Nonprofit Email Campaigns: Anatomy 101
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Email Campaigns: Anatomy 101 Annaliese Hoehling, Membership & Outreach, NTEN http://nten.org
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"Email Campaigns: Anatomy 101 With all the buzz about social media and social networks, sometimes we forget that email is still king when it comes to communicating with our supporters and constituents. Even across different age and community demographics, email is a key component of your outreach and fundraising efforts. To make it work for your fundraising and advocay goals, though, you'll need to be strategic about how you use email as part of your communications strategy. This presentation covers: * What makes a campaign a ""campaign"" anyway? * Tips and Templates for your email campaign plan * How to track your campaign with metrics * Where to get more help Intended for: nonprofit staff and leaders who want to jump-start or improve their email communications strategy. This session is best for beginners in nonprofit communications and fundraising roles. Come with your questions, examples, and colleagues!"
Transcript of Nonprofit Email Campaigns: Anatomy 101
Email Campaigns: Anatomy 101
Annaliese Hoehling, Membership & Outreach, NTEN
http://nten.org
What is a “campaign” anyway?
A set of emails with one objective/goal
Conducted over a time period Targeted to specific audience(s) NOT one email to everyone in
your contacts list NOT the same email sent out
multiple times
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When to use a campaign?
Annual fundraising drive Annual membership drive Long-term advocacy appeal Recurring/Automatic “welcome” or “get
engaged” series to new subscribers
A campaign needs lead time for planning, and involves a progression of a message
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How to Plan Your Campaign
Define your objective/goal: StrategicallyAdvocacy?Fundraising?Engagement?
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How to Plan Your Campaign Define your objective/goal: Quantitatively
Advocacy? # signatures # phone calls
Fundraising? Total $
# new donors Increased $ from returning donors
Engagement? # new event attendees # new volunteers # new subscribers
Flickr: Carubahttp://nten.org
How to Plan Your Campaign
Define timeline and messaging frequency 1 Month? (advocacy, for example)
4 emails, 1/week? 2 Months? (engagement, for example)
4 emails, 1 every other week? 3 Months? (membership drive, for example)
6 emails, 2/month?
Don’t forget to factor in coordination with other channels like mailings, events, online buzz
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How to Plan Your Campaign Define audience and segments
Returning donors vs. new donors? Active vs. non-active? Demographic segments?
Define message arc What is the story that you need to tell? What will each email add to the message?
Make campaign calendar Include draft deadlines with time to review Allow time for complementary tasks like web pages, postal
mailings, etc. Add supporting staff and tasks
Writers, designers, reviewers, executers
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Planning Example NTEN 08/09 Renew Campaign:
c. 1000 lapsed members (expire dates 10/1/2006 - 12/31/2007) Goal: 5% conversion = 50 Renews Audience Segments:
Vendors/Providers Communications/Marketing/Fundraising Staff IT Staff/IT Consultants Other Nonprofit Staff
Calendar and Messaging: Round 1 email: July 8/9/10
save money
Round 2 email: July 21-25 get attention/be heard
Round 3 email: Aug 4-8 get connected
Round 4 email: Aug 18-22 achieve mission
Goal is high, but achievable, based on our data Segments based on our key constituencies Calendar has date range at this stage – to compensate for other communications factors Each stage of campaign has one key message Each message (“round”) will have 4 different emails Progression of message designed for impact
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How to Track Your Campaign From Raising Thousands (if Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars with Email, by Madeline Stanionis
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How to Track Your Campaign Basic metrics to track:
Sent (# emails sent – note that not all emails in your list will be deliverable; for subsequent calculations, use # sent rather than list size)
Open rate* (# emails opened / # delivered emails) Click-throughs (unique clicks of links in email) Conversions > multiple ways to look:
Total of actions or gifts (campaign goal) % of opens who took action/donated (campaign effectiveness) % of clicks who completed action (campaign effectiveness) % of total sent who took action/donated (campaign effectiveness)
* Open rate as an absolute metric isn’t as helpful as comparing to trends (against your own data or against comparable data from other orgs).
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More Tracking
For testing effectiveness, other things to track: Subject lines Sender names Images in email Formatting Links/buttons Copy/message Timing of sending email
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Example Campaign Tracking
Use spreadsheet to track campaigns, and compare multiple campaigns over time
You can add metric columns later if your tracking technology changes or you decide to update your campaign tracking goals, but try to be as consistent as possible for best analysis.
Look for patterns, red flags, and where to focus on improving results
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2010 eBenchmarks Study with M+R Strategic Services
31 Groups
By Sector• Civil/Legal Rights• Environmental• International• Health
By List Size• Small – Under 100,000 deliverable email addresses• Medium – 100,000-500,000 deliverable email addresses• Large – Over 500,000 deliverable email addresses
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Email Messaging Results by Message Type
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Email Open Rates by List Size
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Email Unsubscribe Rates by List Size
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Where to Get More Help
Data and Research for Comparison: M&R Strategic Services: http://www.mrss.com/publications NTEN: http://nten.org/research Providers who provide research and statistics:
Convio Blackbaud
Other Consulting Firms With Educational Resources: Big Duck DonorDigital FireFly Partners Nonprofit Marketing Guide
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Where to Get More Help
Tools, Strategy, and Advice Idealware.org:
software reviews and comparisons, nonprofit considerations for selecting technology
Techsoup.org: software donation program, resources
NTEN.org: community of practitioners, educational programming
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Some Recommended Resources
Nonprofit eBenchmarks Study from M+R & NTEN (http://e-benchmarkstudy.com)
The Mercifully Brief Real World Guide to Raising Thousands (if Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars with Email, by Madeline Stanionis (http://tinyurl.com/Stanionis-book)
Groundwire’s 2010 research/guide to email broadcast tools
(http://tinyurl.com/email-tool-comparison) Field Guide to Software for Nonprofits from
Idealware (http://idealware.org/field-guide)
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Thank You
Stay in touch: [email protected] Twitter.com/annaliese_h Slideshare.net/ntenannaliese
NTEN Connect e-Newsletter: http://nten.org/newsletter
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