A motivation letter explains why you want this role at this organisation and gives evidence that you can do it. For an NGO, a UN body or an internship, write it to the call’s own instructions, then pick the two or three requirements that matter most and give one real example for each.
A motivation letter is a short letter, sent with a CV or typed into an application form, in which you connect your record to one specific role and say why you want it. The name changes from one organisation to the next, but the job does not.
Motivation letter vs cover letter: is there a difference?
Mostly in the name. The organisation’s own word tells you which one you are writing. Belgium’s call for Junior Professional Officers says preselection uses the CV and the “lettre de motivation (Cover Letter)”, in one sentence.
What does differ is what each organisation asks for. These are the rules on their own pages:
| Organisation | What it calls the letter | What its page says |
|---|---|---|
| UN Secretariat | Motivation statement | Briefly explain what motivated you, and add details not already in the application |
| World Bank Group | Statement of interest | Selection committees read it to understand your motivation and experience |
| Inter-American Development Bank | Cover letter | Not needed unless the position asks for it |
| European Investment Bank | Cover letter | Sent with the resume and answers to screening questions |
| Save the Children International | Cover letter | Sent with the CV as a single document, with your current pay and salary expectations |
| Wellcome | Covering letter | Uploaded only if asked |
| Amnesty International | No letter | Only the answers in the online form are assessed |
The last row matters as much as the first. Amnesty’s careers FAQ says it assesses applications only on the information given through its online portal and does not accept further submissions by email or post. If the form has no letter field, the motivation goes into the answers.
What should a motivation letter for an NGO say?
An NGO letter answers the same two questions as any letter, why this role and why you, with one more: do you share the organisation’s mission? Save the Children’s careers page says candidates need to show a commitment to its mission and values and to its child safeguarding policy. Concern Worldwide asks for a commitment to its mission and values and an understanding of its code of conduct. Oxfam’s jobs page says it gives high priority to recruiting only those who share and prove its values.
“Prove” is the word to take from that. A line that says you care about the cause is a claim. A line that names the work you did for it is evidence. Plan the letter in three parts:
What goes in the letter, in order?
- The role and the reason. Name the post and its reference, and give one specific reason you want it, drawn from the posting or the organisation’s work.
- Two or three pieces of evidence. Take the requirements the posting marks as essential, and give one example from your work for each: what you did, for whom, and what changed.
- The fit with the mission. Say what in your own record connects to the organisation’s work, and close with a plain request to discuss the role.
Then add only what the call asks for. Save the Children asks for current pay and salary expectations, and where a post needs the right to work in the country, it lists that as an essential requirement. If the call says nothing about either, leave them out.
How is a motivation letter for an internship different?
You have less work history, so the letter leans on studies, volunteering and short jobs. The rules are the same: match the letter to what the notice asks for, and give one example per point.
The UN Secretariat’s 2018 internship fact sheet told applicants to match the competencies in the notice in their cover letter and to include the Job ID. The Secretariat’s 2024 applicant guide calls the same space a motivation statement. A thesis, a group project with a deadline, or a term of volunteering can each serve as the example, if you say what you did yourself. UN internships covers who can apply.
How long should a motivation letter be?
As long as the call allows, and usually shorter. A 2019 tips sheet from a UN field office said a cover letter should be no longer than one page. If the form sets a character limit on the field, that limit is the one that counts. When no limit is given, one page is a safe default. Write the letter in a document first and paste it into the form, as Amnesty’s FAQ advises for every answer, so a dropped connection does not lose it.
A worked example: one requirement, one paragraph
Take an illustrative NGO internship whose notice asks for “experience organising community events”. An applicant ran a student society’s weekly language café for a year. A weak line and a stronger one:
- Weak: “I am passionate about community work and have strong organisational skills.”
- Stronger: “For a year I ran a weekly language café for my university’s international students society: I booked the room, recruited 12 volunteer hosts and kept a sign-in sheet, which grew from 15 to 40 regular visitors.”
The second line answers the requirement with a task, an action and a number the applicant can explain in an interview. The same shape works for every essential requirement you choose. How to read a job posting helps you separate those from the desirable ones, and scoring your resume against a competency-based posting shows how to find your evidence for each.
How can Zorlya help with a motivation letter?
If the role is in your Zorlya feed, Zorlya can draft a cover letter for it in a formal, warm or concise tone, from 120 to 600 words. It writes from the five parts of your resume closest to the posting, and the model is told that every claim must come from those parts and that it must not invent projects, numbers or employers. The draft follows three paragraphs much like the plan above: a reason for this role with one achievement, two or three examples against the core requirements, and a closing paragraph on why the role fits your direction.
Treat it as a first draft. Check every line against your record, add the mission and any detail the call asks for, such as salary expectations, and cut it to the field’s limit. There is no setting for the letter’s language, so a letter in another language is yours to write. Zorlya keeps one letter per job, and writing a new one replaces it. Pricing shows what each plan includes.
Questions people ask
Is a statement of interest the same as a motivation letter?
It does the same job. The World Bank Group calls its version a statement of interest, and its FAQ says selection committees read it to understand your motivation and experience.
Should I mention salary in a motivation letter?
Only when the call asks. Save the Children asks for current pay and salary expectations with the application. Where a call does not ask, leave pay out of the letter.
Can I send a letter when the form has no field for one?
Not to every organisation. Amnesty International assesses only what is sent through its online form, and the Oxfam International Secretariat responds only to applications for its advertised posts. Put your motivation into the form’s answers instead.
Should I write one letter and reuse it?
Reuse the structure, not the letter. Each call names different requirements, and the evidence paragraph has to answer the ones in front of you.
What we know and what we do not
The rules above come from the organisations’ own careers pages and adverts: the UN Secretariat’s applicant guide republished in August 2024 and its 2018 internship fact sheet, a 2019 tips sheet from a UN field office, the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Investment Bank, Save the Children, Wellcome, Amnesty, Oxfam, Concern Worldwide and Belgium’s JPO call. The job adverts of ActionAid, CARE and Oxfam refused our requests, so we could not quote what they ask a letter to cover. Each call has the final word.
Zorlya does not send applications. You write and send the letter on the organisation’s own site, and you can keep track of it as tracking applications describes. For the UN’s application form itself, see the UN Personal History Profile.