Nonprofit Fundraising 101

Chapter 16 Fundraising with Email

“The more you say, the less people remember.”

—François Fénelon

Introduction

If you want to be successful in raising money from individuals, you need to reach them where they are—online. The majority of online fundraising happens through email, and having solid strategy is key to your success. According to Blackbaud, fully 90 percent of online giving is driven by online appeals—especially email—but also website promotion (see Chapter 15) and disaster giving, compared to just 9 percent from peer-to-peer activities like run/walk/rides (Chapter 13) and 1 percent from social media (Chapter 17). Having a solid email and online strategy is only becoming more important over time; the number of people giving online and the amounts raised have consistently outpaced overall giving growth by about 400 percent the past few years. (See the Resource Review for links to a few studies with great statistics.) The good news is that this isn’t rocket science, and with a few tried-and-true tips and tools, you can start raising big bucks via email in no time.

Beyond raising money, email is also an extremely useful and inexpensive tool for connecting with your donors and prospects on a regular basis. People on your email list signed up for a reason, so you have a wonderful opportunity to build a strong connection and inspire them to support your work. Moreover, because email is a technology-based medium, everything can be measured and tested.

In order to identify ...