challenge. This can be particularly effective when your fundraising has a strong personal connection to the cause because your story may resonate with people outside your immediate network.
A supporter who cannot donate may ultimately introduce you to several people who can. Giving people different ways to help makes your fundraising more inclusive and can extend its reach considerably.
Send A Thank You Email After The Event
Your final email should complete the story. Tell supporters what happened, share your finishing time if that matters to you and include some photographs from the day.
Tell everyone how much you raised and, where possible, explain what their support could help the charity achieve. This shifts the focus from simply celebrating your own finish to reminding people of the reason you took on the challenge.
Most importantly, say thank you. People gave their money, encouragement or time to support you, and a genuine thank you makes sure that contribution is recognised.
Final Thoughts On Using Email As Part Of Your Fundraising
A fundraising email works because it gives you the space to communicate directly and personally with people who may want to support you. You can explain your motivation, tell your story, share your progress and make donating as easy as possible.
The strongest approach is not to send one enormous email to everyone you know and hope for donations. Think about who you are contacting, adapt your message where appropriate and give people genuine reasons to follow your progress.
Your challenge might ultimately be about reaching a finish line, but your fundraising begins much earlier. Bringing people along for that journey can turn a simple request for a donation into a much stronger connection with you, your challenge and the charity you are supporting.
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