Rohan Adeyemi · 21 April 2026
The week after the appeal: writing a close note people will read
The Monday after a mailing, someone will ask for ‘the total’. There is rarely one total. Cash that has cleared is one number. Envelopes still with the volunteer who collects the post are another. Card gifts that the processor has not settled are a third. Pledges made at the event dinner are a fourth, and they are not cash.
A close note for staff can be one page if it refuses a headline figure. Three short lines — received, still to settle, pledged — stop the kitchen conversation from inventing a record year.
Trustees need the same split plus the cost of the mailing, because they will ask whether the appeal ‘worked’. Worked compared with last spring is a fair question. Worked compared with a number that includes unpaid pledges is not.
Donors who gave on the last day sometimes write to ask whether they were in time. The close note should state the close date in the first paragraph. If you accepted envelopes for a week after, say so. People who posted on time deserve not to feel foolish.
We write campaign close briefings in the week you name as closed, not when the last pledge arrives. Late gifts get an annex. Moving the close date quietly is how rumours start in the office.