Does your organization offer an email newsletter?
Imagine that a prospective supporter has learned about your organization, visited your website and been intrigued enough to sign up for your organization’s bi-weekly e-news. What comes next?
If you’ve set things up right, your new subscriber will receive a welcome email. Is this the kind of message they’ll receive?
Welcome to XYZ org. We are happy to have you as a member of our community. Your email address and interest preferences have been recorded in our database. In the future, you will receive periodic emails specific to your interests.
Privacy is important to us; therefore, we will not sell, rent, or give your name or address to anyone. At any point, you can select the link at the bottom of every email to unsubscribe.
It’s a little dry, no? It informs, but it doesn’t do much else.
Being the head of a small-shop development and marketing department with a staff of one (or fewer) means that you need to seize every possible opportunity for relationship-building. And your organization’s welcome message provides the prime opportunity to systematize—and humanize—the relationship-building process. It’s the first communication this person will receive from you, so naturally, you want to create a positive impression. Make it count!
If your welcome message is the standard, run-of-the-mill template your email service provider suggests, you’re missing out. And as a result, so are your peeps.
According to "The Rebel’s Guide to Email Marketing" by Jason Falls:
The answer is simple: The welcome email tends to have a much higher open rate compared to other emails in a campaign. In fact, according to some analysis done by the Experian CheetahMail Strategic Services Group, “Welcome emails generate four times the total open rates and five times the click rates compared to other bulk promotions.”
If you consider that the overall average email open rate is somewhere around 20 percent, this figure is impressive.
A welcome email is an ice-breaker that, if done right, can establish a long-term channel of communication between you and your prospective supporters. You won’t be able to start your email program off on the right foot without one. The welcome sets the stage and the tone for all of your subsequent emails.
And it’s a given: Communication is a crucial part of your identity. Your emails are just one aspect that conveys who you are to your supporters. Plus, failing to send a welcome email is akin to not thanking someone for a gift—it’s bad form, bad karma. And don’t forget: A welcome email can ramp up your fundraising and get people to spread the word, extending the channel of communication wider and further.
Your new subscriber has just taken the step of inviting you into his or her personal inbox. You totally need to take advantage of this awesome opportunity because it’s fate! Start off by giving him or her a warm and friendly welcome. And why not take it to the next level? Rather than a one-time welcome message, think outside the box and develop a three to five-part welcome kit auto-responder series.
Launching your auto-responder series, one that welcomes and inspires new signups via small requests, such as signing a petition, “liking” your organization on Facebook or watching a video, encourages consistency for the long haul.
Robert B. Cialdini, author of "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion," wrote “That technique asks people to say ‘Yes’ to a small request, like signing a petition in helping prevent birth defects. If you come back later and ask them to donate to a cause to help prevent birth defects, they are significantly more likely to do so than if you hadn’t asked them to make that small commitment first. There are other kinds of strategies as well that all involve this sequence of getting people to commit initially, then later asking for a request consistent with what was originally committed to.”
Online retailers have discovered that an online customer’s affinity is typically highest for the first 30 days after the visitor opts-in to their email lists. Known as the “honeymoon period,” this time frame is characterized by new subscribers demonstrating higher email open rates, higher click rates and higher conversion rates. Believe it or not, this sheds some light on nonprofit supporters—they behave in the same ways as online customers do.
In direct mail, the use of a welcome kit following a thank-you letter has been shown to increase donor engagement and retention. Not surprisingly, the same principles hold true for creating your electronic welcome kit. You can create a three- to five-part auto-responder welcome kit specifically designed to inform, engage and inspire your new newsletter signups.
How do I get started?
If you already are using an email marketing service, you should be able to use the same service to deliver your auto-responder welcome messages. If not, setting up an account with a new company is pretty simple, and most companies offer discounted pricing for nonprofits.
The most common email service providers, such as iContact, MailChimp and AWeber, all offer fully featured auto-responders. Each company’s pricing structure is different, focusing on slightly different features, so it’s worth exploring several before you decide which one to use.
Writing your auto-responder welcome series
The goal of your welcome series is to thank, inform, engage and inspire. Your subscriber/prospective donor already has communicated an interest in you by signing up for your list. Now, it’s up to you to sustain his or her interest by providing a sequenced, more in-depth introduction to your organization, while giving the individual ample reason to care. Additionally, the sequence should lead the subscriber, gradually, through the process of greater engagement through requests of small, supportive actions. These could include forwarding the email to a friend, “liking” your organization on Facebook, viewing a video or even answering a question or two about himself or herself. These little steps could ultimately culminate in that very first gift! Your emails should be short, friendly and fairly informal—think casual conversation, free of unnecessary stuff, like $2 words. Schedule your emails to go out over the course of 30 days.
Whether you decide to attempt an auto-responder welcome series or decide to go in a different direction, at the very least, take advantage of the many opportunities that your email welcome message affords you. It’s a luxury, really and truly. So start off by writing a warm welcome—one that lets your new subscribers know that you appreciate them and you’re glad that, despite the regular influx of emails they already get, they’ve opened up their inboxes (and perhaps their hearts) to you.
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- Copywriting
- Online Fundraising
Pamela Grow is the publisher of The Grow Report, the author of Simple Development Systems and the founder of Simple Development Systems: The Membership Program and Basics & More fundraising fundamentals e-courses. She has been helping small nonprofits raise dramatically more money for over 15 years, and was named one of the 50 Most Influential Fundraisers by Civil Society magazine, and one of the 40 Most Effective Fundraising Consultants by The Michael Chatman Giving Show.