5 Fundraising Email Do’s and Don’ts: How to Create Campaigns That Convert

As a nonprofit, you’ve got several methods to engage your audience. Some are more traditional, like outreach calls or in-person events, while others are part of a digital approach, like online articles and social media ads. To execute them, you usually need a significant investment in time and money or a great deal of effort from volunteers or employees.

And then there’s email fundraising, which works well with budget constraints. It brings better results as time goes by, too. 52% of marketers saw a two-time improvement in their email ROI in 2023 compared to 2022. This improved performance demonstrates that email is still thriving.

Fundraising emails allow you to reach prospective and current supporters in their most personal space online. There, you can forge meaningful and lasting connections that go beyond fundraising, serving objectives like boosting awareness or motivating volunteers. 

Getting there requires strategic planning and sticking to the most effective practices to stand out in inboxes. In this post, you’ll discover the best ways to build and nurture trusting relationships with potential donors. Also, we’ll reveal a few common mistakes you should avoid for better outcomes and lifetime engagement.

Fundraising Email Do’s and Don’ts: How to Create Campaigns That Convert

Effective fundraising emails can drive more donations and engagement. A well-crafted message inspires action and builds trust. Follow these essential do’s and don’ts to create high-converting campaigns.

1. Don’t Send the Same Message to your Entire List

Once someone subscribes to our email list, it’s easy to assume they want to hear everything we have to say. While they’re definitely interested, not all updates will be relevant to everyone. Keep in mind that each subscriber has unique interests, needs, and concerns. Some may prefer to test the waters first, whereas others are ready to contribute right away. 

Today, people expect tailored communication. Breaking your list into smaller and detailed groups responds to that need. Categorize your audience based on criteria like:

• Demographics
• Location
• Donation history
• Engagement levels
• Content preferences
• Specific cause interests

Effective segmentation in nonprofit email marketing paves the way for delivering laser-focused email content. For instance, you won’t go ahead with an immediate donation request to someone who just signed up. It’s wiser to give them a warm welcome and offer helpful resources that educate them about your mission and progress. 

Likewise, repeat donors should receive emails with gratitude messages and donation impact details, highlighting how they help you drive change. 

Personalization in fundraising emails goes a long way. If you use storytelling in emails, you might want to adjust this kind of content, too. Perhaps your organization operates worldwide. In this case, use stories featuring individuals from their region. 

It’s not easy to have success stories from every region, though. Other parameters influence emotions. Search for common characteristics between subscribers and the protagonist, such as their interests, and highlight them to create relatable messages. 

Source

Earthjustice sends a personalized thank-you email to the recipient. Considering their engagement level, the nonprofit includes grateful language to show appreciation for their monthly support. Also, the email copy goes through all the ways in which their contributions help the brand continue their work. Little details like the inclusion of Earthjustice’s contact details in case of suggestions or the president’s signature can go a long way to building a connection.

2. Write Outstanding Subject Lines

As opposed to what the saying suggests, many people judge a book by its cover. The same goes for emails. Readers often determine whether an email is worth their time from the subject line. A great fundraising email will do you no good if it doesn’t get opened. This is why you should follow these helpful tips to ensure increased open rates:

• Keep your subject lines short, ideally below 50 characters, so they don’t get cut on mobile devices. Still, they should reveal what your email is about.
  
• Ensure they match the email message. Don’t mislead readers with cryptic or irrelevant subjects—it’s both annoying and illegal in specific regions. If you say you have exciting news and the email CTA asks for a donation, chances are you’ll drive them away.
  
• Intrigue readers with impressive statistics to showcase your work’s tangible results. “75% of bear species are threatened with extinction” works better than “Help us save the bear population.”
  
• Pose a cause-related question that makes subscribers interested in reading more. For example, use something like “Did you know that $20 can save a child from going hungry?”
  
• Instill urgency with words like “X days left,” “urgent,” “today,” etc. But be specific about it. For example, “urgent request on X cause” will perform better than a generic subject line. Also, don’t use this email tactic when your message isn’t in fact, time-sensitive as it will result in distrust.
  
• Be authentic and creative. Although practices like using statistics or urgency elements work, add your brand personality to your subject lines so readers can easily recognize your emails.

Email subject lines go hand in hand with preview texts, influencing a recipient’s decision to open your email. They complement your subject, providing additional context. This is why it should align with the subject line without repeating its core information—and be equally compelling.

3. Share Success Stories

The human brain is wired to respond to great stories. Chip and Dan Heath conducted an experiment for their book, Made to Stick. Two student groups were asked to prepare a short speech. To convey their message, one of them used statistics and the other stories. Once the experiment was over, the authors found that stories were 12-13 times more memorable than statistics. 

