What others won't tell you about nonprofit email marketing...
|
Raise your hand if you've ever said something like, "I don't want to add call-to-actions to my emails because I don't want to sound salesy." You know I won't judge you - but I will guide you to a better way to use your CTAs as a relationship builder. While you're probably not selling goods to your supporters, you do need to provide them with a way to immediately support you. That's the entire point of having a nonprofit, right?! That doesn't mean you have to ask for a donation at the end of every email, but I do encourage you to have every email lead them to something relevant to your mission (I mentioned this in my interview with Nonprofit Hub Radio). And yes, you can do that without sounding pushy or needy. Call-to-actions don't have to lead to your donation link. If you're not in a fundraising season and you don't want to ask for more money at the moment, let's look at some other CTAs you can use: Engagement. These CTAs open the door for 2-way communication. When we are constantly bombarded with digital content that feels like people are talking "at" us, it's easy to forget that we are allowed to speak to one person. Relationships don't start with mass communications - they start with a conversation. Engagement CTAs can look like... → Replying to your email to answer a question. → Getting them to vote in a poll. → Asking for their opinion. Resources. If your nonprofit has a plethora of resources such as toolkits, guides, digital databases, etc, you should absolutely share them! This is a great way to further educate others about what you do and how they can get involved. These can be as simple or as detailed as you'd like. For example, you could... → Hyperlink a resource to relevant text instead of adding a button. → Pull out a snippet of your resource to highlight it, with a CTA to interact with that resource. → Lead to a resource page where they can discover multiple resources - you'd be surprised how many people may not realize the full depth of your expertise! Content. Content CTAs are my favorite ones to use in gratitude emails. After you thank donors, give them another opportunity to stay engaged. This can also be an added "sneak peek" for donors to receive exclusive content, or just to simply stay engaged and learn more about the work you're doing. You can direct them to... → A report. → A blog post or video content. → A podcast episode featuring one of your team members. These donation CTA alternatives aren't another ask. They're an invitation to understand more about what you do, who you serve, and why it's important. They focus more on building a relationship rather than creating a transaction. If you aren't leading your reader somewhere, I see it as a missed opportunity for connection. Swipe one of these examples for your next email (+ more examples here), then let me know what your results are. I'd love to hear how these work for you!
Enjoyed this email? Forward it to another nonprofit leader who may enjoy it, too. 🫶 |