Email Fundraising Serves Four Strategic Functions in Direct Mail Program

Writen by Alan Sharpe

Email is cheaper than direct mail but that’s not why
you should embrace it.

Your non-profit organization should be communicating
with donors and members by email for four strategic
reasons.

1. Involve

Email, by its very nature, is interactive. Your readers
expect to see links in your email messages, links that
they can click. Your readers expect to be able to hit
Reply and answer a question you’ve posed, or share
their opinion. Email is attractive to donors and
members, and your organization, because it helps
them get involved.

By using “Forward-this-to-a-Friend” buttons in your
emails, and message boards and forums on your
website, your email messages help your constituents
share information with friends and colleagues, and
discuss relevant topics. If your donor file has plenty
of donors who are not engaged in any meaningful
way with your organization, email is a cost-effective
way to make them more active, with their happy
cooperation.

2. Advocate

Email is powerful because of its immediacy. The letter
you draft and send at 10:09 am arrives in your
donor’s email inbox within minutes, a feat impossible
using a letter, envelope and postage stamp.

Because email is immediate and because it
encourages interaction, it’s the perfect medium for
mobilizing your members. With email, you help your
members simply and easily advocate for your cause.
The more sophisticated email systems on the market
let you customize each email message so that it
contains the name and contact details for each
member’s local, provincial/state and federal elected
officials. The easier you make it for your members to
act as advocates, the higher your response rates will
be to petitions and other “take action” messages you
mail to further your cause.

3. Fundraise

The key to raising money online is not your website
but your email. Email is how you build relationships
with your members and donors. Email is how you
invite them (and inspire them) to donate. Your
website is simply where your donor makes the
donation. Some donors, of course, will chance upon
your website and give a gift while they are there, but
these kinds of donors are in the minority.

One exception is emergency appeals, where
organizations like The Red Cross, Doctors Without
Borders and Habitat for Humanity raise a great deal
of money online from strangers. But the secret to
securing second and subsequent gifts from online
donors is your emails, not your website. Your website
informs and educates, certainly, but your emails are
the vehicle that must transport your donors
there.

4. Inform

A leading cause of donor attrition is lack of
communication by the non-profit. Donors who send
gifts but do not hear from their charity often enough
soon take their gifts elsewhere. Just as important as
frequent communication is relevant communication.
And that’s where email newsletters are so attractive.
Because a good email system integrates with your
donor database, you can customize email newsletters
for the unique interests and preferences of each of
your constituents.

Kathy, for example, wants to receive alerts about
AIDS orphans but not refugees. Bill wants to receive
bulletins about Sudan but not Senegal. Samantha
welcomes updates on her sponsored child but has no
interest in attending special events. Email lets you
satisfy everyone by sending personalized messages
to your donors and members, messages that speak
directly to their known interests.

Email fundraising has its challenges, of course. Spam
filters, for one thing. And crowded inboxes. But as a
tool for involving donors, mobilizing members, raising
emergency funds and delivering late-breaking news,
email stands alone.

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About the author

Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer, instructor and mentor who helps non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors using creative fundraising letters. Learn more about his services, view free sample fundraising letters, and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com