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How to Avoid the SPAM Folder

by Darrell Law | Sep 16, 2022 | Digital, Fundraising

Regular communication with your donors helps build loyalty, improves retention of those hard-earned donors, allows you to share the impact and stories that your supporters help make happen, and gives you an opportunity to say “THANK YOU!”

There are multiple ways you can communicate with your donors — direct mail, social media, call blasts, text messages, in person, and email.  As a result of the unpredictable changes with Facebook’s algorithm, your posts are not always guaranteed to show up in the newsfeed of your followers.

Email is a cost-effective way to communicate directly with your supporters and donors without the concern of your message being suppressed by an organization that does not agree with your content. So email is a very effective tool in your donor communication toolbox.

Some organizations have made the strategic mistake to not acquire emails and only focus on growing their social media fans. You need to do BOTH! Multiple touchpoints to communicate and engage with people are valuable.

But you must know how to avoid the archenemy of email: SPAM or the Junk folder.

Here’s a list of some reasons why emails go to SPAM:

  • Subscriber engagement plays a big role in email deliverability. If your open rates are low, then the webmail providers may direct your emails into the SPAM or junk folder. Segmenting your list into active and lapsed segments will be helpful. Your active segment could consist of people who have opened an email within the last 180 days or so. Send your emails primarily to your active segment, which will raise your open rates.
  • You do not have permission to email the person. Never buy a list of email addresses!
  • The person does not remember you. They do not recall giving you their email address. Be sure to brand your opt-in page so they remember you. Also, have a drip campaign in place so newly acquired emails receive emails from you.
  • Watch what you say. Your subject line should motivate people to open and read the email, but avoid misleading or using trigger words like buy, clearance, free, etc.
  • There is not an unsubscribe link. You must provide a way for subscribers to opt out.
  • There is no physical address. You may not know this, but the FTC requires a valid physical address to be on the email. If it is missing, your email could be marked as spam. The address should be located at the bottom in the footer area.

Avoiding the above mentioned situations will get you on the right track of evading the SPAM folder blackhole.

As long as your email shows up in the inbox, email can be an effective and profitable tool to nurture the relationship with your donors and help generate the much-needed revenue to fulfill your organization’s mission.

If you want to engage your donors through email marketing and generate revenue for your organization, then let our team of experts help you today! Call us at 724-733-1200.

Darrell Law

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