Tips for Getting New List Members to Stay, Donate

Sure, you want your new supporters to feel welcome, but a welcome package isn’t always the way to go.

In a white paper on cultivating new e-mail list members, Eve Fox, vice president of M+R Strategic Services, suggests organizations skip sending welcome messages to new list members. M+R is a full-service consulting firm that designs and runs legislative, media and policy campaigns for organizations. Fox cites data from tests the company conducted for some of its nonprofit clients that show welcome messages to be an ineffective first communication form for newbies.