Despite the emergence of various marketing channels, email continues to be highly effective. For nonprofits, strategically crafting email campaigns is essential, as it significantly contributes to their success by engaging donors and amplifying their message.
Developing a solid email marketing program can establish a reliable fundraising source for nonprofits by keeping donors engaged with updates, offers, and new fundraising drives.
This guide explains the striking benefits of email marketing for nonprofits, the best practices for launching email campaigns, and the best type of nonprofit emails.
Why Does Email Work for Nonprofits?
Email offers the highest return on investment (ROI) in any outreach strategy. An email marketing campaign can generate an average ROI of 4200%, $42 for every $1 spent.
As email channels offer the highest ROI, nonprofits can use them to reach potential donors cost-effectively.
Donors also prefer emails for communicating with nonprofit organizations. 48% of donors prefer hearing about updates and appeals through emails, and 26% of donors say emails inspire them the most to contribute.
Benefits of Email Marketing for Nonprofits
Nonprofits can enjoy several benefits through email campaigns, which all boil down to one specific goal – save funds and raise more.
Here are the primary benefits nonprofits get for using emails:
Cost-Effective
Nonprofits usually operate with tight budgets and limited resources. Adopting traditional outreach methods like direct mail requires more time and money.
Most email marketing platforms come with a cost. Zeffy is a 100% free donor management software that allows you to send and track emails to your supporters.
Personalize Communication
Personalized email communication is a powerful way to connect with your supporters.
- Segment your email list based demographics, donor history, and engagement.
- Create custom segments for first-time donors, recurring donors, and lapsed donors.
- Tailor your messages to resonate with each group, acknowledging their past support and highlighting events they attended or campaigns they participated in.
By delivering relevant content to each segment, you can foster stronger relationships and continue raising money for your cause.
Boosts Donor Engagement
Email marketing is a highly effective tool for boosting donor engagement. By regularly communicating with your supporters, you can keep them informed about your nonprofit’s activities, impact, and upcoming events.
Email campaigns with clear calls-to-action encourage donors to take specific actions, such as making a donation, signing a petition, or volunteering.
13 Types of Nonprofit Emails You Can Send
1. Welcome Emails
Welcome email campaigns help introduce your organization and share your mission with people. They are also your nonprofit’s first impression.
74% of subscribers expect a welcome email when they join a newsletter, so now is the perfect time to send one.
The series can be structured as follows:
- Email 1 (sent immediately)
Introduction to your nonprofit, its mission, and the impact it creates. Explain what subscribers can expect from your emails and how their support makes a difference. - Email 2 (sent 2-3 days later)
Dive deeper into your nonprofit’s programs, highlighting specific initiatives and success stories. Encourage subscribers to explore your website and social media channels for more information. - Email 3 (sent 7-10 days later)
Invite subscribers to take action, such as making their first donation, signing up for a volunteer opportunity, or sharing your mission with their networks. Emphasize the importance of their involvement in achieving your nonprofit’s goals.
2. Newsletters
Newsletters are the most typical yet effective part of email marketing campaigns that can boost donor engagement. Here are five reasons why newsletters are so effective:
- Help raise awareness
- Provide resources to educate the subscribers
- Update supporters on your programs and upcoming events
- Share impact stories and valuable statistics
- Spotlight a staff member, volunteer, or supporter’s effort
Since these are recurring emails with a consistent structure, sent at a specific time and date every month, you can create email templates to save time.
3. Appeals: Call to Donate
Make an excellent appeal with stories in your appeal email campaigns. Make the emails more emotionally impactful to increase the chances of donation.
Instead of asking for funds to help kids, share a story about helping a 5-year-old boy in your community. Rather than “Donate,” use “Feed the kids” to make it more compelling and encourage action. It allows supporters to know exactly how they are making an impact.
4. Advocacy: Call to Act
Nonprofits will always need supporters to further their mission and initiatives. Use advocacy emails to encourage passionate people to act on issues they care about.
An advocacy email will include:
- A concise explanation of the issues you are trying to eliminate
- A clear CTA to tell supporters how they can help
5. Thank You and Update Emails
55% of donors in the US prefer to be thanked for their contribution through email. Sending thank you emails with a short appreciation note and updates on your program is a great way to boost donor retention.
By subscribing to your emails, supporters convey that they want to receive information about your nonprofit. Keeping your supporters informed helps them stay engaged and encourages them to donate again.
It can help you secure recurring donations for your nonprofit.
These emails may highlight:
- Your nonprofit’s major milestones, like securing a specific amount or supporting a particular number of people
- Anniversary celebrations of your organization
- Your nonprofit’s latest programs, fundraising campaigns, or upcoming events
6. Share a Success Story
Celebrate your nonprofit’s success with your supporters. It can help them realize their accomplishments and contributions to your cause.
