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This time last year, we explored the power of social media for nonprofits in our blog Tend to Your Nonprofit’s Social Media and Maximize Impact. I discussed how setting clear goals, choosing the right platforms, creating compelling content, and making meaningful connections – not to mention analyzing your performance! – can significantly improve your organization’s visibility and engagement.
Engagement is an intriguing word at the center of much discussion here at Broad Oaks Consulting. We’ve been asking how to define, improve, and expand engagement – from donors to your broader audience. While we repeatedly conclude there is no silver bullet, it is clear there are some simple strategies to try that will boost fundraising and engage your audience through meaningful email communication.
Think about how much time you spend on emails throughout the day – you’re not alone. Statista reports that the number of global email users was 4 billion in 2020, projected to grow to 4.6 billion by 2025.
Email marketing like campaign appeals, e-newsletters, and donor stewardship notes can have incredible impact on your organization. Here are five key tips for nurturing your email strategy and maximizing your fundraising efforts.
Just like weeding a garden, a clean and healthy email list leads to an engaged list. Regularly review contacts and remove inactive subscribers. It doesn’t make sense to host contacts or send messages to contacts whose emails bounce. You don’t have to remove them entirely; update the emails.
As a gardener divides the garden into separate beds for different plants, segmenting your email list into different audiences can help your messaging thrive. Create specific groups based on donor behavior, interests, and engagement level. This way you can tailor messages to your supporters’ preferences and needs – and you can give them the best opportunities to respond.
A survey by Adobe found that 61% of consumers prefer to receive promotional emails from brands they trust and support. This translates to nonprofits (promoting an opportunity to do good) communicating with donors (individuals invested in the success of your organization). If someone isn’t engaging, consider when and how you last engaged with them.
Your donor database likely allows personalized greetings—use them! Personalized messages increase relevance and engagement. If you’re not using this feature, you are missing a key opportunity to engage with your audience! You can create emails that refer to a donor’s historical giving, which makes an appeal feel unique and relevant to your audiences. Consider a survey of your contacts to see what programs interest them most and their preferred methods of communication. Perhaps you reengage dormant contacts by sending a heartfelt “Thinking of You, *First Name*” note.
Don’t forget about the power of storytelling. Humans process information and connect with stories on a deep level. Frame your communications around relatable characters and clear narratives. Whether you’re highlighting the impact of a gift or inviting another donation, your organization’s mission is made memorable through compelling storytelling.
Designing for mobile is like making a garden accessible to everyone who visits, regardless of how they get there. You want to create clear and welcoming pathways for audiences to receive and understand your message. Clunky or confusing spaces are rarely appealing, and so is it for communications.
According to Litmus, 47% of emails opened happen on mobile devices, making it essential to ensure your emails are easily readable and navigable on smaller screens. A poorly designed email can lead to immediate deletion or unsubscribing, and a loss of potential donor support. (80% of people delete an email if it does not look good on their mobile device, according to the same Litmus study. That’s a huge missed opportunity – design matters.)
Many donor databases or email marketing software platforms allow you to see a mobile preview. Using this feature helps you ensure the email looks great across devices.
Emails that are optimized for mobile devices typically see higher engagement rates. When recipients can easily interact with your content, they are more likely to click through to your website, participate in your campaigns, or make donations. A study by M+R Benchmarks in 2021 found that email accounted for 28% of all online revenue for nonprofits. Strategize and execute your email so you aren’t closing the door on that opportunity.
Experiment with different send times and use data to discover when your audience engages with your emails. Whenever you send emails, establish a consistent schedule so your audiences can anticipate messaging. Routine messages set the stage so your emergency appeals don’t get lost in the noise. Your supporters should not only hear from you during the year-end campaign. When you have timely needs for an emergency campaign, the urgency of it stands out because your other messages are reliably timed throughout the year.
Keep frequency in mind, too. Whether you wear all the hats or you are part of a larger organization, make sure you’re not overwhelming subscribers by sending too many emails within a week or on the same day. Instead, balance a schedule that engages your audience over time, and once you find a frequency that works, stick to a consistent schedule.
Like tracking how many seeds sprout in a garden bed or what grows best in the soil quality will help you plan for better harvests, the more you track essential KPIs on your emails the better you can fine-tune the messages you send. Below are some key indicators we check for our clients:
📧 Open rates
✅ Click rates
➡ Conversion rates
❌ Other engagement levels like bounce rates and unsubscribe rates
Review this data regularly to analyze your email performance and identify trends. Set a schedule (i.e. monthly, quarterly) that fits with your frequency, and discuss what you learn with colleagues or peers. Easy as it is to silo ourselves within an organization, your email strategy will thrive better (just like plants in the sunshine!) when you give it light and multiple sets of eyes. Use what you learn and keep your strategy growing stronger over time.
You know we love a good gardening analogy here at the blog, so I’ll leave you with this – just as a trusty gardener plans their plot, regularly checks plant health, and adjusts when needed, so should you thoughtfully create an email strategy and continually analyze your email performance. By engaging your audience with compelling content, tracking key performance metrics and continuously refining your approach, you can ensure your fundraising efforts bloom throughout the second half of the year.
Remember, the seeds of success are planted with strategic planning and nurtured through consistent effort. Implement these tips and watch your email campaigns flourish, driving greater engagement and support for your nonprofit’s mission.
