Email Marketing For Charity Organizations By Rudy Barell At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

If charity email marketing isn't part of your business plan, then you are missing out on a cost-effective, easy-to-use tool that will surely increase donor involvement and contributions.

Adding charity email marketing to your marketing mix will help you phase out other over-priced, time-consuming methods of marketing and communications. As an NPO, it is necessary to keep your member informed about initiatives and events. However, it is not necessary to spend a fortune doing this. Email is faster, easier and more affordable than printed letters and flyers. On top of it all, it's also more effective, since people nowadays check their emails more often than their regular mail.

In terms of price, it is probably the only form of direct marketing that will cost you only $10 to reach one thousand people interested in what you have to say.

Nonprofit email marketing will also put you in full control over the final product, as it is so easy to use. So, not only do you save time by being able to produce your campaigns in-house, you also cut out the middle man. Using charity email marketing is simply a matter of uploading images and cutting and pasting content into the hundreds of templates provided. In fact, it's easier than most things you're already doing on your computer.

What if you don't have the time to do this? One option is to sign-up for full-service email marketing. But, if you don't want to spend money on that, you can simply train a volunteer. Charity email marketing services are set up so that even the least computer savvy of us can be a marketing expert.

Charity email marketing is also very easy to integrate into your existing communications strategy. In particular, there are 3 email formats that can be especially beneficial for your NPO: 1.The Newsletter, 2. The Promotional Ad and 3. The Thank You Postcard. These emails can be sent out to every one of your contacts, but are specifically useful for previous donors or prospective donors. Below are a few tips for success with these 3 handy email formats.

The Newsletter:
Charity newsletters detail the past, present and future events put on by your organization. Of course, any other relevant material can be included in the Charity email marketing newsletter. The purpose of the newsletter is to show everyone (but especially donors) what the money is being used for (or for prospective donor, what it can be used for), making the donor feel ownership for the differences they are making (or envision the difference they can make), giving them the impetus to donate again (or for the first time). Remember that the more informative your newsletter is, the better. That being said, the shorter your newsletter is, the easier it is to keep your audience captivated. So, the trick is to provide useful and relevant content in the briefest way possible. It's also important to include links in your email, so interested readers can click the links to visit your website (or an event website) for more information.

The Promotional Ad:
Because you have kept your donors' attentions with the newsletter, and they have practically witnessed how their donated dollars are being put to use, sending out promo ad emails for your fundraising events will have a more profound effect on their coming forth with a donation. By including promotional ads in every step of the process, you establish that the donor now has a relationship with the organization. When the promos come around to the donor's inbox, he or she will feel a proprietary inclination to donate.

The Thank you Postcard:
The hope is that you will be sending out tons of these, as they are the optional last step in your business cycle for charity email marketing. These are the 'thank you for donating/participating' emails (also great for volunteers). Thank you emails are another important point in continuing the relationship with those involved in your organization. They show your appreciation to your donors and volunteers, without whom your organization would not be able to exist. The top email marketing programs have beautiful templates for Thank You postcards that can be sent via email. (Remember: sending an email postcard instead of a paper one also means you are taking an extra step to save the environment).

Charity email marketing is so affordable and easy-to-use that it will become your new favorite way to communicate with your interested parties. Before, during or after any of your events, you can keep your donors and other important contributors informed by sending out email marketing newsletters. Then, when it comes time for donations, use the promotional ad to remind them that their contributions are what keep your organization thriving. Finally the Thank You email postcard will keep that relationship active after the fundraising event has taken place, until the cycle begins again. Charity email marketing will change the way your NPO operates!

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