— by Marlin Communications
The power of email marketing is not limited to the business industry; it extends to non-profit organizations as well. With the right email content and clear call-to-action (CTA), you can reach donors, members, and volunteers, build a long-lasting relationship, and instil the goal of the cause. Let’s explore how having an email marketing campaign can positively impact your non-profit organization’s bottom line and its purpose.
You’ll expand your reach and grow your audience
One advantage of email marketing for non-profit organizations is you reach a wider audience – there are over 3 billion email users across the globe according to Statista. Plus, supporters can send and share your content to friends and family in just one click. If you don’t have an email list yet, you can start by including email sign-up form in your website. People that are going to your website are already aware, at a certain degree, who and what the organization stands for. You need to encourage them to stay in touch by joining your newsletter. However, don’t just randomly add a sign-up link in your website. You need to strategically place sign-up forms on pages that are receiving high traffic. You should also position the sign-up button above the fold so it’s easy to find.
The content of the email form can be anything from exclusive news or insights but make sure to have a simple and clear sign-up section where prospects can join the cause in a matter of seconds. Don’t overcomplicate it with unnecessary and privy sign-up fields like credit card details and preferred payment method. Also, you should let prospects know and understand what they are joining for, and what you intend to send in their inboxes. Make your intentions clear and concise. Remember, the goal is to acquire emails and build your subscriber list.
If you want to expand your efforts to the younger generation, millennials react more positively with online efforts – 70% of them have donated via online, and 65% prefer news and updates through emails.
You’ll spend less time, money and effort
Sending an email on a weekly or monthly basis requires less time and effort on your end. It is also cost-efficient because you don’t have to pay for printing, shipping, and other overhead costs. To make your campaign effective, you shouldn’t stick to email blasting or sending one generic email to all of your subscribers. You should segment your non-profit organization’s email list according to behaviour and interest.
One way to segment your list is by looking at their donation frequency. For first-time donors, your content should strengthen your connection. A simple thank you email with details about the cause and its vision, goal and impact is a great way to build a relationship among supporters and the organization. Make your message simple, clear, and sincere so they can feel they are part of the cause. You can also apply the same method for recurring donors. To set them apart, you can give them an update on how their donation made an impact on the organization’s work. You can step up your campaign efforts by sending birthday and holiday greetings. Make sure to strengthen the relationship before soliciting for another donation.
You’ll be able to track and measure campaign results
With direct email, there’s no way to tell if your supporters can see and read your message or if they’ve immediately tossed it in the trash. In email marketing, you can instantly monitor your campaign’s effectiveness through data-driven metric or results. With the data on hand, you can experiment and have a more tailor-fit and valuable content for your supporters. There are three email metrics you should keep your eyes on. They are open rates; the number of subscribers who opened your email, click-through rates; how many recipients clicked the CTA, and conversion rates; subscribers who completed the intended action.
If subscribers suddenly become unengaged with your campaign, ask yourself: are you always asking for a donation? If your answer is a yes, you need to diversify the type of content you send. You can share case studies, upcoming charity drives, monthly organization success, and even charity stories. By doing so, you can uplift the morale of supporters and donors and most importantly, let your recipients know that their hard-earned money is put to good use. Don’t limit yourself with written content; you can try other content forms like videos or GIFs.
You can make more impact by personalizing your emails – donors are more likely to respond and donation rates are also six times higher if your email is personalized. But how do you make your emails personalized? You need to use email segmentation. Email segmentation is grouping subscribers based on different data like interest, behaviour, and location, and then matching their needs with targeted and relevant content.
Personalisation doesn’t need to be time-consuming. You can use dynamic content. Dynamic content allows you to cut-back time and effort. All you have to do is create an email, and its content will automatically change according to a subscriber’s behaviour or interest. Another advanced email personalisation technique you can try is behaviour triggered emails. Just like dynamic content, behaviour triggered emails are automated. You need to set a workflow or sequencing for proper execution. For example, if a subscriber donates to the cause, you can have a trigger set to automatically send a thank-you email with more information about the non-profit or the latest news and milestone.
The design also contributes to developing a long-lasting relationship with supporters. Keep your email simple and organized with thought and emotion-provoking headline and a bold call-to-action.
Wrap up
Non-profit or not, email marketing, if done right, is a powerful digital marketing channel that can bridge the gap between an organization and its followers and make the cause’s goals reachable.
This is a guest post from our email marketing and marketing automation partners Campaign Monitor. To learn more about their services visit their website.
* Photo by Raw Pixel.
