What would you do if
you had to raise charitable contributions for mass murderer
Jeffrey Dahlmer or convicted bank cheat, Charles Keating? Where
would you go for help? Writing for Money
What would you do if
you had to raise charitable contributions for mass murderer
Jeffrey Dahlmer or convicted bank cheat, Charles Keating? Where
would you go for help?
NBC's (later Fox Network) TV Nation, the high-rated satirical news magazine, came to my friend David Litwinsky of A.L.L. Direct Mail in New York City when they wanted to see if direct mail fund raising for "off-the-wall" causes could succeed. David called me.
The results were startling. (If you're a potential client and didn't see the show, I will be happy to send you a tape.) Success was achieved because we approached the effort seriously... found an area of common ground with a segment of the donating public and, instead of allowing the so-called causes to be a detriment, used shock value to our advantage.
Read the text of the Jeffrey Dahlmer fund raising letter. It's stored in the archives of RealPoetik, an on-line poetry magazine that used to be run by my friend and former Legal Aid colleague, Sal Salasin. If you enjoy contemporary poetry, you can get a free subscription to his magazine.
Besides the success of the TV Nation experiment (we actually raised money for Jeffrey Dahlmer and for Charles Keating, but we gave it all back), our powerful direct mail marketing packages have made the difference for both profit and nonprofit organization. Some of these include the MedicAlert Foundation, the American Associates of Ben Gurion University of the Negev, the Natural Law Party, and the Legal Aid Society. I've also written materials for the Clark Card Company, the Gourmet Coffee Club, and the United Jewish Appeal.
Then there are speeches, articles, annual reports, brochures, direct response mechanisms and... my favorite... writing and placing oped pieces for corporations and nonprofits. E-mail me directly martyg@themadhatter.net about that service. I don't like discuss ghost-writing in a public forum.
On top of that, we do grants. In 1978 I wrote my first grants... two proposals for the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and both were funded. So I figured that there's nothing to this grant writing stuff and I started to do them all the time. Some lessons are harder learned than others. Not every grant I have written has been funded but I have managed to obtain a few million dollars for historic preservation, environmental education, public schools, housing rehab, medical services, economic development, legal services, arts and culture and another dozen or so diverse topics. For the past couple of years or so, I have been writing federal, state, a private-foundation grant applications for lots of local folks including the Southwest/West Central Service Cooperatives in Marshall, MN. If you need someone to write a grant, I could be your guy!
OK, that's the story. You need words, I sell them... New York quality at MidWest prices with service that can't be beat in any city. Wander around and read the samples. You'll get the idea.
I Write for Fun (OpEd pieces) or When I'm Not Writing
