Template Email to Candidates
Dear Candidate,
Opening: Introduce yourself and your organization, and say why you are writing. Include a link to the 2022 Candidate Questionnaire.
Middle: Tell the candidates a little bit about what your organization does and challenges you face that public policies have or could address.
Closing: Emphasize that people in the community want to read their responses. Share the link again with a final request for them to respond.
Your signature and contact information
EXAMPLES
Dear Candidates,
Please allow me to introduce myself: My name is Delia McCormick, Executive Director of the Buncombe County Center for the Arts. I write to you this morning to share a bit about our organization and to invite you to share your own views about questions of importance to our organization, our audience, and the broader community we serve by responding to the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits' 2022 Candidate Questionnaire.
As a premiere venue for performance artists of all kinds – musicians, theater companies, dancers, comedians, and more – the BCCA has enriched our community by bringing together audiences of all ages for the magic of live performance. We are delighted to be back on stage after having a dark, empty house for too long as COVID forced us to close. Sadly, the economic impact has left us in difficult financial shape; even after letting most of our staff go and taking pay cuts, we’re struggling to get by in the absence of our typical ticket sales revenue and decline in donations from our historical patrons. It is no exaggeration to say that we would no longer be in business were it not for the COVID relief programs that have kept us afloat. We are SO grateful for the help we’ve gotten from the public sector – we simply would not be here without it!
As part of our local nonprofit community, I know that people in positions like mine are paying closer attention than ever to how candidates are talking about issues of concern to nonprofits – or to whether they’re saying anything at all! I hope that YOU will make a small investment in talking about your own experiences with nonprofits and your positions on issues of concern to us by responding to the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits’ 2022 Candidate Questionnaire.
Thank you so much for your attention. I look forward to reading your responses and hope we have an opportunity to meet at an upcoming performance!
Delia McCormick
828-BCC-ARTS
Dear Candidates,
As the founding board chair of Halifax Health Not Hunger, an Enfield-based organization serving the entire county, I’m writing to tell you a bit about the community needs our organization serves and to encourage you to help voters learn more about your own commitments to supporting nonprofit organizations like ours by completing the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits’ 2022 Candidate Questionnaire.
You may be aware that food insecurity is a major source of distress for people across Halifax County. In 2020, we formed Halifax Health Not Hunger to help generate revenue and in-kind donations to support ten local, mostly-faith based food distribution efforts located in Enfield, Roanoke Rapids, Scotland Neck, Weldon, and Whitakers. Collectively, these organizations provided healthy food to nearly #### families each month in 2021.
Those of us who came together to form Halifax Health Not Hunger in response to the unprecedented need created by the COVID-19 pandemic are proud of our efforts to raise more revenue to help see our well-established food pantries through these difficult times. Yet, through our efforts, we’ve also seen how very hard it is for nonprofit organizations to stay afloat – and how much easier it would be with some simple policy changes like those advocated for by the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits.
We look forward to reading your responses to their 2022 Candidate Questionnaire, which we will publicize across our countywide network of food pantry volunteers and recipients.
Thank you so much for your willingness to serve.
Sincerely,
Christopher Plenty
252-987-6543