Getting More People To Open Your Nonprofit eNewsletter

What are some of your issues with your e-newsletter?

a) It's written by committeeb) No one signs up for itc) No one clicks donate through itd) No one opens ite) Only my friends read it.

Poll questions

What are you hoping to get out of today?

a) New e-newsletter subject linesb) Tactics to get people to open the e-newsletterc) E-newsletter headlinesd) All of the abovee) A magic bullet system that will allow me to achieve millionaire status in 5 seconds

Poll questions

What You'll Learn Today

1) Best Subject Lines2) Formatting rules3) Cheapest & most useful email clients4) Innovations in e-newsletters5) Case studies of incredible e-newsletters6) What kind of photos to use7) Where to put the donate button8) Lolcats (just checking to see if you're paying attention!)

What is your most powerful social media tool?

Pop Quiz!

a.) Twitterb.) Facebookc.) Emaild.) Bloge.) Your face

Why is email so important?

What are the best subject lines?1. Free2. New3. At last4. This5. Announcing6. Warning!7. Just released8. Now9. Here's10. These*

FACT: No one will donate via your enewsletter if you can't get them to OPEN it. These subject lines pique curiosity

* From Cashvertising by Drew Whitman

AND LISTS! (From Smithsonian Magazine)

What are the best subject lines?11. Last chance12. Hurry13. Quick14. Easy15. Sensational16. Remarkable17. Revolutionary18. Startling19. Just Arrived20. Important Development21. Introducing22. The Truth About23. Offering24. Suddenly25. Amazing

These sorts of headlines are favored by Dr. Mercola, who has one of the biggest circulation e-newsletters in the world.

What are the best subject lines?Warn people about something.

Use I

Use the word You

Feature your offer

Use the word Why or How

Use the word breakthrough

Example from Dr. Mercola's website

Must Know

Use the words You, How, Announcing

Test your subject lines

Using the subject line “Our quarterly newsletter” is not going to cut it.

What are the best subject lines?Must Do

Subscribe to these e-newsletters and LEARN:

Dr. Mercola Tom Ahern Smithsonian NAPCO Online Marketing Wild Woman Fundraising

What are some e-newsletter formatting rules?

Remember a big header with a real headline.

Always have a caption with your picture.

Give us a big picture of what you're doing

Black writing on a white background is easiest to read.

Sans serif fonts

Make your headline POP! (Example on the right from Tom Ahern's Enewsletter)

Make sure you have a text only version that can stand alone, without pictures

Think of this formula: 1 email, 1 purpose

What are some e-newsletter formatting rules?

Case studies of incredible newsletters

Start with the word YOU

Keep making the donor the hero, help them feel involved

Good headline!

Personal, conversational tone

“How” is a strong opener

Picture of the problem & captionWhat to do? Call to Action

Case studies of incredible newsletters

Innovations in e-newsletters

The Gates Foundation uses lists

The Gates Foundation is not above shocking people, AND using the word YOU

What do you notice here?

What technique is this using?


Previews of enewsletters

From Smithsonian.com


Segment Your Target Audience based on what they click on.

Are you looking for:

Donations Sponsorships Volunteers In-Kind Donations Gala event attendees Family & friends of people

you serve

Segment your e-newsletters

How can we improve these e-newsletters?What can we change to make this more effective?

Instead of this headline, try:

“Do you like riding your bike for good causes? Join us on August 11th!”

Change headline to “Save Money on Your Taxes” (with a Tax-Deductible Gift to CVCJ)

Your Turn!

What do you see?

How can we improve these e-newsletters?

Poll questions Have you surveyed your e-newsletter subscribers to see where they hear about you?

a) Yes b) Noc) I'm far too busy to do that.

Have you surveyed your current donors to see where they hear about you?

a) Yesb) Noc) Only informally.. no process for this.

Cheapest and most useful email clients?

MailChimp

Pros Free for up to 2,000 subscribers

Easy to edit the format of the enewsletter

Democracy Now uses MailChimp, must be working for them!

Emma

You have to pay $30 after 1,000 subscribers

You have to pay $45 after 2,500 subscribers

Hard to make custom e-newsletter signups

A lot of people don't use images in their emails, or check email on their phone, and a custom design doesn't help there.

Offers custom design services for your emails

Pros Cons


iContact Hard to make custom enewsletter signups

Not double opt-in, more likely to be marked as spam.

Their customer support is outsourced overseas

Cons


Constant Contact

It looks different in each email client, which can be frustrating

More expensive than other options, $30 for over 500 emails

Hard to make custom enewsletter signups

You're more likely to be marked as spam.

Data you get is not actionable

Their customer support is in America and they pick up the phone pretty fast.

Connects with Donor Perfectdatabase

Pros

Cons


Pros Cons$19/month for up to 1,000 subscribers

Can create many e-newsletter signup forms easily

Easy to segment list

Easy to see data about list

Best deliverability rates

Double opt-in means fewer email signups

Cannot just add names from speaking engagements

Their WSIWIG editor is difficult to use.

Aweber


Pros Cons

Can create many e-newsletter signup forms easily

Easy to segment list

Single opt-in

Tech support is native English speakers

Sometimes emails don't get sent

Had a DDOS attack a month or two ago

GetResponse


What kind of photos NOT to use Administrators in a row People waving goodbye Fuzzy close ups of thank

you notes. Open sores. Sexy teenagers Men with mustaches

What kind of photos to use Children Animals Pictures of your

constituents being helped by your staff.

Pictures of staff helping solve the problem.

Screenshots from RLSB Little Heroes Appeal 2012 by Craig Linton

Where to put the donate link You don't have to be fancy.

Look at this piece of genius from Marie Forleo.

One Link. One purpose.

Nice headline!

Getting More People To Open Your Nonprofit eNewsletter

Technology

Transcript of Getting More People To Open Your Nonprofit eNewsletter