The dos and don'ts of nonprofit email marketing for the holidays
By Steve Robinson - Constant Contact
Many people may cringe at the notion of getting ready for the year-end holidays when Halloween hasn't even passed, but if you're a nonprofit organization gearing up for donation drives and holiday events, now is the time to get cooking on your email marketing plans.
Some organizations may be holding off on plans to ask for donations or host events so as to not conflict with holiday budgets in a weak economy. But for those of you who are going ahead with your galas and donation drives, it is vitally important to nail your message and delivery to supporters and constituents.
Some advice to those building their holiday campaigns: Keep the message short and on point. That's obvious. But here are seven other things you'll want to think about as you ready yourself to engage your supporters.
Do solicit for financial donations and/or volunteer time online via email. A lot of organizations are starting to change some of their appeals by adding an online component. They're doing campaigns via email now where they have shied away from email solicitations in the past.
If you have a PayPal account, you can easily add a link to your organization's account for accepting monetary donations. Just click on the "More Insert Options" available in the left navigation column when editing virtually any content block. For more information on how to accept donations via PayPal, click here.
Don't "borrow" a donor or board member's contact list to solicit donations during the holidays, or any other time of the year. Just because you advocate for a good cause doesn't mean you cannot also follow the rules of email marketing. A more appropriate practice is to have the generous list benefactor send out a plea to their contacts on your behalf. This is a much more effective approach to seeking donations, and it keeps with good email marketing practices.
Do use images to help tell your story. For example, if you're putting together an invite for a holiday gala, use pictures from last year's event that show invitees what a great time will be had when they attend.
It's also smart to use photography to illustrate the effects that donations to your organization have had on those you help. A home for developmentally disabled adults could use pictures of happy residents participating in activities, showing donors exactly where their hard-earned money is going and how those in need have benefitted.
Don't forget that email marketing during the holidays is more than just promotions and solicitations for donations. You should continue to send out educational and informational emails to your constituents. Pleas for help alone could turn off your subscribers. Continue to provide the relevance and value that the people on your list have come to expect.
Do send end-of-the-tax-year appeals for monetary donations. If donations to your nonprofit qualify as a tax deduction for donors, it's a good practice to make a late appeal for last-minute donations for the current tax year. But, be aware that those appeals could be a little less effective this year since that type of donation by people or companies usually relies on extra revenue that needs a tax deduction. Given the soft economy, there's not likely to be a lot of "extra" revenue floating around.
Don't try to cram too much information into a single email. If you have longer articles that you want to send out, use a small portion of the newsletter as a teaser and link to the whole article on your website. Smaller blocks of information are more easily digested via email. If you have a printed newsletter, particularly one that's multiple pages long, an alternative is to save it as an Adobe PDF, store the file on your website, and link to it from your newsletter.
Do use social network sites to help broaden your appeal and reach potential supporters who are not (yet) on your list. There are a couple ways you can use networks such as Facebook and Twitter to your advantage. First, if you use Constant Contact's Email Archive add-on, make sure to turn on the Share button in all your messages. This allows recipients to easily forward your message to their friends on the social networks they subscribe to. Second, you can manually post the archive link to your Twitter, Facebook, and other social network audiences.
If you're hesitant about dipping a toe in the social network waters, make it a New Year's resolution to test the waters in early 2010.
Following best practices and keeping to a regular schedule of contact with your supporters will keep your organization top-of-mind as they reach into their wallets and offer their time to worthy causes this holiday season.
