The average office worker in the United States receives around 120 emails per day. And almost half of those are considered spam. So, you’ll need an effective strategy to rise above the noise with your nonprofit’s next email campaign.
But it’s not easy to stand out. And grabbing your audience’s attention is only the first piece of the puzzle. Your emails need to provide a clear path for engagement and make it easy for your recipients to follow through.
Here’s four things you need to know.
1. Make sure it’s mobile friendly.
Remember, 54 percent of nonprofit emails are opened on a mobile device. So, a mobile-first strategy is essential.
Users shouldn’t have to pinch, zoom, and scroll around the page.
So, make sure it’s easy for recipients to move seamlessly from their inbox to your donation page. Anything you can do to make that process easier for your next email campaign will benefit your organization and fundraising capacity.
Most email hosting services know how important mobile optimization is and offer a mobile preview before sending. Use this tool to ensure your emails read well on a small screen!
Do your emails take too long to load? Try condensing the images in your emails and donation page, so your audience doesn’t click away. According to a report by Think with Google, 53 percent of visits are likely to be abandoned if pages take longer than 3 seconds to load.
And don’t forget to make sure it’s easy to give! Enlarge your CTA buttons so they can’t be missed. In-text links can be a real pain to click on a small screen. So, make sure every clickable element in an appeal email leads to your donation page.
READ MORE: Why mobile optimization is crucial for nonprofits.
2. Always be evolving.
Are you keeping the latest trends in mind when planning your nonprofit’s email campaigns?
Unfortunately, many nonprofit professionals are still unclear about how Apple Mail’s privacy protection impacts email analytics.
Feeling out of the loop? The most important thing to know is that clicks are now a more reliable way to track email engagement than opens.
And don’t forget to run A/B tests to learn more about your audience’s email preferences. Make sure you track specific donors and donor segments to see how they respond to changes you make. This is the key to understanding what adjustments will benefit your approach the most.
And try to think of new ways to segment your audience in your next email campaign! For example, you can create two versions of your year-end appeal email, one for GivingTuesday donors and one for non GivingTuesday donors.
READ MORE: What’s happening to your email open rate?
3. Have a sense of style.
Every email shouldn’t give off the same vibe. Thank you emails, appeals, eNewsletters, and announcements should all have a distinct feel.
For example, your eNewsletter lends itself well to a unique design, images, and a sidebar with links to other content. But you won’t take this approach for a thank you email.
Consider ditching the fancy layouts in your thank you messages. An email that feels like it was typed at someone’s desk moments before pressing send makes donors feel like they are being acknowledged on an individual level.
And don’t be afraid to borrow from your print pieces for your nonprofit’s next email campaign! You can help connect the dots for donors by repurposing images, fonts, and design themes from your print appeal in your email asks.
READ MORE: Why aren’t donors engaging with your emails?
4. Who’s it from?
Have you tried experimenting with who is listed as the email sender? Using a real person, rather than your organization, makes the recipient feel less like one name out of thousands on an email list.
So, consider sending your emails from someone who the recipient is already familiar with. For example, emails to your major donors can come from your major gifts officer. Those who have volunteered in the past can receive emails from your volunteer coordinator!
And consider sending an email from someone who’s not employed by your organization at all! Emails from high-level donors, well-known volunteers, or the people your organization benefits are a great way to provide some variety in your nonprofit’s email campaigns.
READ MORE: Using your nonprofit’s data to optimize email outreach.
Want to go in depth?
A donor’s inbox is a noisy place. And nonprofits raise an average of just $17 for every 1,000 fundraising emails they send, according to Nonprofits Source. We don’t think that’s good enough!
Remember, opens and clicks don’t mean anything if the rest of your email doesn’t inspire your audience to follow through with a donation.
Or click here if you’d rather schedule a chat with a development strategist!
