When I was asked to write a post on the importance of email marketing for nonprofits, I wasn’t sold on its benefits. Perhaps this is due to information overload, the backlog of email messages that can occur, or the constant maintenance that must be done to an email account. After doing some research, however, I have become convinced that email marketing is crucial for nonprofits who want to expand their reach.
For starters, the email open rate for nonprofits is 25.2%, which makes it second only to the government industry (30.5%) in this regard. These numbers might look small, but they are much better than some other industries that often use email marketing, since the average open rate across industries is 17.92%. And since, according to one study, daily email use is done by 91% of US consumers, it is about 40% more effective at getting customers than Twitter and Facebook combined. With that said, let’s look at 3 benefits email marketing offers nonprofits.
1. Email isn’t going anywhere
Accessing and sending email messages is simple and accessible throughout the world. Perhaps this is why there are now more than 3 billion email users. With a massive number like this, it’s safe to say that email is here to stay. And since it’s not going away, you can utilize email marketing to widen your nonprofit’s reach.
2. Email allows you to connect to others through stories
Oftentimes, we’ve seen nonprofits use email messages to connect with their supporters through stories. These stories shouldn’t be long (we recommend around 100 words), and they should be accompanied by some sort of graphic. Often these stories are about particular people whom an organization has helped. We’ve written about how people connect through stories, so this is a great opportunity for you to do so on a regular basis.
3. Email messages can be automatically scheduled (but don’t use this as an excuse to spam others)
You may want to consider creating a backlog of email content that you can dispense automatically on a schedule. Gmail now allows you to do this for free. This means you can do some initial writing work and reap the benefits of having email messages go out automatically on a regular basis. We’ve already written about how you can automate email messages through the use of triggers, which means the email message goes out after something specific happens with a particular user.
Please do not use automated, scheduled email as an excuse to spam your supporters. You don’t want people blocking you or unsubscribing because they perceive you are spamming them. If that happens, they will likely never unblock/resubscribe to you, and therefore, will never see another email message you send. Use your best judgment, or better yet, talk to email recipients who will be honest with you, and ask them if they ever feel like you are spamming them. If the consensus is “Yes,” then cut back on how frequently you send email messages.