What if my constituents think I'm emailing them too much during December?

Rachael Ahrens

I had a great question from Mandy at Lund Family Center (http://lund.convio.net) about how much is too much email in December. Lund usually limits their email each month to just one or two emails, and understandably, she is concerned that her constituents may feel overwhelmed with our recommended email schedule in December for end of year fundraising. She wondered if she could combine her monthly eNews with her EOY fundraising campaign to avoid sending so much mail. Here's my response:

I don’t recommend replacing or combining one of your EOY campaign emails with a newsletter. To have the best fundraising numbers, you need to send a multi-part fundraising campaign. In fact, orgs have been known to raise four times the amount they would have if they only ask once during the month of Dec. A series of emails always shows a better fundraising response.

It is also not a great idea to try to use your monthly newsletter as a EOY fundraising tool. Your fundraising appeal needs to be succinct with a clear ask for funds linking directly to a donation form, not hidden in between other news (even if it is very important news). Also, your donors might stop reading your news if you try to sneak a fundraising ask into a newsletter. They are two different communications and should be independent of each other.

One thing you might consider is moving your newsletter up so that you're sending just one email each week. Studies have shown that sending four messages in a month is not considered over-mailing. Your constituents are unlikely to feel bombarded with one message per week, espeically if they clearly see that news is different than you're EOY fundraising campaign. Here’s a possible schedule:

Dec 3 - EOY fundraising Campaign Launch Appeal

Dec 15 - Lund Links – Special December Issue with a (soft ask) sidebar donate image matching your EOY fundraising imagery (here’s an example of how to include a soft ask in an eNews so it doesn't come off as a fundraising appeal http://getinvolved.conservation.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=8441.0&dlv_id=0)

Dec 21 - EOY cultivation email – soft ask only

Dec 30 - EOY Last Chance Appeal

I feel that you'd be missing out on a huge fundraising opportunity by opting out of the EOY fundraising campaign and trying to use your eNews as your only fundraising tool. If you don’t ask (and ask a few times), you can bet your competitors will. Here are a couple on-demand webinars with actual stats/examples of the impact of a multi-part EOY campaign:

Holiday Campaigns That Work: http://www.convio.com/our-research/on-demand-webinars/holiday-campaigns-that-work.html

Planning for EOY: http://fundamentals.convio.com/?elqPURLPage=761

Hope that helps!

Rachael