 Help crack the code on Email Fundraising.Today’s BEST online learnings can BOOST your bottom line.
Know “how“ and “when“ to ask for a gift.Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission has been sending out fundraising emails for several years with increasing effectiveness. A recent testing regimen surfaced conclusions that are helping move their program toward greater effectiveness based on the following discoveries. Lessons Learned:1. Go ahead . . . include the dollar amount in the subject line. While this may depress the open rate, people who open have a sense that an ask is coming and are more predisposed to respond. Care needs to be taken in writing these, however, since dollar amounts can make the email look “spammy.” “Your $5 becomes $50” is NOT ok whereas “Donate a meal for $1.92” will likely avoid the spam filters and land in the inbox with a clear, intentional message that doesn’t smack of deceit or bait and switch. 2. Hit “Send” at dinner time! Multiple tests seem to indicate that 6 p.m. is the best time to send an email for response. In one test, the average gift was three times greater than emails sent at other times. Noon was the worst. Go figure. After dinner my stomach is satisfied and I feel blessed? After noon I’ve had a light lunch and am drowsy, dreading the rest of the afternoon? No conclusions as to why . . . 3. Dumb down your design. As in most direct marketing, simple email design works better than more complicated, sophisticated design. We tested it twice. Our first test was inconclusive, but in the second test our simpler design won hands down. Even if the results are not that far apart, the time and money you save producing higher-end design goes straight to your bottom line. And that’s where you want it. 4. Shorter isn’t sweeter. Long copy, provided it features powerful words loaded with emotion and only the most critical and emotive information, works better than short copy. In this test, an email of less than 200 words generated an average gift only half the size of an email 300 to 500 words in length. Another unintended downside of short copy, it seems we got twice as many “unsubsribes” with short copy as we did with long. Perhaps showing the unsubscribe button on the first screen is a mistake. Make your reader scroll down through good material to find it.
Get in on the most recent learnings.Email fundraising principles are evolving. And they will probably never be as static as traditional direct marketing principles. That’s because the whole medium continues to evolve. It’s a moving target. So get on board with the learners as we test, re-test, explore and innovate in this communications platform that many believe is the future of nonprofit communications and fundraising. Together, we’re engaging donors in deep and lasting relationships.Share this with a friend and stay engaged through....
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