Help my fire department beg for money successfully!

I am a PA resident of a community like you describe. I lost my home to a massive fire handled by a local company with extreme incompetence. (When it became apparent the volunteers could not control the fire, they did not call a nearby professional city company and as a result many, many people lost everything including pets.) I would only donate to a local company like yours if I knew: 1) that all of my donation went to training and equipment 2) that none went to the licensing, staffing or stocking of the bars PA companies run as 'social clubs' in their firehouses. 3) that no donations went to the barbeques and other social events that masquerade as fundraisers or training 4) that a website or newsletter update area residents about training and licensing activities of the company 5) that no company time be wasted on bringing out fire engines to drive around the town for fun 6) that no citizens be inconvenienced by the fire company blowing horns, flashing lights, or parking fire engines on main streets during festivals or holidays In short, if PA fire companies acted a bit more professionally, I might be inclined to donate. I was very surprised that my .5% income tax that I give to the township or municipality or whomever doesn't cover basic fire service. You might point that out in the letter. The whole business seems kind of corrupt to me. I do not mean to attack you or your company. I'm just giving you my impression that these companies are clubs for a bunch of good ol' boys, or whatever the PA equivalent is, playing around with big shiny fire engines. Others might view them that way too.

I don't know how effective it is, but the local fire departments here send out letters with a lot of the same information that you outlined. The number of calls, cost of equipment, projected costs for the upcoming year. I think people may be more inclined to donate if they have a better understanding of how much it costs to operate such an important service for the community. Without knowing the true operating costs, it's easy to take the fire department for granted.

Unlike a lot of appeals for money, you're not asking letter recipients to be generous for other people's benefit; you're asking them to pay the cost of services that they themselves enjoy. I'm surprised that this is handled via donations and grants rather than taxes, especially considering that you seem to be in a fairly affluent community, but that's neither here nor there. What I'd find persuasive would be a combination of mild fear tactic, combined with assurance that the money is spent responsibly. The sort of information you gave above, i.e. the numbers of fire and ambulance calls, the age of your equipment and the cost of replacement, all sounds pretty convincing.

One more thing I would want to know: to which groups does the fire company rent out the company's social club space? I wouldn't want my fire company or any other group that provides a service in my community doing business with a hate group like as Keystone United, for instance.

The key to having people raise money (or to do anything they're hesitant to do) is to lower the barriers to participation. Think of all the objections they might have and address them. You're in a small town, so personalization and trust of the people around you (the people who you know, who shop in the same places you shop, and could potentially SAVE YOUR LIFE one day) is really important. Does it look like junk mail? Make it not look like junk mail (colors, local photos, etc.). Do people worry that it's impersonal? Use their name and put a photo of a recognizable local person on it. (Or a kid. Or a puppy.) Do people think that they can't give much? Show them how more people giving a little makes a bigger impact than fewer people giving a lot (or nothing). Do they think that they can't afford anything? Ask them to take the money they'd spend on a coffee each day for a week, just one week, and put it in the can at the local coffee place. Do they hate writing checks? Set up automatic bank transfers or do one of those wacky texting things that This American Life does so well (and has used to guilt me into giving money really easily). Honestly, it sounds like your department is working under a pretty antiquated fundraising model. It's probably too late for this year's fundraising letter, but how about convening a committee (with outside folks, not the people who keep the letter looking like junk mail) to look into different options next time? How about a community festival, or a text message thing, or appeals on the local radio station, etc.? What do other volunteer stations in your area, or in similarly-sized towns, do that has worked for them? I know you're a volunteer department and probably have very little money to spend on this, but this might be a case where, just this once, you need to spend money to make money. Don't even get a flashy consultant, just find out who the smart business people are in your town, the ones who know lots of people, and ask a few of them to sit down over some coffee and doughnuts to help you brainstorm.

