Tips for Mail and Email Fundraising

Tips for Effective Mail and Email Fundraising

General tips for both mail and email

  1. Start where the donors are.

Remember that your donors generally think about your issue and organization far, far less than you do. They will know less. They are not policy wonks on whatever policy you are trying to influence (if you do advocacy). But it is okay they don’t know much. Just write to them at a level of detail and sophistication they will get.

A general rule of thumb: write at a level a 6th grader could understand.

  1. Make the donor a hero

If you think about your letter as telling a story (which it should), most organizations write as if the organization is the hero. In reality, the donor should be the hero with the organization the conduit or mechanism by which the donor (and fellow donors) are achieving the mission.

If the donor is the hero, you should be asking: what is it the donor wants that he/she can better achieve by contributing to your organization?

  1. Tap into emotions

Unlike major gifts, which tend to be thoughtful, responses to mail and email tend to be more impulsive and driven by emotion. Your writing should explicitly tap into emotions designed to trigger a response. Emotions like: compassion, fear, responsibility, patriotism, flattery, anger, etc. Presenting a contrast between a negative emotion that the reader will experience (from inaction) and positive emotion (from taking action) can be especially compelling.

  1. Minimize use of statistics and numbers

Studies consistently show that donors respond more to a story about one person being helped than statistics about thousands being helped. For most people, statistics and numbers are noise. It is rarely appropriate to use more than one statistic per letter/email.

  1. Run tests

If your scale allow it, split lists (whether mailing or emailing) into two separate lists, with separate response devices so you know from which list they are responding. Change one thing (and one thing only) about the letter/email and see if it makes a difference. Create a document listing past tests and what you’ve learned. While learning from other groups’ experience can be valuable, nothing beats having your own data that you know applies to your organization.

Tips for mail fundraising

  1. Make at least two and preferably three attempts to reach people by mail.

One attempt is never enough given the odds a letter may be recycled without being read. Two is adequate. Many organizations find that the third letter continues to have a 5-10% response rate that does far more than justifies the time/cost of mailing it.

  1. Hand-addressing will increase response rates.

If you have the volunteer power to hand-address and stuff/mail letters first-class, it will almost always be worth the effort. The one exception is some organizations have found that with the first round of letters for renewals hand-addressing doesn’t materially improve response rates.

  1. It takes 2 pages to do a really effective renewal letter

To renew donors, you generally need to thank them, tell them what you’ve done with their donations, tell them what you urgently need to do, and ask. For the vast majority of organizations, it is hard to accomplish that in just a single page.

  1. It takes 3-4 pages to do a really effective acquisition letter

Most organizations that have tested 2 versus 4 page donor acquisition letters have found that 4 page letters perform significantly better, enough to justify the extra printing/paper costs. This is because for new donors you have to tell much more of your story and connect with them at an even deeper emotional level than for repeat donors.

  1. Coordinated email can boost response rates

Sending an individualized email to those who are receiving a mailed letter can boost response rates from the letter they are receiving Some organizations have found the email is best a few days prior to the letter, some timed to arrive the same day, and others a few days after. The email is short and is designed to get them to open and not immediately recycle the letter unopened.

  1. Personalize the letters

If at all possible the salutation should be “Dear John,” or “Dear John and Jane.” It should not be: “Dear Friend.”

Refer to the readers as “you.”

And the author as “I.” The letter should be from an individual and have an individual’s perspective, not the organization.

Tips for Email Fundraising

  1. Simplify your writing

Simpler words. Simpler, direct sentences without parentheticals. Paragraphs no more than three sentences, preferably two.

Remember: up to half of all email is now read on a mobile device.

  1. Put a lot of thought into Subject lines

Your subject lines need to be short, punchy, and invite people in. Spend real time thinking this through – don’t just slap a subject line along at the last minute.

  1. Personalize it

Just as with mailed letters, an email fundraising appeal should be from a person. The “From” line should be a person’s name, not the organization.

  1. Use campaigns

Many organizations have found that sending out 3-4 emails as part of a campaign over a 2-4 week period generates far more donations than the same number of email requests that are disconnected from each other.

  • A campaign should have a clear need for which it is raising money.
  • A campaign should have a clear dollar goal you need to raise.
  • A campaign should have a deadline.
  • A campaign should report progress and thank those who gave.
  1. Social media can bolster email fundraising campaigns

Assuming substantial overlap between your social media and email lists, incorporating social media stories about the campaign should boost email response rates in addition to generating some donations from those not on your email list.

  1. Matching donations work

Many organizations who’ve tested the question have found matching gifts have particular power for email fundraising.   However, if you use this tactic with every campaign the benefit will wear off over time.

  1. Link to your donation page near the top, in the middle, and at the bottom. Don’t link elsewhere.

You should give donors ample opportunity to link where you want. And no easy opportunity to link to some other website from which they may not return. Even if you set the link to open a new tab it still takes their attention away from the behavior you want – a donation right then.

  1. The quality of the donation landing page matters

Donation pages that match the look/feel of your website perform better (e.g. fewer leave without donating) than those like PayPals that are completely generic.

Many groups have found that having a 2-3 sentence “story” at the top of the donation page reinforcing the urgency of the ask leads to a higher rate of filling out the form and higher average donation.

  1. Timing matters

Across a wide variety of organizations, studies show somewhat higher open and response rates to emails sent Tuesdays-Thursday from 9:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Of course, if your subscriber base is unusual, this might not hold true for you.

And it may be that if you’re sending 3 email appeals as part of a campaign you want one of the three to be during evening hours to hit a slightly different audience.

 

 

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