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Keep it varied
As a nonprofit, your goal is to increase donations, so you may think that simply repeating this message is the best strategy. But this approach fails to take advantage of the opportunities that email marketing affords charity organisations, so mix things up and maintain your following with engaging content that's varied and interesting.
Think accomplishments within the organisation, general news and event invitations, alongside those all-important donation requests. Throughout all of your emails, there should be a core message which highlights your organisation's values and mission, but the content surrounding that can still be engaging and creative to keep people reading.
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Avoid the spam folder
A large proportion of the emails we receive wind up in the spam folder, so as a nonprofit, you need to be sure that the emails you're sending out are landing in the right folder. There are a few things organisations can do to prevent sending spam emails.
The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations of 2003 states that every email address on your list must be permission-based, so your subscribers need to have an existing relationship with your organisation. Charities should also create emails that blend in with those from family, coworkers and friends, so that they're more likely to be opened.
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Take a patient approach
You don't want to ask your subscribers for money straight away. It's off-putting and doesn't lend itself to building a long-term partnership between your nonprofit and your supporters.
Take the time to build a relationship, educate them on your mission and why they should stay signed up to your email list, before asking for donations.
An automated welcome series that's sent to new subscribers can help to pace out the content they receive before you start sending new emails.
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Follow design best practices
The look of your emails is just as important as the content, and there are some design principles to follow to ensure your emails look their best.
Firstly, ensure that the templates you use fit your organisation's style, and use images that convey the right message and are genuine – don't rely on stock photos.
It's also important that the content is easy to read, using short paragraphs, subheadings and bullet points to keep things brief and concise, even on mobile.
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Use data to inform your content
Tracking the performance of your email campaigns is critical to see what's working and where you need to refine your strategy. Check the key metrics to see where you can improve moving forward.
Check open rates to see how many of your subscribers have opened the email, and click through rates to see how many engaged with the content.
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Focus on storytelling
People want to see how they're contributing to positive change and the work that your organisation is doing, so incorporating storytelling in your email campaigns can showcase your messages in a real and engaging way, rather than focusing on statistics and numbers.
Try to find ways to bring emotion to your emails and make it easy for people to say yes to your requests.
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Create content with purpose
Your nonprofit is unique, and its mission and goals are bespoke to your organisation, so make this the focus of your emails.
Share stories that reinforce your message, such as updates on how donations have helped, and connect the subscriber to your purpose.
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Use different forms of media
Your email isn't just a platform for text and images. It's the perfect place to post dynamic videos that are engaging, easy for subscribers to respond to and get your message across faster.
Most people respond quicker to visuals and a video with real people and a strong message has the potential to increase sign-ups and donations. Make sure that whatever media you use, it's high quality and consistent with your style.
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Help people take actions easily
Open rates are important, but there's more to your email campaigns than that. Keeping your subscribers engaged requires more than just a bold subject line – find ways that you can encourage your readers to take actions without it causing them stress or difficulty.
The more complicated you make it for them to take action, the less likely they are to do so, so keep it simple such as signing a petition.
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Coordinate with other content
Your email list isn't a separate entity to the rest of your content and marketing efforts, so a supporter will be seeing more than just your emails – they'll also be seeing your social media posts and your logo popping up at local events.
A cohesive marketing campaign will ensure that each of your channels works seamlessly together and helps improve brand recognition for your organisation.
One way to achieve this is to repurpose content from blogs or imagery used in direct mail items, but tailoring each piece so it's unique to the channel.
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Create each email with the reader in mind
Nothing is worse for a reader than opening an email, only to find nothing of value or relevance inside. As a nonprofit, you may feel like it's necessary to constantly email your subscribers to keep your organisation front of mind. But if you're not providing something of value and benefit to them, then your emails are likely to be ignored.
With each email you put out into the world, make sure you're doing so with your ideal reader in mind, so you can provide content that enhances your readers life.
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Apply a mobile-first strategy
Over 40% of all emails are opened on mobile devices, so any charity looking to gain support via email needs to take a mobile-first approach to their design and content. If a user can't read it on their mobile or tablet, they're likely to delete it almost immediately, so good design is about far more than just a beautiful looking email – it could cost or earn nonprofits a supporter.
Keep your email newsletters responsive so they will adapt to differently sized devices – using email templates will make the process easy if you don't have an in-house designer.
