Lauren,
Thanks for your fundraising! I raised around $15,000 our first year too. I send out a letter each year to around 300 people. We are fortunate to have some big donations, so it is not as though I work extra hard. I do think it is important in the letter to describe how cf affects our lives. I describe what how the year went for my kids and nephew and how cf affected them. People also want to know why they are donating and how there money is going to be used. I also include articles about how drug research is going, what exactly cf is, and other articles about people with cf.
You can read my letter from last year at
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/dsp_DonationPage.cfm?walkid=5860&idUser=3802
">http://www.cff.org/Great_Strid...lkid=5860&idUser=3802
</a>One thing I do to increase the % of donors is to include a self addressed stamped envelope. I also have a website I made about our family that I send people to that makes it easy to donate to cff.org.
Sharon, mom of Sophia, 8 and Jack, 6 both with cf, Grant, 9 months no cf, aunt to Joseph, 11 with cf