Raise More By Avoiding “One Size Fits All” Email Appeals

Ever buy something that’s “one size fits all?” Maybe a hat or pair of gloves?

It usually doesn’t work out so well.

The same is true with your holiday email appeals.

While nonprofits often deliver highly relevant content in direct mail appeals – based on giving history, interests and past actions – that approach isn’t always carried over to their email appeals.

Delivering relevant content to your audiences, though, can significantly increase email click-through rates. *

So, utilize all that great information in your database to deliver the right email message to the right audience.  Said another way – what works offline also works online.

Examples and practical tips to live by

Several of our Blackbaud nonprofit customers have recently had incredible success using a personalized approach to email:

1) An animal rights organization doubled click-through ratesby personalizing an event email invitation with:

• The last year people attended
• How much the event raised that year

2) A medical foundation exceeded their fundraising goals and averaged over $1,000 per gift when they personalized their email appeal by:

• Thanking people for last year’s gift (in the headline and first paragraph)
• Including last year’s gift amount
• Including how last year’s donations were used

3) A university found their newsletter open rates increased by 7-12% when they personalized the first story within a newsletter to different audiences.

What if I don’t have the data?

You may be wondering “How can I ask personalize our email if we only have someone’s email address?”

My answer would be start finding out more. Ask for interests during the email signup process. Give current subscribers the opportunity to tell you what they like. Capture more info during event registrations. The point is to get creative in how you capture info about your supporters.

Analyze the stats of previous emails. For example, if you’ve sent an email alert on lung cancer research, recipients who clicked-through that message may be interested in lung cancer funding opportunities in your next email appeal.

When making a hard ask

When asking for donations, include funding opportunities that match your constituents’ interests. If you’re asking for unrestricted donations, position your ask in a way that speaks to their interests.

Your constituents will likely only take a few seconds to decide whether to hit “Delete” or keep reading. Relevant content may be what catches their attention, establishes a connection and keeps them reading.

Personalize or die

If you’re not delivering personalized content, your email could negatively impact your relationships. Send too many “one size fits all” emails and you risk decreased interest, lower attention levels and, ultimately, less engaged constituents.

*MailerMailer’s 2010 Email Marketing Metrics Report, MarketingSherpa “Email Marketing Benchmark Guide” 2008.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mike Snusz

Mike Snusz brings over 11+ years of nonprofit experience to his role as a principal strategy consultant at Blackbaud. He focuses on helping nonprofits create online fundraising, email, P2P, social media, SEO, analytics and website optimization strategies to maximize giving opportunities. Mike previously managed the turnaround of the Ride For Roswell, including the event’s growth from $330,000 to $1.2 million over a three-year period. Connect with Mike on LinkedIn and Twitter at @mikesnusz. To learn how Mike can help your organization’s next fundraising campaign, contact him at mike.snusz@blackbaud.com.