6 Tips For Using Email For Effective Donor Communication

by Mark Dreistadt | Mar 29, 2012 | Fundraising

Using Email is an effective and affordable way to communicate with your donors. I want to share six short, but insightful, tips with you to help you make your email communication even more effective.

Approximately 88% of people online use the same email box for personal email and for work email. In the world of email, work messages and personal messages easily intertwine. It is important to remember that essentially every email is personal correspondence. That changes our paradigm because we don’t want to bombard people with placards and promotions. We’re writing to people. Be personal. When you write an email, write as if you know them personally.
Most organizations tend to send emails out Monday through Friday and leave people alone on the weekends. But statistics prove that weekend click-thru rates are almost double weekday rates. So if you want to really reach people, and get them to read your email, send it on a weekend.
More people check email between 5 AM and 7 AM than any other part of the day. What does that mean for you? Send your organization’s email so that people get it early in the morning.
Almost 80% of emails are read on mobile devices. A few years ago it was recommended that every email should be graphically rich. While great looking email is still effective, you have to be sure it will show up on mobile devices. Always prepare a text only version of the core message. In fact, we have had great success with text only email messaging.
Email should always come from someone the recipient has heard from or heard of. Don’t send email from “info at” or “offer at”. Send every email from a real person with a real name to another real person. It’s person-to-person communication.
Don’t be afraid of sending too much email. Many organizations go through the dilemma of how often to send email … daily — weekly — monthly — etc. The statistics tell us that daily mail has a higher click-through rate and lower unsubscribe rate than weekly mail. So, if you want to really reach people and really make an impact, send email more often… And the more often you send email, the more success you’re going to have.

Utilize these simple tips and increase the impact and effectiveness of your email communication.