Based on an analysis of 63 fundraising packages representing 46 nonprofit organizations, as well as research in trade journals and other secondary sources, this study discusses a variety of persuasive techniques used in fundraising messages to accomplish their missions. The fundraising package consists of the carrier envelope, the fundraising letter, the reply form, the reply envelope, and optional enclosures such as brochures, small gifts for the reader, and surveys to complete. These parts work together to perform the following tasks: 1) persuade recipients to open the envelope and read the letter; 2) convince readers a serious but not unsolvable problem exists; 3) make readers want to help solve the problem; 4) convince readers they can help by giving to the appealing organization; 5) tell readers what the organization needs them to do; and 6) make it easy to comply.

Revising instructions for clients of health care facilities provides students with valuable practice in good technical communication techniques: organizing information for maximum accessibility, analyzing the audience's needs, using formatting and graphics to enhance communication, and clarifying sentence structure and diction. Suitable for both individual and team work, the project offers experience in both revising instructions for a lay audience and writing persuasively. It also emphasizes the accountability of technical writers to the users of their documents.

Acquaintance with the writing of nurses would help instructors design assignments for nursing students who enroll in basic technical writing courses. Based on secondary research, samples of nursing documentation, and interviews with seventy-six bedside nurses, thirty nurse managers, and five nurse consultants, this study discusses the importance of writing tasks for nurses and describes the most common documents nurses generate. Good writing skills for nurses improve healthcare delivery and promote empowerment in a predominantly female profession. However, most of the bedside nurses and all the nurse managers and consultants believe nurses have significant writing problems. This article suggests instruction in six communication principles and several types of assignments that would help prepare nursing students in technical writing courses for future writing activities.