Tuesday 11 December 2012

Eight ways to increase the effectiveness of your Christmas fundraising emails


As you prepare your final fundraising emails here are some ideas you can use to increase their effectiveness and to get more donations before the end of December.

1.   Think up some great opening lines. Put the small talk 'Christmas is here once again ... have you done your shopping' aside and start engaging donors right from the start.

2. Don't use the 'Christmas spirit' as the main reason for giving - yes, donors give because they want to show generosity and compassion. But, you need to remember and highlight the reasons why they give to your cause - show them the needs you are trying to meet and how their gifts will make a difference. 

3. Be as specific as you can about how the donations will be used - even if you are raising money for your general fund, remind donors how their gifts throughout the year have impacted lives, share some of your plans for 2013 and ask donors to show their commitment to your cause by making a special Christmas gift.  

4. Tell one compelling story - email readers have shorter attention spans than letter readers. So, focus on one impact story, use the story to show donors how they are changing lives. 

5. DONT SHOUT ON YOUR SUBJECT LINE - remember you are writing to friends not making a sales pitch for a business. So, avoid all capitals on the subject line, or words like 'DEADLINE' or 'LAST CHANCE' Donors often shy away from opening and reading pushy emails and sometimes spam filters might block such messages too. 

6. Use interesting subject lines - every day donors are getting tens even hundreds of emails, some of them from charities asking for support. So, statements like 'make a gift to make a difference' are not likely to peak their curiosity to open the email. So, think up an interesting subject line, make the donor curious. 

7. If you are including a video in your email make sure that the video reminds donors to give. Think carefully about the purpose of the video - if it is just to say 'thank you' then send it separately near the end of December. But, if you want to say thank you and ask for one last gift make sure that the video contains clear instructions that take the donor to your giving page. 

8. Insert plenty of links to the giving page throughout the email. With the rise of tablets and other mobile devices, donors are now seeing your emails on the go. And, they are lazy - they don't want to scroll further and further so they can get to your call to action. So, you have to make it easy for them by including several links to your giving page throughout the email, including one within the second or third paragraphs. 

No comments: