Many organizations send email appeals. JUST one email in the appeal cycle. Rarely is any thought given to follow up communications, or completing the appeal communication cycle. This blog entry will lay the foundation for thinking through a complete appeal email cycle.

First Email Send

This email will create the need that the organization has, or the supports a campaign that is taking place offline. Generally the ask is pretty straightforward and the subject lines have been tested to get the most of the open rate. The email should be segmented by donor group or interest area, but many organizations still neglect to do this simple step (many times, the email system has limitations and segmentation is difficult – or legacy data won’t allow it.)

The goals are very straightforward – communicate the need, and raise dollars or actions.

The Second Email Send

The second email send consists of multiple components. A follow-up email to those recipients that opened and did not respond, or the recipients that did not open. This is technically TWO emails.

The goals for the email to the recipients that opened and did not respond should be to clarify the statement of need from the first email, providing a little more information. Perhaps the recipient did not donate or take action because the goals were not clear enough, or there wasn’t enough supporting information required to convert.

The goals for the recipients that did not open should be a little different, and at this point the subject lines should be tested again or the copy in the initial paragraph or in the preview pane of the email reader should be re-worked to generate an open or a response.

The Third Email Send

This email is crucial in continuing the relationship building with donors or supporters. The full list should be emailed (probably about one month after the initial send) This email DOES NOT include any hard ask. Instead, this email reiterates the goals of the campaign, and reports on any monies raised or actions taken. The main goal of this email is to let constituents know that they are appreciated and that you are communicating on their efforts and results. This email may close with the introduction of the next campaign (for the following month) – by including a P.S. or other news about upcoming campaigns, the later responses will be greater because the member/donor will associate actions taken with a report on the results, and the seed will be planted for the next appeal.

The Thank You.

Many organizations forget to thank their donors on a regular basis. Many believe that the auto-generated thank you email is sufficient in acknowledging a gift. Most – if not all – email systems do not report on the actions or open rates of autoresponder emails, so it is almost impossible to know if a donor even opens this ‘thank you’. I consider these receipts. Hardly ever do I scrutinize a receipt from a store.

The last email should be sent to those that have donated or taken action as a result of an email appeal or ask. It’s a simple email. Thank You for your gift, here’s how it helped, here’s how we used it, it wouldn’t be possible without you. You will be surprised to find that if you segment donors (much like in offline techniques) you will see increased responses to future email efforts. You will also see a second gift at the time of the thank you email.

It’s very important to follow just some of the basic advice given in this blog entry – don’t just stop after you send the first email. THINK of all the follow up communications and opportunities to cultivate your list.

Filed under: Administration, Agency, Email Marketing, Non-Profits on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 by Serengeti Communications | 2 Comments
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