Email Marketing
Lesson 2
Watch and listen to a recording with slides, or read the full text below. NOTE: Some pieces of the video content may be outdated. Rely on the text below for the most up-to-date content.
One of the best channels to amplify your Give OUT Day campaign is email.
First, email is a critical channel for recruiting fundraisers for your organization. In a previous lesson, we covered how to use email, and other channels, to recruit fundraisers – this should be your first priority.
Beyond fundraiser recruitment and communication, email can serve to remind prospective donors and fundraisers to save the date of Give OUT Day, to share stories that motivate them, to share about the potential prizes, to celebrate fundraising milestones and, in general, to make your case for support. You should also use email to thank your donors and to celebrate your success when Give OUT Day ends. Donors automatically receive a donation receipt when donating on the Give OUT Day platform.
When crafting emails, keep in mind these best practices.
Segmentation and personalization
The more relevant a message is to a recipient, the more likely they’ll open it and respond. Consider inviting previous donors to give again, non-donors to make their first gift, and lapsed donors to renew their support. Other segmentation options include board members and volunteers (you should ask them to create fundraisers to start!). And make sure to address each recipient by name.
Capturing attention
The first obstacle is to get your email recipients to open your email, which is a challenge in our digital world with so much competition for everyone’s attention. For that reason, you should use attention-grabbing headlines, like the ones in the templates that follow.
Driving action
Once the recipient opens the email, you must convince them to take action. While the content is critical – see the following templates – so is the presentation.
- Most people engage with email on their mobile devices, so it is crucial that your email be mobile-responsive. Tools like Mailchimp make it easy to design emails that work well on phones.
- In the same vein, you should keep text concise, and add visuals as you can. Consider including one of the graphics included in the previous lesson, potentially alongside a relevant photo of your organization at work.
- Be sure to include a prominent call-to-action button, in addition to at least two links to your organization’s primary fundraising page, to draw attention to your ask.
Testing
Success depends on your audience, and every audience is different. Try out different messages, senders, subject lines, and so on, and adjust based on learnings.
You should prioritize testing items that are reasonably likely to affect your results. For instance, testing whether you send the email from [Your Organization’s Name] or [Your Executive Director’s Name] might be worthwhile, but testing whether your call-to-action button is blue or purple is probably less so.
Sample Email Calendar
This sample email calendar outlines how you might send emails about your campaign starting 12 weeks out. You can adjust these dates and topic areas to meet your organization’s needs and timeline. Keep in mind that this calendar is for general email communications. It will be important to maintain email communication with your fundraisers, which we covered in a lesson in the previous course.
When | Message |
|---|---|
12 weeks out | Save the date |
10 weeks out | Invitation to become fundraiser (see template in "Recruiting Fundraisers" lesson) |
8 weeks out | Reminder to become fundraiser |
4 weeks out (May 1) | Campaign starts today |
1 week out | One week out |
Day of (morning) | It's today |
Day of (evening) | Last chance to give |
Day after | Thank you |
Template: Save the Date Email
Subject: Save the date!
We have an exciting announcement! This year, [LGBTQ Organization] will be participating in Give OUT Day, a month-long fundraising campaign culminating on May 1, the only national day of giving for the LGBTQ community.
Mark your calendar! This year, Give OUT Day is May 30, but the campaign starts at the beginning of May. That means that every donation from May 1 helps us win prizes that can expand our impact.
We hope you'll join us! We can't wait until May!
Template: Campaign Starts Today Email
Subject: A major announcement
This month, we are participating in Give OUT Day, a month-long fundraising campaign culminating on May 30, the only national day of giving for the LGBTQ community. [LGBTQ Organization] is [raising $5,000 to fund 1,000 calls with local youth seeking support.]
Please consider making a $20 gift now, which funds [four calls for youth seeking support.]
[Give now button]
Give OUT Day is May 30, but our campaign starts today. Why? Because every donation made on our Give OUT Day page, from today through midnight on May 30, counts toward Leaderboard prizes. This means that your donation could help us win thousands in additional prize money! Put simply, your gift can go so much further.
Give OUT Day offers so much hope, but only if we have your support. Will you generously consider making a gift?
P.S. Want to take your support to the next level? It’s not too late to create a fundraiser page! Just visit [link to organization’s profile] and click “fundraise” to get started! It only takes a couple minutes and has a huge impact.
Template: One Week Out Email
Subject: A major announcement
Give OUT Day is May 30, only one week away! But it's not too early to make a gift now!
[Give now button]
Remember, every donation made on our Give OUT Day page starting May 30 counts toward Leaderboard prizes. This means that your donation could help us win thousands in additional prize money! Put simply, your gift can go so much further.
Show your support by making a gift today!
Template: It's Today Email
Subject: Today's the day!
Today is Give OUT Day, the only national day of giving for the LGBTQ community! Can we count on you to make a $20 gift, which funds four calls to local youth seeking support?
[Give now button]
[I want to share with you a little about one of our clients, and how your donation supports people like him.
Don't forget, every donation made on our Give OUT Day page this month counts toward Leaderboard prizes. This means that your donation could help us win thousands in additional prize money!
We have until midnight tonight to work towards our goal and potentially win a prize. I know we can do it if we work together! Will you make a gift to help us win one of these prizes? Your impact could be huge!
As always, thank you for your support!
Template: Last Chance to Give Email
Subject: Only a few hours left!
I'll make this quick: There are only a few hours left of Give OUT Day, and we need additional support to win the prizes. Thousands of dollars are at stake, which could have a huge impact on our critical work. Will you make a gift in these last few hours of our campaign?
[Give now button]
Thank you for your urgent help! We can do it!
Template: Thank You Email
Subject: Thank you so much!
Yesterday was Give OUT Day, and because of the support of people like you, we raised [insert amount] from [insert number] of donors! [Indicate whether you won a prize.]
These funds will go a long way in advancing our critical work. [Describe impact of donations.] Thank you for helping us make a difference!
What a fantastic way to kickoff Pride Month!