8 Ways to Improve Your Not-for-Profit's Newsletter

Do you run a not-for-profit organisation? If you want to stay connected to your donors and get them to keep contributing to your cause, email marketing is one of the best ways to do it.

Email marketing can be a powerful tool for increasing online engagement and improving your organisation’s reach — not to mention the number of donations you receive.

Read on to find out why sending newsletters is important, and how you can optimise your campaigns to get even better results.

Why Should Not-for-Profits Send Email Newsletters?

Newsletters (and email marketing in general) is a great way to share your message with your audience. In some cases it’s also better than social media because more people will see it.

If you post on social media only a small percentage of followers will see it (due to the algorithm and general noise online), but with nonprofits, your open rate will be much higher. The average rate for nonprofit email campaigns is over 25%, whilst the average in general is only 6%.

In addition to having better open rates, not-for-profit newsletters also help you to maximise your resources and save money. You own your list and you don’t have to pay money (like advertising costs) to reach your fans.

Marketers often refer to email as the best marketing tool of all time (assuming you have a list). It’s still the channel with the highest return on investment. Whether you’re operating on a shoestring budget or you have a lot of resources, email needs to be in your strategy! It’s an excellent way to keep your audience engaged at a low cost.

8 Ways to Improve Your Not-for-Profit’s Newsletter

Now that you know why email marketing is so important, here are 8 ways you can level up your newsletters and campaigns: 

1. Set Clear Goals

As with any type of marketing tactic, you’ll see better outcomes from your email newsletter if you first set clear goals.

What do you want to accomplish by emailing your audience? Do you want to increase donations? Attract more volunteers?

It doesn’t matter what your goals are. However, if you set them first, it’ll be easier to measure progress and determine the success of your email marketing efforts.

(This is important to know because it also helps you 1) have a clear call to action and 2) know what to measure, vs just winging it).

2. Make Emails Targeted

The more personalised and targeted your marketing emails are, the more likely people are to open, read, and engage with them. One of the easiest ways to make your newsletters and other types of email communications more targeted is to segment your email lists.

Segmenting involves dividing your list into different categories to match people’s unique interests or previous actions. For example, you might segment your list so that previous donors get a slightly different message than people who have expressed an interest in volunteering.

3. Optimise Email Design

If your newsletters have a drab design or no design at all, people are going to be less inclined to read and engage with them.

How do you improve email design?

Start by using colours and fonts that align with the rest of your organisation’s branding efforts. Include images or videos to increase engagement and make your newsletters more interesting, too.

Don’t forget about formatting, either. If your newsletter is full of long paragraphs and has little white space, people will be more likely to get overwhelmed. This could cause them to delete it before reading what you have to say or deciding to make a charity donation. 

4. Tell a Story 

Charities and not-for-profits tend to have better luck with their newsletters when they tell stories. 

Telling a story about someone your organisation helped recently, for example, is a great way to generate empathy and encourage others to donate and get involved. If you make people feel something, they’ll be more inclined to take action and support your cause.  

5. Write Catchy Subject Lines

An intriguing subject line can make all the difference when you’re trying to solicit donations for charity.

Make sure your subject lines a short, simple, and written in active voice. If you can include a number or statistic, that can also increase the chances of people clicking on your email.

Steer clear of words like “free” or “money,” too. They can trigger spam filters and prevent people from ever seeing your message in the first place.

6. Prompt Donations/Action

Always include a clear call-to-action in your email newsletters and email marketing messages. 

Encourage people to make a donation, sign up to be a volunteer, or visit your website to learn more about your cause. Tell people what you want from them so they understand the purpose of your message and know how to support your organisation now and in the future.

7. Stick to a Schedule

Be consistent with your email newsletters.

It doesn’t matter if you send them weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. The key is to stick to a schedule. This helps you to build relationships more easily and create stronger connections between your audiences, your organisation, and your mission.  

8. Link to Other Types of Content

If you’re running out of ideas about what to include in your email newsletter, consider adding links to other types of content. This encourages more engagement with your organisation and makes your newsletters more interesting. It also makes it easier for people to share your mission with their friends and family.

Link to videos, blog posts, or even your latest social media posts. Add links to your latest donation campaign, too. Donation Hub makes it easy for you to do this with convenient, customisable donation tools.  

Raise More Funds With DonationHub

DonationHub allows people to support their favourite causes with customised donations, and manage them all in one place. By giving them more convenience and personalisation, your organisation can raise more funds. 

We also allow cut out the middleman to make sure the donor’s money actually makes it to you, without marketers and salespeople taking a cut.

Click here to see how DonationHub could help you increase donations and get more supporters!