The recession appears to be cutting significantly into giving at the peak of the fund-raising pyramid.

Only two individuals have announced gifts of $100-million or more in 2009, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s database of America’s top donors.

Both of those contributions — William P. Clements Jr.‘s gift to the Southwestern Medical Foundation in Dallas and J. Ronald Terwilliger’s donation to Habitat for Humanity International in Americus, Ga. — were for $100-million.

By comparison, The Chronicle documented 21 gifts of $100-million or more in 2008. And 10 of those gifts exceeded $200-million.

The largest was the late Leona M. Helmsley’s controversial $5.2-billion bequest.

While it is likely that some other megagifts will be announced before the calendar hits December 31, it now appears unlikely that 2009 will produce nearly as many contributions of $100-million as...

Why does a company that has been gripped tightly by the recession continue its charity at pre-recession levels?

Kerry Sullivan, national philanthropy executive at Bank of America, explained why in The Chronicle‘s latest episode of Philanthropy This Week, its weekly podcast about and for the nonprofit world.

Erin M. Althoff, a writer at the fund-raising consulting firm RuffaloCody in Vancouver, Wash., has submitted the following appeal letter for your critique.

Ms. Althoff wrote the letter to acknowledge donors who had pledged money as part of a telephone fund-raising drive held by Mount St. Mary’s College.

To offer feedback to Ms. Althoff, please post your comments or suggestions in the comments area. As always, we hope the feedback will be constructive.

Her letter follows:

Dear {SALUTATION},

On behalf of the students who will benefit from your generosity, thank you! I was pleased to hear of your recent pledge of $(PLEDGE AMOUNT) to Mount St. Mary’s College.

From the busy professional enrolled in our Weekend College, to the undergraduate student who is the first in her family to attend college, to the inquiring graduate student preparing for immersion in a...

The Chronicle has received several letters from fund raisers who are looking for input on their direct-mail appeals following our recent post about the quality of fund-raising prose.

Today we offer the draft of a letter submitted by Joni Richter, president of Community Health Charities of Kentucky, in Louisville.

Ms. Richter’s letter is an appeal that her organization is sending to corporate donors in its region.

To offer feedback to Ms. Richter, please post your comments or suggestions in the comments area. As always, we hope the feedback will be constructive.

Today’s letter follows:

Dear ______:

As President/CEO of Community Health Charities of Kentucky, I most respectfully ask for your corporate financial support

When you consider the devastating health crisis in Kentucky, there has never been a more urgent need for the programs, services, and benefits...

The Chronicle has received several letters from fund raisers who are looking for input on their direct-mail appeals following our recent post about the quality of fund-raising prose.

Today, we offer another appeal from William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri.

The letter, submitted by Amy LaRue Dittmer, a development officer at the university, is an effort to encourage potential donors to join the university’s President’s Club Giving Society.

To offer feedback to Ms. Dittmer, please post your comments or suggestions in the comments area. As always, we hope the feedback will be constructive.

Today’s letter follows:

Suzanne:

I am proud to report that William Woods University continues to move forward despite a tough economy, thanks to the unwavering support of alumni and friends like you.

We are all facing the same challenges. Therefore, there is a...

The Chronicle has received several letters from fund raisers who want help designing direct-mail appeals following our recent post about the quality of fund-raising prose.

Most of the submissions are traditional appeal letters.

But Sharon Mather, the annual-fund coordinator at William Woods University in Fulton, Mo., is looking for your advice on a different type of appeal.

Ms. Mather says her institution is experimenting with a postcard mailing to everybody who has graduated since 2000. The effort is an attempt to encourage alumni to go to the university’s Web site.

Below are images of the postcard. To offer ideas to Ms. Mather, please post your comments or suggestions in the comments area. As always, we hope the feedback will be constructive.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments space below. To submit your organization’s letter for a critique,...

The Chronicle has received several letters from fund raisers who are looking for input on their direct-mail appeals following our recent post about the quality of fund-raising prose.

Today, we offer a 2008 letter from TROSA, a nonprofit group that helps people with substance-abuse problems in Durham, N.C. It was submitted by Michelle Kucerak, TROSA’s director of development.

To offer feedback to Ms. Kucerak, please post your comments or suggestions in the comments area. As always, we hope the feedback will be constructive.

We also invite readers to critique a recent letter submitted by the environmental group Conservation Minnesota, in Minneapolis.

Today’s letter follows:

Dear ________,

It’s that time of year again. The holidays are upon us, and 2008 is coming to a close. It’s been a hard year for everyone, but around all of us are stories of hope that remind...

The Chronicle has received several letters from fund raisers who are looking for input on their direct-mail appeals following our recent post about the quality of fund-raising prose.

In the coming days, we’ll post some of these letters, with the hope that Prospecting readers will offer critiques.

Please post your comments or suggestions in the comments area. As always, we hope the feedback will be constructive.

Today, we’ll offer a recent appeal from the environmental group Conservation Minnesota, in Minneapolis. It was submitted by Julia VanAvery, the organization’s development officer.

Here’s the letter:

Dear _______________

We’ve all heard about water pollution. But most of us don’t think it will actually impact our own lives. My family learned the hard way. And it happened right here in Minnesota.

We love to camp. Each year my wife Susan an...

Fund raisers might want to send a note of apology to Frank Dickerson.

Mr. Dickerson, as part of his doctoral studies at Claremont Graduate University, in California, recently analyzed more than 1.5 million words of online and printed fund-raising texts to determine how effectively fund raisers communicate with their audiences.

While his findings were enough to fuel the creation of a 350-page dissertation, his thesis can be boiled down to a few short words: Most fund-raising copy stinks.

Mr. Dickerson used a computer-based analysis to perform what he calls a “linguistic MRI” on the language in fund-raising materials from 880 nonprofit organizations.

The analysis found that fund raisers typically appeal to potential donors in language that is less engaging than what readers are accustomed to in academic prose and government documents.

“Fund-raising texts sounded cold and...

Jeff Brooks has a problem with nonprofit groups that attempt to restrict the use of words that help describe the work they do or the people they serve.

Mr. Brooks, creative director for the advertising agency Merkle, writes on Donor Power Blog that he has worked with several charities that refuse to use the word “kids” to describe children.

“Children,” after all, is a more formal-sounding word. “Kids” is, well, slangy.

But Mr. Brooks says that the prohibition of such words sometimes makes it more difficult for those who raise money for the charity to make a personal connection.

“Kids are children you know personally. That’s usually how I’d like donors to think about the kids I’m asking them to help,” he writes.

“When you eliminate a word from your permissible vocabulary, it’s like removing one tool from a builder’s toolbox. Yeah, he can work around it — but wouldn’t you rather...