The data is in, and email marketing is hard with reports showing a 7% decline in revenue generated from email in 2023. However, rather than giving up on email, nonprofits should take these reports as an opportunity to assess the productivity of their email fundraisers.
So ask yourself, are supporters engaging with your emails, and what about your emails encourages them to engage? The first question can be answered by looking at your metrics, but if you aren’t sure about the second one, then this article is for you.
In this guide, we’ll break down the components of email marketing to help fundraisers craft messages that engage supporters, limit churn, and inspire long-term giving.
Audience Assessment
When writing a fundraising email, it may be easy to automatically think of your nonprofit’s goal, which is to earn donations to support your work. But what are the goals of the supporters opening your emails?
Before writing your next fundraising email, assess your target audience. As part of this assessment, you should consider their:
- Goals. What will supporters’ goals likely be when you reach out to them? For example, during a holiday fundraiser, many supporters may be looking for gifts for family and friends, meaning emails that emphasize your merchandise or the ability to make a donation in someone else’s name might perform better than a program update.
- Interests. Based on your demographic data and interactions with supporters, what types of content are your supporters likely interested in? This might be a specific program that received heightened attention, boosted participation in advocacy efforts, or increased participation in engagement opportunities like events.
- Obstacles. What might prevent a supporter from opening your email or taking action? If your email is overwhelming or has an unclear message, the recipient’s obstacle might just be confusion, which can be rectified with new messaging strategies.
Use this information to construct donor profiles. Donor profiles represent large segments of your audience since it’s easier to market to one hypothetical person than an entire crowd. Create donor profiles for each unique segment of your audience you intend to market to, such as new donors, recurring donors, and volunteers.
Consider what would motivate each of these groups to open and take action when reading one of your emails. Then, create unique email templates catered to each group.
Email Components
All emails have the same basic components, whether it’s a thank-you email, weekly newsletter, or donation request. Let’s explore tips for how to create effective fundraising emails, no matter the context.
Subject Lines
Subject lines are meant to grab supporters’ attention. In most online nonprofit marketing plans, these supporters have already interacted with your nonprofit at least once, whether it was to donate, volunteer, or subscribe to your newsletter.
As such, they’re at least somewhat familiar with your nonprofit, which means you can get a bit creative with your subject lines. Rather than subject lines like “Donation Request from X Nonprofit,” try experimenting with attention-grabbing ones that:
- Ask questions. Try asking questions supporters either feel compelled to answer themselves or would be curious about enough to learn more. For example, “Are you ready to donate?” isn’t a compelling question, but “Do you know where your donations are going?” is.
- Present interesting facts. Statistics and facts can be useful for starting conversations and creating a sense of urgency. For example, an environmental group might present a statistic about the impact of pollution, or a homeless shelter might share how many people on average go without shelter every day.
- Reference ongoing events. Try referencing events that are relevant to your supporters, whether it’s based on the time of year or events happening in the news. Think of how political campaign emails often touch on major issues that are likely to incite emotion.
When it comes to the length of your subject lines, shorter is better. Try to stick to 60 characters or less to prevent your subject lines from getting cut off, especially on mobile devices.
Copy
For fundraising emails, the ultimate goal is to encourage supporters to donate. However, the best copy for persuading them to take that action depends on your audience. To create messages that engage your supporters, try these strategies:
- Personalization. When creating email templates, add placeholders that can be filled in with details about the specific recipient. For example, in an email template for your mid-level donors, you might reference the total amount they’ve given to your nonprofit and provide examples of how that support helped further your cause.
- Storytelling. Stories are memorable and are more likely to stick in your supporters’ minds or even be shared with friends and family. Collect stories from your beneficiaries, volunteers, and staff that can be shared with donors. In these stories, focus on one specific character and share specific details about their experience.
- Donor-centric language. These emails are ultimately for your donors, so ensure the language you use focuses on your donors. WildApricot’s guide to donation thank-you letters provides a few examples of donor-centric language, such as “Because of you…” and “You make X possible,” in contrast to non-donor-centric language, like “Our nonprofit’s accomplishments” and “Our team is making a difference.”
Of course, also refer back to your donor profiles. For example, you might create a thoughtful story about a planned donor who was able to secure their legacy to encourage new planned gifts. No matter how effective this fundraising email is, it’s unlikely to do well if sent to your college-aged volunteers. Always match your emails to the audience.
Images
Images immediately draw the eye and can add a spark of fun, incite emotion, or demonstrate impact. eCardWidget’s thank-you email guide shares a template of how you can feature images in your thank-you emails, which also works for fundraising emails:
What makes a compelling visual depends on your audience and your email’s tone. For example, a serious, emotionally driven fundraising appeal may feature real photos of beneficiaries to encourage supporters to connect with your cause.
In contrast, a fundraising email meant to invoke excitement or joy might use a lighthearted illustration. For example, nonprofit eCards, like this one from Peace Winds America, engage donors through positive emotions:
Call to Action
Calls to action (CTAs) are a part of your emails’ copy but are important enough to warrant extra attention. Ultimately, your CTA is where you explain what supporters should do after reading your email.
For fundraising emails, this might be a message as simple as “Donate now!” and a link to your donation page. You can get creative with the language in your CTAs, but always make sure it’s clear to supporters what action they are meant to take. For example, most supporters can infer that “Join our donor community” is likely a donation request, but “Make the world a better place” might be too vague.
Additionally, limit your emails to one CTA per email. Multiple CTAs, such as asking supporters to donate, volunteer, and buy your merchandise, can be overwhelming and lead to no action being taken. Plus, by focusing on just one CTA, you can ensure your fundraising emails’ content is focused as well.
Donor retention is tricky, especially with fundraising email revenue on the decline. However, the right strategies that show you understand your donors, share content relevant to their interests, and invoke specific actions can help set your nonprofit’s email fundraisers up for success.