a letter is waiting to be written

6,498 people are waiting for a letter from a dad who isn't theirs.

Not because no one wants to write one. Keeping every letter safe — screened, matched, and reviewed before it's mailed — takes people and time that doesn't just scale on its own. Your gift is what turns a waiting list into a mailbox.

Give now Major & legacy gifts
10,052+
Letters requested
6,498+
Still waiting
50
States reached

The problem isn't demand. It's capacity.

Only 28 Dad Writers are currently active. Another 299 have already applied and are waiting — ready to start, but waiting, because there isn't yet enough capacity to bring them onboard.

We’ve built the Dad Letter Project with care, choosing to build slowly and with intention rather than building faster than we can scale. We care about getting this right. It’s the Dad Letter Project way.

So growth isn't limited by how many people want to write, or how many are asking. It's limited by how many we can screen, train, and support doing it well — and that's a gap your gift can close.

Why a letter

A handwritten letter is physical and impossible to scroll past. Nobody requests one by accident — asking for it is already an act of believing you're worth the care.

Fortunately, we have a team of volunteer dads who can’t wait to write to you. Our writers are real dads and father figures, writing in their own words about their own lives, not from a script. The letter itself is simple. Getting it there, safely, at the scale people are asking for it — that's the work your gift funds.

where your gift goes

Every gift unlocks a bottleneck

Every gift gets a heartfelt letter from dad one step closer to landing in someone’s mailbox.

Preventing Writer's Block $25 – $125
$
Give $25 now
You'll finish your gift securely on Givebutter.
major & legacy gifts

For the bigger swings

Gifts that bring new Dad Writers onto the team, fund Care Team coverage, and keep every writer and requester safe and secure.

Meeting the Deadline$250 – $900

$250
Sponsor a Dad Writer's Full Onboarding
Fully funds one new Dad Writer's path onto the team: application review, background check, interview, training, welcome kit, and Care Team introduction.
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$450
Sponsor a Care Team Leader
Covers the background check and training for a Care Team Leader, who oversees every step from letter request to letter delivery.
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$900
Sponsor a Quarter of Software & Infrastructure
Covers three months of monitoring and maintaining the software and tools that keep every volunteer Dad Writer and letter requester safe and secure.
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Growing Circulation$1,200 – $3,600

$1,200
Sponsor a Week of Full Care Team Coverage
Funds one full week of Care Team work: screening requests, matching each one with the best Dad Writer, reviewing every Dad Letter before it's sent to make sure it's on target and impactful, and archiving every letter in the DADAbase.
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$2,500
Sponsor a Quarter of Dad Writer Onboarding
Fully screens, interviews, onboards, and trains 10 vetted Dad Writers over a full quarter.
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$3,600
Sponsor a Full Year of Software & Infrastructure
Covers twelve months of monitoring and maintaining the software and tools that keep every volunteer Dad Writer and letter requester safe and secure.
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Sustaining Patrons

$25,000+

Shape your support through one-on-one conversations with DLP leadership. Together, we'll design a gift that reflects your personal preferences and helps sustain DLP now and into the future.

Corporate, civic-organization, and public or private foundation support is welcome at any level and can be designed around the unique needs of the funding organization.

We also welcome gifts of appreciated publicly traded stock, grants from donor-advised funds (DAFs), qualified charitable distributions from IRAs, and other assets with market value.

Please direct all Sustaining Patron inquiries and other gift-related questions to Scott Jessup.

Email Scott