To begin a successful email marketing campaign, the first thing you need to do is build an email list. Maintaining a complete and reliable list of constituents will directly impact the success of your campaign, events, and organization as a whole.
OFFLINE-
Add a field for email on any materials that will be filled by your constituents. Be it a survey, a sponsorship commitment form, or any other response form, it’s a must-have. Email collection is particularly important at an event where there will be a number of your donors/volunteers attending, have a sign-in sheet to register those that have helped your cause. Communicate a clear purpose about why you want their email address and ask them to provide this information at every event. If you are consistently providing them with engaging information, they will not mind you contacting them via email.
ONLINE-
The best place to gather email information is on your website. Always invite people to your website by using your URL in your email’s signature line and on all printed materials, and as often as possible in social media posts.
Once individuals land on your website, prominently promote where folks can register for your newsletter, find more information about volunteering/donating, and view all your special events. Keep in mind that less is more! Do not ask for tons of information; a name and email is enough to get them started.
PEER-TO-PEER-
Though this falls under online marketing, there are so many ways to generate interest in your organization by asking your current volunteers and donors to share information with their social networks. Whether it is a fundraising campaign, special event invitation, or newsletter, using your constituents to maximize your message can only help.
Getting your volunteers and donors to read and not delete your email is a difficult task. Across all industries, the average open rate for email is about 20-40%. About 50% of that happens within the first 6 hours after you send the email. Though there is no way to guarantee an increase in open rate, there are a few things you can try.
Foremost, make sure your list is up to date. If you send emails to boxes that don't exist anymore, you are doing nothing to help your organization. Make it easy for your supporters to choose what types of emails they would like to see from you and how often.
Subject line experimentation. Do not use the same one ALL THE TIME. Keep your content short and sweet, and put the essential information at the top of the message.
Try sending emails on a different day. If you always send your newsletter on the first Monday of every month and your open rate is 15%, it may be time to adjust.
Whether you are sending one email or multiple messages over a timeframe, strategic marketing provides purpose. Given that this campaign leads towards Giving Tuesday, you want to be sure that each message builds upon the last and directed to the appropriate segment of your constituent population.
In the days and weeks leading up to Giving Day, it is crucial to determine how frequently you want to communicate with donors and volunteers. You may have to adjust your schedule based on feedback, and you do not want to damage relationships or leave people feeling uninformed. Make sure to stay on top of the following items.
Coordinate all communications within your organization. If you have a marketing department, have them help you develop a strategy for the entire organization. Otherwise, you will need to communicate with all departments about what messaging is going out so as not to bombard constituents with repetitive or competing messaging.
Pay attention to the day and time of delivered emails. You may find that most of your constituents are only reading emails on the weekends or first thing in the morning. You want to target your messages for whatever time garners you the highest open rate.
Let the importance of your messaging determine the frequency. As you get closer to Giving Tuesday, you will want to up the frequency. Do not make the mistake of bombarding your readers with messaging early on, as it will only decrease later messaging’s importance.
First, you want to make sure you know your audience. Is your message being directed to all constituents? Or might it better serve your intent by segmenting your list for a target audience? Second, make sure your message line is short and sweet; use action words that draw in the reader so that they will open your email.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Not only focus on images that draw the reader in, but also consider font, colors, and layout. The design should always include your brand within your message.
Keep the meat of the message above the fold. We all hope when we send our email, your recipient opens it, and all content read. Just in case, be sure the keep the most important items above the fold. If your readers scroll to find out what you want them to know, they may never get the message.
Even better, just keep it short. Don't send a novel; only share a highlight. Your constituents want to know how you're using their dollars to support the organization's mission, but instead of sending a detailed list, share some highlights along with an excellent summary.
Send them to your website. Instead of putting everything in your email message, drive your readers back to your website. Keep your message short and allow readers the opportunity to learn more if they like.
Finally, always use your email marketing to create and develop relationships with your supporters by sending them messages that pique their interests, motivate them to action, and engage them in further dialog. Also, addressing your readers by name will add a personal touch to your email communications and help you garner a better response rate. A useful email marketing tool can help you do this and allow you to track open rates.
Thank you in advance for helping make our Giving Day campaign a HUGE success!