People are more likely to find inspiration in stories compared to pure numbers or abstract causes. That’s why storytelling in fundraising emails works, helping you convince your readers of the difference you make.   

Think of stories as your email hero. This means you should focus on a specific cause and story rather than listing every initiative. Ensure the success stories in your emails are centered around a single person so readers can empathize. Also, use straightforward language in your messages, staying away from complex phrases. 

However, even when you focus on one person or story, make sure to include info that will make readers act. After reading your email, they should be able to answer: Why is my donation important? How will it help? 

The more details you include about the individual and the donation impact, the deeper the connection with the person involved. Even more so if you can pair the story with strong visuals like images or videos. Putting a face to the story inspires action while showcasing authenticity. 

Source

Charity: water shares Kabita’s story to highlight the power of donations. The strong heading reflecting the email’s focus point and the relevant image portraying Kabita’s classroom catches attention instantly. Her quotes and the results in numbers summarize the donation impact. Closing with a strong message that praises the subscriber’s generosity and a heartwarming image of Kabita and her students, this email ticks all the boxes of effective storytelling.

4. Incorporate Impactful Visuals

What performs equally well as stories? High-quality, powerful visuals. A busy reader might skim through a large part of your email. But assets like images in emails are likely to catch the reader’s eye and make them read through. Plus, visual elements have the power to immerse people in a diverse world. 

Which of these scenarios will have a bigger impact: Sharing the story of Dolores, a single homeless mother? Or showing Dolores standing in front of her home after a natural disaster? And then, another image of her standing in front of her brand-new house, smiling as volunteers bring supplies to help her start over? 

This kind of visual storytelling helps nonprofits convey messages more effectively and ensure authentic content. Readers come across the hard reality of natural disasters and understand the urgent nature of the request. The “after” image of Dolores showcases the tangible impact of donations. This journey from despair to hope compels action as subscribers feel their support has life-changing results.

Visuals aren’t limited to images and videos. Infographics work equally well to enhance your message. With them, you can turn complex statistics into easily digestible content that recipients will both enjoy and understand. 

Make sure you don’t overdo it with visual content, though. Too many graphics could turn readers off and give your email a cluttered look. On top of that, it might not make it through spam filters as excessive visuals in emails are considered a spammy practice.

Source

In this fundraising email, Kampgrounds of America incorporates an impactful image of children having fun in summer camp. Cleverly placed above the fold, it’s ideal to introduce the reader to the core message. They didn’t stop there, though, but added images of children doing activities to highlight how donations allow these little heroes to retreat from reality. 

5. Don’t Overlook Following Up

The main purpose of sending fundraising campaigns is to get donations. Once you achieve it, it’s essential not to cut off communication with subscribers. Now is the moment to show gratitude and let supporters know you value their support. Saying thank you goes a long way, making donors feel seen.

But that’s not all. Following up can secure more donations. How? The answer is simple. By staying in touch with subscribers after they’ve put in a donation, you invest in donor retention. With the right thank-you email, you can keep engaging subscribers. This is also an invaluable opportunity to explain how you’re planning to use their donations—if you haven’t already.

As you continue to share stories, project updates, statistics, and results, your mission stays at the top of minds. Even if your follow-up email doesn’t do the trick, ongoing and consistent communication could be what they need to make a second donation down the line.

A post-donation email could also serve to offer subscribers the option to subscribe to a monthly or yearly donation program. If you decide to do so, provide readers with various donation amounts and include information on the specific outcomes each amount will bring.

Choosing a Reliable and Affordable Email Platform: The Secret to Long-Term Success

It takes effort and careful thought to promote and raise funds for your nonprofit cause. What you don’t need is to stretch your resources for maximum impact. Affordable email marketing tools take the budget constraints out of the equation, offering you solutions to create impactful fundraising emails. 

By investing in a solid email marketing platform, you get to create fundraising emails easily and quickly without the need for technically skilled staff. Search for a tool with built-in nonprofit email templates to tailor and reuse in different campaigns. This process allows for professional, branded, and consistent emails, regardless of their unique purpose.

Another advantage of these platforms is that you don’t need to start big. Most of them are scalable, adjusting the pricing and features as your list and needs grow. Even so, your team will have no extra workload since they can automate a large part of their workflow, setting key sequences like welcome or re-engagement campaigns on autopilot.

Last but not least, the right email tool ensures you stick to one of the most important email practices. And that’s reiterating and refining. For example, performing regular A/B testing helps you check two email variants and identify the best-performing assets, e.g., subject lines, preview texts, layouts, CTAs, etc. 

You also get detailed reporting on critical metrics like open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and unsubscribed, offering you a roadmap on what works and what doesn’t. This way, you can adopt an ongoing-improvement mindset and secure long-term donations—but, above all, connections.