Masterclass - How to Write Fundraising Copy That Really Engages and Persuades (4-Mar-26)

Direct Mail
04 March 2026
10:00AM to 04:30PM

Individual Prices

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Package Type Available To Price
Individual Member Fee All Days Individual Members £343
Non-Individual Member Fee All Days Non Individual Members £413

Take your copywriting skills to the next level. Whether you write copy for fundraising letters, brochures, emails, web, or social, this online Copywriting for Fundraising Masterclass will boost your capability, confidence and results.

Standard Content

You’ll join a virtual course with fellow fundraisers for an inspiring day packed with fresh ideas and expert insights and advanced methodologies. You’ll review more than 100 real-life copy examples from major charities as you discover which copywriting techniques work best and which rarely work at all.

In just one fascinating day you’ll learn how to plan and write fundraising copy that gets noticed, gets read and gets results. And you’ll learn how to review and critique other people’s copy in a way that’s insightful, meaningful and constructive.

Who should attend?

This one-day online course is designed for those who already have some experience of writing, briefing or reviewing fundraising copy and are looking take their understanding and skills to the next level.

Benefits for you and your organisation

You will leave the course with a thorough understanding of best-practice copywriting techniques and methodologies. You’ll gain expert insights into how people think, how they read, and how they react to what you write. This course will change the way you approach writing fundraising copy for good. The knowledge and skills you gain in just one day will deliver immediate, valuable and lasting benefits for your organisation, your cause and your career.

By the end of the course you will have gained

At the end of one fascinating and informative day you will have gained a practical understanding of the key copywriting principles and techniques used within fundraising and how to apply them to achieve improved results. You’ll leave this course with a head full of fresh ideas and approaches that you can apply the next day within your workplace to achieve better outcomes from every piece of fundraising copy you write.

Course content

Core principles and best practices
  • How people read and respond to what you write
  • Why 95% of everything you send out will be ignored or deleted within <3 seconds
  • How to harness universal interests to grab reader attention
  • How to use emotional triggers to increase engagement
  • How to use visual language so people see as well as hear
  • The three pillars of effective persuasion
  • How to set the right tone of voice for your target audience
  • How sentence length affects readership and understanding
Writing and structuring the appeal
  • Why are headlines so important and what makes a good one?
  • The top types of headline explored and explained in their order of effectiveness
  • How subject lines work differently to headlines lines
  • Understanding the relationship between images and captions
  • Getting the core elements right: the need, ask and impact statement
  • Where is the best place to put the ‘ask’ and why there?
  • How to avoid the most common mistake charities make when asking for support
  • How long should your appeal copy be?
Adapting your copy for short-form media: mobile and social
  • Structuring copy when space and word-counts are limited
  • The difference between Inductive and Deductive copy structure
  • What the world of journalism can teach as grabbing audience attention
Reviewing and critiquing copy
  • Checklist for validating and improving copy
  • 100+ real-life copy examples to review and learn from

About your trainer

Paul Chuter FIDM

Paul is one of the UK’s leading communications practitioners. Since 1991, he has provided communications advice and copywriting to leading international business enterprises, not-for-profit organisations, government agencies, professional bodies and academic institutions. Paul has successfully trained staff from more than 300 UK charity sector organisations in effective copywriting techniques. His training is very ‘real-world’ and combines attitudinal approaches, practical techniques and best-practice methodologies that can be applied immediately in the workplace to achieve impressive results.

The live virtual training experience

The Chartered Institute of Fundraising's live virtual training is delivered by trainers who are leading experts in their chosen discipline. Each virtual course has been especially designed to deliver a rich virtual learning experience. Your course will feature:

Technology requirements

The course is being delivered via the online platform zoom. To enable you to interact with your tutor and your class you will need to have access to a microphone (or access to a landline phone) and ideally have a working video link via a camera. To test compatibility with your system, you can join a test meeting here. 

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