E-mail Marketing & Fundraising Fundamentals

About GiveMN

GiveMN is a collaborative nonprofit venture to grow charitable giving in Minnesota

and move more of it online.

GiveMN is an independent 501(c)3 support organization of the

Minnesota Community Foundation, which is an affiliate of Minnesota Philanthropy Partners.

Agenda

1. What to include in your emails2. Timing tips3. Design tips4. Fundraising dos and don’ts5. Examples6. Q & A

Why email? It’s the 1st social network.

• Donors use email

• Donors forward your emails

• Donors are comfortable with the technology

• It’s integrated – mobile phones, tablets, desktops, and laptops

• It may be the one thing that isn’t blocked at work

Why e-newsletters?

• Keep supporters and advocates informed

• Solicit donations

• Share success stories

• Be transparent about your work

• Build relationships

Write emails that get read

• Spend your time and mental energy on the subject line (it’s the only text you’re virtually guaranteed to have read)

• Go for “clean” not “busy”• Go for “succinct” not “wordy”• Create a sense of urgency• Include one strong call to action and make it easy

to know what to do

Email is mobile

Email is mobile

Write mobile-friendly emails

• Keep paragraphs to 1 to 2 sentences

• Give links white space (fingers will thank you)

• Include great photos

• How do your emails render on a smartphone?

Email timing

• It depends on your purpose: inform supporters, solicit donations, share stories

• Monthly for informational emails or sharing stories

• Event driven emails for soliciting donations

• It’s about being timely, relevant, and responsive

Segmentation

• Donors

• Volunteers

• New donors (new in the past 3 months?)

• Recurring donors

• Segment by interest area

Triggers

• New e-newsletter sign ups

• Action based triggers such as ‘clicked through to a link’

• Birthday emails

Designing better emails

• Keep it clean – avoid clutter

• Make links, images, or buttons easy to touch (think mobile)

• Limit to 1 photo

Five Tips for e-Engagement

• Strategic. Plan and be thoughtful.

• Consistent. Use common message or theme.

• Integrated. Anticipate and expect cross-channel giving.

• Congruent. Use unique strength of channel.

• Intentional. Drive toward stated goals.

Thoughts on Donor Email

• You’re not writing so donors will read.You’re writing so donors will act.

• All fundraising copy should sound like someone talking. (George Smith, Tiny Essentials of Writing for Fundraising)

• Why us? Why now? Why should donors care?

• Pronoun check!

E-appeal dos (and don’ts)

• DO: Speak as a real person

• DO: Short, relevant, compelling

• DO: Illustrate. Vivid, emotional need or impact

• DO: Storytelling should be personal, individual, local, relatable

• DO: The “ask.” Motivate reader to click and act

• DO: Motivate readers. Timely impact of ask

Trigger email after an event

Year end email

Questions?

Give to the Max Day Logo Contest

• Deadline is June 28

• Design a square logo

• Submit it as an .eps file

• Submission details at http://blog.givemn.org

• Winner receives $250 GiveMN Giving Card