Highlight specific stories that are proof of your nonprofit’s impact. It may include:
- Testimonials
- Smiling faces of people your organization has helped
- Statistics and numbers from a fundraising goal
Sharing this information will make your nonprofit reliable and boost its credibility.
7. Holiday Emails
The frequency of charitable giving increases during the holiday season. Nonprofits raise around 1/4th of their annual revenue during the holiday season in December. 10% of the annual giving happens in the last three days of the year.
Capitalize on the season’s spirit and create holiday email campaigns to notify your supporters. Encourage them to donate to a good cause rather than giving materialistic gifts.
8. Honor a Significant Day
Target a significant day to encourage supporters and can help you raise substantial donations.
Whether it’s Volunteers Week, National Mental Health Awareness Month, or National Pet Month, people are likely to donate to support the cause.
Find a significant day that aligns with your nonprofit’s mission and enrich your email marketing efforts to get more donations. Include content related to the celebrated day and how supporters can engage with your cause.
9. Automated Supporter Series
Email automation can help you save time and establish continued engagement with your donors.
Divide the welcome email into a three-part series to introduce your nonprofit, its mission, and its impact. Automating ‘thank you’ emails for every milestone your donors achieve will showcase your appreciation for their support.
10. Fundraising Email Campaigns
Sometimes, your nonprofit emails are solely meant to request donations. These fundraising emails are crucial to encourage:
- Annual giving
- End-of-year donation
- Support during emergencies like disaster relief
- Donations through Giving Tuesday campaigns
Pro Tip: To create urgency, include countdowns or fundraising thermometers. This helps visualize your goals and invites more donors to contribute.
11. Number and Statistic-Based Emails
Including numbers and statistics in your nonprofit email’s subject line can immediately grab subscribers’ attention and stand out in their inboxes. It also demonstrates the urgency of a situation.
For instance, your subject lines can include statistics like:
- ‘1 out of 3 people worldwide live without access to clean drinking water,’ if your mission revolves around providing proper sanitation and safe drinking water.
- ‘34 million people face food insecurity in the United States,’ if your nonprofit works toward eliminating this issue.
- Share the impact or annual report of your nonprofit that shows how donations have made a difference in people’s lives.
Build on these statistics in the email body and the preview text and prompt supporters to donate.
12. Matching Donation Emails
84% of donors are more likely to contribute if offered a match, and 1 out of 3 donors will give larger gifts if matching is applied to their donations.
Although matching gift promotions are less frequent than other fundraising campaigns, they can generate significant revenue. The idea of doubling the contribution’s impact makes matching gift emails an effective fundraising tactic.
To drive contributions, especially during holidays, include a matching donation form like the one below in your emails.
13. Question and Survey Emails
Including surveys and question-based messages can make your nonprofit’s email marketing campaigns more interactive. They can help you learn more about your supporters to improve email list segmentation.
It creates a window for readers to express their opinions, which can be a distinguishing factor between you and your competitors. Surveys also help you send customized emails with relevant content.
11 Email Marketing Best Practices for Nonprofits
1. Build a Healthy Email List
You spend so much time and resources crafting your fundraising campaigns. These messages must reach the right inboxes. Building a solid email list is crucial for starting your nonprofit’s email campaign and maximizing ROI.
Here are some tips to create an email list:
- Ask attendees for their emails regularly by having an email signup list available at all nonprofit events. With Zeffy, you can easily create email signup forms to get more subscribers.
- Promote your landing page across all channels and ensure the process is simple. A pop-up signup form can help.
2. Get Consent to Email Your Supporters
Emailing uninterested individuals in your mission can impact your nonprofit email marketing campaign’s engagement rates. That’s why getting people’s consent before emailing them is essential.
Sending emails without consent also violates data protection laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Breaching GDPR can result in a fine of 2%- 4% of your revenue.
Getting consent also protects your emails from ending up in the spam folders.
3. Be Regular with Your Emails
Schedule your email content to stay organized and engage with your donors more often.
Maintain a consistent email schedule rather than bombarding your list with continuous emails, even when your nonprofit email marketing campaign is inactive.
Consistency in email frequency will help you nurture your supporters and build long-term relationships with them.
Note: Ensure that your emails contain valuable and relevant information.
4. Focus on Targeted Messaging
A one-size-fits-all approach does not work with nonprofit email marketing. Rather than sending the same email to all your donors, segment them according to their preferences.
Most email marketing platforms let you segment your list to create targeted email campaigns. Add custom questions to your signup form to learn about your new donor’s preferences.
Send survey emails to understand the preferences of existing donors.
