You want to do good in the world, but doing good requires capital. If you want to raise funds for your non-profit, you need donors.
Email marketing is a powerful force for non-profits. You can keep donors up to date on your cause and stay in touch in hopes that they may give again down the road. According to research, 26% of online donors say they were inspired to give from a simple email. Here are six email marketing ideas to help non-profits to grow their organizations.
Table of Contents
Welcome emails
The biggest hurdle for any email campaign is to encourage people to actually open your message. Depending on your industry, the average email open rate is around 20%. That means 80% of your subscribers aren’t even reading your emails! However, that all changes with the welcome email.
Welcome emails are like a friendly hello to new subscribers. It helps you put your best foot forward, engage with your audience, and (hopefully) encourage more donations in the future. However, the best part of a welcome email is their open rates. On average, welcome emails are 75% more likely to be opened than a standard marketing email!
Whenever you get a new subscriber, remember to send them a friendly welcome email confirming their subscription and introducing them to your non-profit. You always want to make a good first impression!
Everyone loves video and intro animations
People receive hundreds of emails every day — most of which are the standard, boring, plain-text emails you get from your family and co-workers. Since you want your emails to stand out, add some special elements like video or intro animations.
Moving elements in your email draw readers’ eyes and make your message look more professional. It helps you stand out from the standard emails filling your audience’s inbox.
It might sound difficult to embed video or create animations in your email, but it’s actually quite simple with the right email marketing platform. For example, when you design your messages with PosterMyWall, you can create and send beautiful email campaigns from pre-made templates — many of which already come with video and animation elements!
Simply choose the template that best fits your non-profit, updates your messaging, and hit send. It’s an all-in-one platform designed to simplify email marketing and send professional-looking messages without needing professional-level design skills.
Provide updates on your non-profit or cause
People like to know their money is put to good use. Every now and then, let your subscribers know what your non-profit is up to. Talk about progress, issues to be aware of, events, or other ways people can support your cause. Show donors and subscribers that their money is being put to good use, and (hopefully) encourage them to want to donate more!
Most non-profits send update emails at least monthly. This is a good way to ensure your subscribers don’t forget about your cause or non-profit, but it’s also infrequent enough not to annoy them. If you send emails too frequently, you risk people unsubscribing.
Holiday emails
Holidays always put people in the giving spirit. Why not use that knowledge to gain support for your non-profit? By sending holiday-themed emails to your subscribers, you can not only increase engagement with your audience (who doesn’t love getting a Happy Holidays message?), but it also can help you get more donations.
Studies show that the end-of-year holiday season is the most charitable. Around half of all non-profit organizations receive more than 25% of their donations between October and December. While it’s crucial to send holiday marketing emails for the big giving holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah, it never hurts to send emails for other holidays, too!
Add a call to action (and a donate button)
All your email marketing campaigns should have a purpose — something you want your readers to do. In most cases, it’ll be to support your non-profit with donations, purchases, or volunteer opportunities. Make sure you include a call to action (CTA) at the end of each email.
A call to action is a final push to encourage readers to do something (take action). Typically, it’s in the form of a button at the end that leads to your website or a specific landing page where readers can take the next step in the process.
Without a solid call to action, readers won’t know what to do next. They’ll simply read your email, enjoy your incredible content, and go on with their day. You want them to support your non-profit, so make sure you show them how!
Include social media links
Non-profits are unique in that their supporters want to feel like they’re a part of the cause. The more you can engage with your audience, the more support you’ll receive. To help your supporters stay up to date with your cause and feel more connected to your organization, including social media links in your marketing emails.
Social media links are a great addition to any marketing email. Not only do they help your supporters feel more engaged, but they also help to grow your social media following (and more exposure is always a good thing) and they can boost your conversion rates.
Studies have shown that sharing your social channels can boost email click-through-rate (CTR) — or the number of people who click on your call to action — by an incredible 158%! It’s a powerful way to promote your non-profit and encourage more people to support your cause.
Promote your non-profit organization with email marketing campaigns
Non-profits can’t survive without support from their communities. One of the best ways to get more support and increase engagement with your cause is with an email marketing campaign.
There are plenty of ways to support your non-profit with email. Whether you want to send welcome emails, holiday emails, organization updates, include intro animations, or a combination of everything, email marketing is a great way to promote your non-profit organization.
You’re busy running a non-profit, so don’t forget to save time on your marketing campaigns with the PosterMyWall email maker. With thousands of professional templates to choose from, you can have a winning non-profit email campaign designed and ready to send in no time!
