Every year online giving rises a bit more, and while we still believe in our old friend direct mail, we urge every nonprofit to put their best foot forward in email.
3 Reasons Email is a Must During End of Year:
- Social media and mobile get the hype, but email continues to demonstrate results. According to the 2012 eNonprofits Benchmark Study email is likely where your nonprofits biggest online audience is.
- Those that prefer giving through direct mail might actually be doing so in response to an email you sent. Email can reinforce direct mail messaging and serve as a reminder so that beautiful mailer doesn’t get forgotten in the junk mail pile.
- The final days of the year are the biggest for online giving. Email is the best way to remind your donors of their last chance to make a tax-deductible donation in 2012!
3 Tips to Make Email a Success
- Timing is everything: Our formula for success is to send a direct mail with the hope it lands in mail boxes the end of November or early December. We include a consistent message to give in an already scheduled e-news update at the beginning of December. An e-solicitation follows that message mid-month to capture everyone’s giving spirit but not get lost during holiday festivities. Then we follow up with a final reminder to give over the last couple days of the year.
- Utilize a match donor challenge to boost giving and help you reach a goal. Ask one of your donors to give a match and share the donor’s story of support in the email to move others to give.
- Share compelling stories, impress with your accomplishments, and show a plan for use of donations to build upon those successes in the future. Ultimately, like direct mail, the stories and images you use to inspire others to give . Most people are visual learners, so utilize infographs to make complex ideas simple and don’t forget the power of a large photo of one or two individuals impacted by your program.
Do you have your own email success stories? Share them in the comments or feel free to ask questions.