Three Ways Kansas City Nonprofits Can Grow Their Email List – and Why They Should
We're bringing Heather Mansfield, founder and editor-in-chief of the Nonprofit Tech for Good blog, to Kansas City on March 11 to share the top-performing online fundraising tools and social media strategies available to nonprofits in 2020. Learn more and save your seat.
Many nonprofits de-prioritized email marketing during the rise of social media in the 2010s – and that was a mistake. Email is a powerful communication tool used by all generations, including the up-and-coming Generation Z, and with algorithms on social media hiding 90-98% of your content from your followers (unless you invest in social advertising), email continues to also be a very cost-effective tool.
According to the Global Trends in Giving Report, 27% of donors say that email is the tool that most inspires them to give (social media 29%, website 18%, print 12%). Also, email raised 13% of all online revenue in 2018 – down 8% from 2017, but the decrease is primarily due to the rise in monthly giving in 2018. And what is one of the most effective ways to grow monthly giving? You guessed it – email.
In 2020, and until the data proves otherwise, nonprofits must make a concerted effort to grow their email list.
1) Include an e-newsletter opt-in in your website’s footer or header.
If your website does not prominently feature an e-newsletter opt-in, that is a telltale sign that your organization isn’t prioritizing email as it should. Outreach International has its e-newsletter opt-in in their website footer – ensuring that it is featured on every page of their website:
2) Add an email pop-up to your website.
Nonprofits fear that pop-ups are too intrusive, but they work! The largest portion of Nonprofit Tech for Good email subscribers come from our pop-up – 52%. Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City uses them as well:
For your reference, MailMunch and Journity offer pop-up software.
3) Create an e-newsletter “Subscribe” page on your website and promote the page on social media.
Using Canva or an in-house designer, create a “Subscribe to Our e-Newsletter” promo graphic (1200 x 600 pixels) and share it on social media once a month. It’s worth noting that asking for a mailing address will decrease your opt-in rate, but it is recommended that you ask for the first and last name. For example, the Blue River Watershed Association:
Addressing a subscriber by their first name can increase open rates by as much as 29% and if you have their last name as well, then if you obtain their mailing address at a later date, you’ll be able to merge the contact in your CRM.
Related Resource: 10 Email Marketing Best Practices for Nonprofits
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