Email Fundraising 101: Best Practices for Grassroots Email Campaigns
“How did I get on this list?”
“Straight to the trash folder!”
“It’s all spam. There’s no way these emails raise money.”
“My name is not PAMELA! Where are they getting this information?”
As baffling as it may be…digital fundraising and targeting small donors works!
According to ActBlue, over 7.4 million unique donors give 86 million contributions to 27,305 campaigns and organizations during the 2022 cycle, totaling $3.5 billion.
A well-run email program is a critical tool to reach and engage your target audience. It’s a direct line to your supporters, donors, and potential voters. However, making your emails stand out in crowded inboxes and ensuring they effectively convey your message is no small feat. Dozens of best practices and hours of analysis go into doing it right.
While obviously we would love to be the professionals who help you create the digital program of your dreams, (call us!) we know these services are not in everyone’s price range — so here are a few tips to make even the most grassroots email campaigns more effective:
Keep things simple.
Use straightforward language and short sentences to ensure your emails are easily skimmed.
Make your hard ask brief, clear, and functional. “Click here to”, “sign up here for”, “Donate $8 now” etc. And make sure you’re only asking for one thing per email.
Create and reuse campaign branding in every email you send so as not to confuse your audience and give you less work loading the email.
Repeat your message often. Attention spans are short and inboxes are crowded.
Give folks a clear way to unsubscribe — not only is it the law, but it will reduce the number of people marking your email as spam and harming your program.
Keep things interesting.
Visual elements like bold, italics, underline, buttons and graphics break up blocks of text and catch readers’ attention.
Switch up the sender name to avoid inbox fatigue. Not every email has to come from First Name Last Name for Office. This is a great opportunity to introduce your supporters to your team, your family, or your endorsers (with their permission, of course).
Avoid generic subject lines like “last chance to give” or “deadline at midnight” to make opening the email more likely.
Rotate the types of emails you send. If you only ever ask for money, people will stop opening them and you’re more likely to get tagged as spam. Taking advantage of breaking news or big campaign updates can help here.
Ensure your data is clean and up to date so emails are going to the right people at the right time.
Above all else: Always proof your emails before sending. Errors can damage your credibility and cause embarrassment. And broken links hurt fundraising efforts!
These tips only scratch the surface of bending algorithms to your will and strategically engaging your supporters through email.
But if you follow these basics and keep growing your list over time (you have sign up sheets for a reason!!!) you can turn even the smallest list into a source of consistent donations to help you meet your campaign budget.
This post was written by the Evinco Strategies Digital Department. Want to get expert advice on coding, list growth, click rates, data health and accuracy, and other aspects of digital campaigning? Book a call now.