2013 Holiday season giving has nearly come and gone. I don’t know about you, but I received my fair share of e-appeals in December. Many non-profits created wonderful email arcs that built up momentum over the weeks and reminded me of the other ways in which we can use storytelling. Other non-profits feel a bit short, sending abrupt and not so elegant emails.
But no matter where they fall on the spectrum, there is something to learn from every email sent. Today I want to share 5 non-profit year-end emails I received this year and one takeaway from each of them.
Organization: Union Gospel Mission
Email Subject Line: You helped make the holidays brighter: See video highlights
Send date: December 27
Lesson Learned:
In a season full of solicitations, this thank you email really shines. It’s short, thoughtful and demonstrates great accountability. It also doesn’t hurt that the video is very polished. The lesson to learn from this email is that we can all stand to mix it up! We don’t always have to be asking this time of year. Instead we can add value to our donors’ lives by showing them what they’ve helped make possible.
Organization: The University of British Columbia
Email Subject Line: 2 weeks left to donate to UBC in 2013
Send date: December 18
Lesson Learned:
This email is the first in an arc of 3. As you can see when you click on “View the full email,” above the fold is a sticky note that lists some common things we might have to do before the end of the year. In the third email, they used this same sticky note again and crossed off a couple of the items. But that’s not what I want to highlight about this email. What we can all learn from this email is about great link placement. Specifically, they don’t wait until the last paragraph to include a call to action – it’s right there at the end of the first paragraph. There are also three additional links to the donate page on the website towards the end of the email.
Organization: Kitsilano Neighborhood House
Email Subject Line: Your neighbours need you
Send date: December 17
Lesson Learned:
By now we all know that it is best to start an email with a personal salutation rather than “Dear friend of (organization’s name).” And while making the header and footer seasonal, this email copy doesn’t exactly feel warm and fuzzy. My feeling is that if you’re going to try to capitalize on people’s generosity during the holiday season, you have to at least make an effort to contextualize your email in the season. For example, rather than just being general information about the Kits Neighborhood House, it could have said something about a special program they run during the holidays.
Organization: Stone Research Foundation
Email Subject Line: Help more patients go biologic: Last chance for 2013!
Send date: December 20
Lesson Learned:
My initial reaction to this email was, “Is that a typo in the subject line?” But once I opened the email, I realized that “biologic” is actually an industry jargon term. Email appeals are not the time to test your donors on your industry’s buzzwords! Also, varying the language can work wonders. “Biologic” is used in nearly every sentence of this very short email, which makes it sound redundant.
Organization: Heart and Stroke Foundation
Email Subject Line: Urgent: Make coming home possible
Send date: December 27
Lesson Learned:
The sentimental value of this email is right on target. For anyone who’s ever had a family member or loved one in the hospital, they can emotionally identify with the message of this appeal. What works against this email, however, is the somewhat pushy feel of the calls to action above the fold – 3 in total! Plus highlighting them in red make it’s all the more obvious that this email is just about asking for money. The lesson to be learned is that while making the ask is important, we don’t have to over do it.
