We've helped a number of our clients improve their fundraising efforts by making better use of email. There are many great resources on the web, like sites such as NTEN, NOI, Frogloop, and Network For Good.
Below is a list of eight recognized good practices for writing fundraising emails.
1. Know your audience
This is one of the most important rules in writing. It’s right up there with “show, don’t tell” and “writers write, always.”
In email campaigning, this also has to do with making your list. It’s important to split your list up into demographics such as donor level (i.e. if they’ve given and how much), interest level, and maybe even regionally or demographically. The message should be relevant and specific to the recipients.
And, as the rule goes, you’re going to want to change what you say depending on who you’re writing to, and many of the practices I list below depend heavily on following this one rule.
2. Set clear goals
Setting goals means using real numbers. How many more donors do you hope to get? How much money do you hope to raise? How many emails do you plan on sending (including kicker and thank you emails)?
One of the goals of these numbers should be to help you figure out your "ask" - what amount you're asking people to donate and why. If you’re looking for a lot of money from a small list, you’re going to have to make your asks especially compelling. Give examples of what the money will be used for - paint a vision of what will be achieved and ask donors to commit to secure that vision.
3. Be professional
This should be a given. Avoid being a spammer, send only to people who opt in and always include an opt out link in your emails, avoid using fancy fonts or formats, make sure your reply address is valid, and test before sending out to make sure everything is working.
4. Be personal
While professionality is important, personality is essential. Generic emails stink of corporatism and create a distance between you and your donors. You want them to feel involved, like they’re part of the team, because, of course, they are part of the team.
So use their name if you can, target your message to different audiences, and relate to who they are.
5. Be positive
There are two ways you can make an ask: negative and positive.
A negative ask is one in which you present a problem. You make the situation sound dire and bleak and that you desperately need their help. A positive ask is one that focuses on achievements and differences your organization has made.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with negative asks in general. They tend to lead to action and donations just as well as positive asks do, but your donors may tire of the 'boy who cries wolf' and overall, positive asks tend to lead to less unsubscribes and slightly higher gifts.
Hope just resonates more than disaster. When a reader feels like they can make a difference, they’re more likely to want to make a difference.
6. Use stories
Along those same lines, using real stories helps make things memorable. Telling people that your organization lead to providing housing for one hundred people is fantastic, but telling how Mrs. Jones, who lost her house in the flood, was recently able to move into a new home is even better.
People like stories. In general, they like to feel in the loop and the opportunity to empathize with others. More so, they like feeling they were a part of the story, and when they donate that is exactly what they are doing.
A donor should feel like he’s or she’s an integral part of the success of your organization’s mission, and telling real stories is how you do that.
7. Use a good subject line
The subject line of your email is the first thing a reader reads. So it had better be good. Generic subject lines get the job done. But emails with subjects that are specific and personal simply get opened more. “Help prevent another child from going hungry” is way more effective at getting attention than “Please donate now.”
Successful subject lines are short, attention grabbing, personal to the reader, and related to the content of your email.
8. Keep it simple
Most people don't like to do read more online than what they have to. For example, blog posts with lists tend to be more read than longer articles because more people like to skim and look at headers than have time to absorb long paragraphs.
The same is true for emails. If you send an email that's a novel, your reader is likely to close it as soon as he or she opens it. So using short blurbs and peppering your email with headers tends to be more effective. It's best to keep the email focused and link to the action you want taken at least a couple times in the email. A fundraising email is different than a newsletter and the message should be clear and unscattered, with a clear and non-confusing ask.