Now the presidential election is heating up, I find myself interested in the little tricks used by political consultants to influence voters. As a grant writer, I have applied a lot of their ideas to benefit the clients we serve at Drew & Associates. Some of the political consultants’ best ideas are the result of eye-tracking experiments. The question is how can we apply these ideas to improving a proposal cover letter?
It turns out that when someone opens a letter the first thing that attracts their eyes is the appearance of their name. Consequently, I am very careful about having my staff double-check the spelling of the recipient’s name and their title. My view is that if we make a mistake with the grant reader’s name, then we immediately make a bad impression. If we get their name exactly correct, however, we will have used that initial millisecond of exposure to immediately win the trust and confidence of the reader.
This is why I refuse to issue letters of inquiry or cover letters that are simply addressed to generic appellations like “To Whom It May Concern” or “Dear Sir or Madam.” I also use a Ms. or Mr. when I address the letter reader too. If the person’s name gives me no indication of their gender, then I try to Google them to figure out the appropriate term of address. If they have a non-English name that I am unfamiliar with, then I will Google that too.
I also avoid using the generic term Grant Administrator or Grant Coordinator. Instead, I review the funder’s website or research printout and address the letter to their president or chair. To make sure that I get the name exactly right, I will cut and paste it directly from the website.
Another surprise is that the next place a person’s eye goes to when they read your letter is your signature. Try this yourself and notice how your eyes move over the next letter you receive in the mail.
I also seek to leverage this initial bit of information. If you have ever taken one of my grant writing workshops, then you will remember that I spend time teaching people how to create a professional-looking signature. Too often, I have seen people labor over a grant application and then – at the last minute – undercut their effort by signing the application or cover letter as if they just finished a penmanship class. Instead of that I recommend signing your signature quickly, like you are a doctor signing a prescription.
The signature, by the way, should be done with blue ink. We use blue ink so that the reader understands that the letter was signed with a pen and not lazy, impersonal electronic cut and paste. (If you must mass produce a signature, then have your signer write out a sample signature using a dark blue felt tip pen. This will hide the pixelation of the type when you print the letter out.)
Finally, the folks who taught me about political direct mail always stressed the P.S. at the end of the letter. For some reason, people will scan the entire letter first, but then zero in on the P.S., or postscript, at the end of the letter. To take advantage of that habit, I like to place the most compelling message regarding the charity and its project in the P.S. I rarely send out any letter of inquiry or cover letter without including a P.S.
P.S. If you follow these tips, you will be using the reader’s most basic habits to quickly establish a powerful first impression in six seconds or less.