The Textbook Fundraising E-mail
Life Lessons from the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club
[This is an e-mail I sent to the officers of the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club in March 2013. We were organizing the East Coast Startup Summit and we were in the process of typical last-minute fundraising. Most names and e-mails have been anonymized but otherwise the e-mail is pretty much intact. Enjoy and get money!]
Hey E Club,
In today’s lesson, we’ll talk about an important life skill: getting $$$. In particular, we’ll see an example of a good touch base sponsorship e-mail and break it down in its constituent parts.
Here’s an excellent textbook example from just a few minutes ago:
from: Taylor Shea <tshea@princeton.edu>
to: Jane Doe <jdoe@wealthyventures.com>, John Smith <jsmith@wealthyventures.com>
date: Sun, Mar 24, 2013 at 1:46 PM
subject: Talk about sponsoring East Coast Startup SummitJane & John-
Look forward to seeing you both on thursday for the first WV meeting.
I would love to chat with you about an opportunity for WV to get some major visibility among East Coast student entrepreneurs. We are hosting an East Coast Startup Summit at Princeton April 19-21. John attended our pilot conference last year (which included Fred Wilson and others), and we are working to make this year’s conference a major gathering for the student entrepreneurial community on the East Coast. I think there might be some interesting ways we can use this as an opportunity to expose student entrepreneurs from NYC and Philly to the opportunity of WV investment.
Would one or both of you be willing to chat over the phone this week about this possibility? Or perhaps we could meet in person before/after the WV meeting on Thursday to discuss?
See you soon,
Taylor
Breaking Down The E-mail
Now let’s examine the essential components of the e-mail and how they all fit together.
Sender: a warm connection
from: Taylor Shea <tshea@princeton.edu>
to: Jane Doe <jdoe@wealthyventures.com>, John Smith <jsmith@wealthyventures.com>
date: Sun, Mar 24, 2013 at 1:46 PM
The recipients both know Taylor and have worked with him in the past. Immensely increases the chances of your e-mail being read.
Subject: short and descriptive
subject: Talk about sponsoring East Coast Startup Summit
It’s immediately clear what the e-mail is about. Could add “at Princeton” although in this case it’s obvious from the sender.
First line: reference something that connects you
Jane & John-
Look forward to seeing you both on thursday for the first WV meeting.
Alternatives: Good seeing you at SXSW the other day; Great article about WV in Tech Crunch, [blank] must be keeping you busy; I hope everything is going fine with [blank]
This should be there even if you don’t know the recipient. Make it sound genuine — if it’s obviously superficial, it could backfire. If done right, It personalizes the e-mail, increases the chances of Gmail’s filters putting the e-mail in their Priority Inbox, and immediately makes you seem more trustworthy.
Second paragraph: what’s this about?
I would love to chat with you about an opportunity for WV to get some major visibility among East Coast student entrepreneurs.We are hosting an East Coast Startup Summit at Princeton April 19-21.
For cold e-mails, some people mistakenly start with “I’m Peter Smith, president of the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club and a junior in Bla bla” — leave that in the e-mail signature. I’ll only care who you are if I care about what you’re talking about. On the other hand, it’s okay to start with “The Princeton Entrepreneurship Club is hosting bla bla”.
Brief description of event
John attended our pilot conference last year (which included Fred Wilson and others), and we are working to make this year’s conference a major gathering for the student entrepreneurial community on the East Coast.
Now is the time to name drop (Fred Wilson) — gives legitimacy. Also bonus points for John being there last year. It’s always good to reference someone the recipient knows and could potentially ask about the legitimacy of the event (in this case, it happens to be one of the recipients).
Also make sure to include a link to a website, in case they would like to get more info. Also adds legitimacy.
“Sooo why should I give a damn?”
I think there might be some interesting ways we can use this as an opportunity to expose student entrepreneurs from NYC and Philly to the opportunity of WV investment.
What’s in it for the sponsors? In this case — exposure to exceptional student entrepreneurs who could potentially become part of Wealthy Venture’s portfolio. Alternatively, if you’re fundraising from a tech company, the value proposition would be exclusive access to top talent. Pretty straightforward.
This is perhaps the most important part of the e-mail. If you get that one wrong, chances are you won’t hear back.
Last paragraph: “Okay, I’m interested. Now what?”
Would one or both of you be willing to chat over the phone this week about this possibility? Or perhaps we could meet in person before/after the WV meeting on Thursday to discuss?
See you soon,
Taylor
Tell them how to follow-up. Over the phone is always best — hearing a human voice automatically adds an extra flavor of legitimacy and it leaves room for negotiation. Alternatively, you could say something like “If you’re interested, shoot me an e-mail and I’ll follow up with more details!”.
If they don’t know you, make sure to include a signature like “Conferences Team, The Princeton Entrepreneurship Club”, etc.
What NOT to Include
Don’t include a sponsorship package or any other extra details. The purpose of this e-mail is to get sponsors hooked. Once they get back to you, only then can you actually give them more concrete information. Notice that in the e-mail, Taylor never mentions “money” or “sponsorship” (except the subject line). Don’t be too explicit about it. Instead, use terms like “get involved”, “be part of”, “help us with”, etc. This ensures they won’t be weirded out, and it also opens up the possibility of other types of support. Still, it should be somewhat clear that you’re ultimately asking for money (as the subject line suggests).
More Tips and Details
Whenever asking for money, always try to make the first e-mail sound light and unobtrusive. The overall aura of the e-mail should be like “Hey, we’re having this amazing event, great opportunity for you guys — wanna get involved?” rather than “Hey, please please give us money, we need it to make this happen!!”
Also notice how every part of the e-mail falls in the right spot. Not a single word is wasted but yet all the information needed is there. Short and very informative.
I know this seems like a lot of stuff to consider, but trust me, with time it starts to come naturally and you won’t even think about it (as is the case with Taylor; I still need to break it down in my mind…)
Keep in mind that even when you’re armed with the best e-mailing techniques, chances are you still probably won’t get funding from that one source. That’s why you should approach several sources. You should also personalize the e-mail for each one of them, making it clear why they should give you the money. Remember that some of these people receive tons of requests like this, so it’s your job to make this one stand out.
In the end, always be polite, thank them for getting back to you and say you’re looking forward to work with them in the future. Who knows, they might say YES next time?
P.S. Thanks to Taylor Francis and Vivian Qu for helping me flesh this out!