I donate every year to my local volunteer department for three reasons. One, is the kharma thing. Donate and hopefully I never need your services. It is like insurance; one of those products you buy and hope to never use. Two, civic responsibility. I may never use the service, but my elderly neighbor might need a ride to the hospital. Three, an irrational belief that if I do not donate that my name is on some "respond slower" list of non-donors. (This irrational belief almost gets me to donate to the police benevolent fund too. Almost.) I am not a marketing person so know not how to use these reasons to get more donations.

The local ambulance service has to come to town meeting and justify whatever money they're going to be getting from the town. The past few years there have been sharp increases in the amount they're getting which has made people a little tetchy. They have done a really terrific job handling this issue with a few of these approaches. - explaining why they're having increases [mostly health care costs are soaring] - explaining what their other funding sources are and what are happening to them [they got some really good grants and did some hard work to get them] - explaining how medicare isn't reimbursing as much [real problem for them] - the stats stuff: "we did blah blah this much blah blah" I also always donate to my volunteer fire station [in another town where I have property, my town's fire service is paid for with taxes I think] because it's really clear that it's a bare bones operation and my money is useful. The letter isn't slick and it's very clear that this is a donation, no threats, etc. It's also clear the work they do making sure people's E-911 info is correct, making sure they know how to get to your house [which you can add on the donation form, handy!] and they don't ask for much. Lastly, our local ambulance service had some really weird system which I don't recall directly but basically if you made a donation over some amount [$50? $100?] then your first ambulance trip was free. It was a funny sort of insurance, but I thought it was a neat idea and with my general health anxiety issues, would have been well worth it to me even though I was totally unlikely to use it.

vincele, I am so sorry to hear about that. I can't even imagine what that would be like. It is extremely distressing to hear about that kind of incompetence, and I hope there were some repercussions for the department involved. They shouldn't be allowed to operate like that. Our fire company doesn't have a bar or a social space that it rents out, or an auxiliary that does social events. We do one social event a year, a banquet where we honor top-ten ambulance and fire responders, and we rent out space from a local business for that. Blocking streets on holidays is something police ask us to do for pedestrian safety, and the fire siren in the middle of the night is mandated by some governing body. All in all, I'd say we are as professional a department as we can be despite the blue-collar origins of the job. I'm not sure how to communicate these sort of things in a fund drive letter, but I'll certainly try. I'm sure you're not the only one who feels this way about fire departments. The website idea is really good. We have a website, but it is out of date and doesn't have current training opportunities or explanations of the fires we've covered. I'll bring it up, although I think I might be the only active member with time and skills to keep it updated. tommccabe, in the past we have emphasized the number of calls, but the operating budget has not been very explicit. I'll ask the board if they are comfortable with projected operating costs being included. jon1270, we do get some money from the town, but they have been budgeting proportionally less for us in the past two years, citing economic woes. We use them to pay for some of our paid firefighters and most of our training, but they don't seem reliable at the moment. Madamina, the letter is a trifold style with pictures of our fire apparatus in color on the header. It does have a tear-off part to be sent in with the donation. I think envelopes are out of the question. Most of the local companies I have ties with have used a similar letter, with similar results--nobody seems to have a silver bullet. There are quite a few savvy local business owners, so I'll definitely chat with some of them. And your suggestions are great. I'll probably use at least a few of them. JohnnyGunn, I swear we don't have that kind of list. But thanks for donating. To everyone who has commented so far: Thank you so much for your input. Please keep the suggestions coming. I really appreciate them.

Oh hey, I just left a job where I was doing similar stuff, so I can actually sort of answer this. The key is to make a personal connection. juniperesque's boilerplate letter is a start, but I'd also include quotes from a firefighter or two explaining why, precisely, donations are important. I'd take what you said about uniforms, for example, and try to put an upbeat spin on it. Talk about how their money will improve your conditions. Something like: "Nine years ago, when my gear was first purchased, it cost the department nine thousand dollars. Your donation will allow me to continue my work helping out community in gear that's modern and safe, and help our entire department thrive. Your safety means so much to us. Won't you please show your appreciation for all that we've done? Any amount helps." Also, photos. Close-ups of specific firefights, not just the whole team, specifically. Think personal. You want your donors to feel a personal connection to the people they're helping.