Spinning Email Fundraising into Gold: Part 1

For most nonprofit organizations, email stands as a crucial channel for directly attributed online revenue, typically ranking third behind direct web donations and SEM. However, unlocking email’s full potential requires more than just hitting send — and it’s getting harder to cut through the competition hitting inboxes (on what seems like an hourly basis).

A robust email fundraising strategy begins with a solid foundation — and that’s where best practices come into play.

THE #1 PRIORITY: GET THE EMAIL OPENED

The first step to a successful email fundraising program is simple — getting the email opened. There are three things to consider: the sender, the subject line, and the preheader text. All are working to achieve one outcome: get the email opened.

Sender

The sender is typically the first thing we look at when checking our email — it’s also one of the most undertested components, but it’s vitally important. It’s not unusual to have emails sent from the organization itself. Interestingly, these emails typically have lower open rates than those sent by an individual person on behalf of the organization. But it’s also true that emails sent from a person vs. an organization typically have higher unsub rates.

Results will vary based on the organization, and potentially by segment. The best sender may vary based on the audience you are trying to reach (e.g., prospects vs. existing donors). CEOs may perform better than “Director of Philanthropy”.

The only way to truly know what works for your audiences is to test, test, test. Oh yeah, and test some more.

Subject Line

As a rule, subject lines should be concise, relevant, and engaging. Other factors to consider include urgency, showing value, or offer intrigue (example: match or challenge offers). 

Also think about how you can personalize your subject lines to drive higher open rates. Personalization can include the donor’s location (city), first name, interest, donor status (prospect, renewal, lapsed), tenure on file — really anything you have in the data — get creative!

Emojis are also something to consider. You may not use them on every subject line, but when you do, it can ramp up urgency and help your message stand out from the clutter.

If you are like us, it’s easy to get stuck on subject lines. AI tools like Chat GPT, Copilot, and Gemini can help generate a great starting place if you need a little nudge — and (bonus!) you can hone them by telling the program what you are looking for: more urgency, more personalization, add humor, stat-based, etc.

Understanding what types of subject lines help drive higher engagement for your donors is critical and testing is a perfect tool for that. But a word of caution — be specific about what you want to learn with the intention of using those results to build on your findings. You can’t, for example, use the same subject line over and over. So what formula are you using that can be repeated in future campaigns, and how will you measure success?

For example:

• Understand if emojis increase open rate (OR) — test same subject line with and without emojis.

  • !! Hurry — Last day to get MATCHED!

  • Hurry — Last day to get MATCHED!

• How much does personalization improve my OR? Test with and without the first name.

  • John, we need you now more than ever!

  • We need you now more than ever!

•  What is the impact of adding a location to subject line?

  • Joe, join the movement in [City] to save lives!

  • Joe, join the movement to save lives!

o   Test offer keywords (matched vs. double)

• Erica, every dollar you give will be MATCHED!

• Erica, every dollar you give will DOUBLE!

• Ryan, time is running out to double your impact!

• Ryan, time is running out to DOUBLE your impact!

Preheader

The job of the preheader is to provide a preview into the content of the email, but it should also serve as a “hook” to get the email opened.

• Preheaders should be concise, typically around 40-70 characters to ensure they display effectively across devices and email clients (e.g., Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook).

• Preheader text should complement the subject line, clarify/provide additional context, like highlighting a limited-time offer, time is running out urgency, a compelling stat that gets the reader interested. The idea is to get their curiosity going so they engage with the content.

• Don’t just repeat the subject line. Ensure that the preheader adds value and works to generate interest/engagement.

• Just like with your subject lines, use your data and personalize. Personalization feels like a more tailored and personal communication — so therefore, is more relevant and more likely to generate interest.

CONCLUSION

In summary, effective email fundraising hinges on attention to detail and knowing what best practices work for your organization. Prioritizing sender identity, subject lines, and preheader text can significantly impact open rates and engagement. And by testing and refining your approach, you can optimize results and drive greater support for your cause.

Be on the lookout for Part 2 of our series where we’ll dive into more tips and tricks to amp up engagement after your email gets opened!

Cover Image Source: www.freepik.com/ free-vector/character-illustration-people-with-internet-message-icons