Email 101 for Nonprofits

Jon Burgess, MBA

Jon Burgess• RedFusion Media, Digital Consultant• American Advertising Federation, Board of

Directors• University of Redlands, Internet Marketing &

Social Media Adjunct Professor

www.linkedin.com/in/jonburgesswww.twitter.com/jonburgess

Email Basics• Email is cost effective• Nonprofits should use email to nurture

http://e-benchmarksstudy.com

ICANN Basics• Respect your subscribers’ privacy so they will

stay Active. • State that you will never sell their information or

give their information to a third party. • You must also honor their request to be removed

from your list.• CAN-SPAM law

DO NOT• Send an email to 10+ (Carbon or Blind Copy)• Send emails to people who do not want them• Buy Lists• Send more than twice a month

1. Lists2. Set Expectations3. Goal Setting4. Who is Sending5. Subject Line6. Email Body7. Personalize8. Signature9. Proof and Test10. Send and Review Statistics

10 Steps

Step 1: Lists• Step 1: Optimize for

Deliverability• Good lists. Segment

if possible• Add a “Signup” to

your website.

Step 2: Set Expectations

• Why they should subscribe • How many emails will they receive • When they will receive the emails • What the emails will be about • What address and brand/person are the emails

being sent from• How will you care for your list• Who in your office is responsible

Step 3: Goal Setting• Why are you communicating?• What are you asking for?

Examples:o Alert customers of a new feature or product and see how

many customers adopt it o Announce an upcoming event and measure how many

people register for it o Send an email to get people to subscribe to your blog

and measure how many subscribedo Make donors aware of your social media pages, grow

followers

Step 4: Who is Sending

Email Address & From Name• Corporate email account (

jon@redfusionmedia.com)• Personal Names (Jon Burgess) work best• Secondary Name of “RedFusion Media”

Step 5: Subject Line• Call to action so the recipient knows what action

they need to take and why.• Simpler is better• Short and to the point

Step 6: Email Body• Compelling information• Most people read email in less than 10 seconds• Use bullets to break up content• Include links to Call to Action• Plain text, do not use exotic fonts• Images, use just a couple• Keep it clean and simple

Step 7: Personalize• Most systems

allow you to personalize the email

• Include First Name

Step 8: Signature• Add a signature at the bottom• Keep it personal, from a real person• Personalize if your relationships, like salesmen

are connected to specific people• Place all of your organizations contact information

in the footer• Add in your social media links• Include and “Unsubscribe”

Footer Example

Step 9: Proof & Test• Make sure you proof your work• Make sure another person proofs your work• Send a test message to you and a few colleagues• Check all images, check all links

Step 10: Send & Review

• Select your lists.• Hit send.

• Watch for results, look to respond to questions or comments

• Review and measure your Sent, Open, Clicks

Email Tools• Mail Chimp• Constant Contact• Vertical Response• iContact• GetResponse• HubSpot• Infusionsoft• http://e-benchmarksstudy.com