Sanity Check: How many #GT and EOY emails are you sending?

Jeremy Reynolds

So, let's assume for a moment that you've got a machine that creates the best possible list of recipients, the most beautiful, well-coded layout ever, and an appeal message written by Hemingway himself. It does it all, except for one thing: how often to send. Your job: pick the right balance to avoid the promo/bulk (or heaven forbid, spam) folder, sending a new message frequently enough to keep yourself front-of-mind without overwhelming the audience.


There are lots of online resources detailing how to make a good email design, copy, subject line, list segmentation, welcome series, etc. What I haven't really ever seen is good advice on "how much is too much" or "the perfect timing between sends." Everyone's got an opinion, but not much is data driven.


If I'm in development, I say, "There's no such thing as too much contact. People don't see every message you send, and your constituents are invested in your cause." True as that may be, I can guarantee gmail won't appreciate it when it sees a million bulk messages coming from your domain in the span of a week.


Ideal world and 100 people in the marketing department, I send separate series for each unique segment, talking personally through the lens of my programs...runners get a race director saying, "wasn't that event so great?" advocates a personal acknowledgment that, "You wrote 10 letters to <senator>, and he did the thing, great job?" and so on. But of course that can only go so far, and at some point ya gotta find a middle ground. And even then, it's a bit of black magic to know when a big slice of a small pie is better than a small slice of a several huge pies.


So I put it to you folks: whatcha doin' this year? How often are you sending appeals to your full house list ahead of GivingTuesday? How many messages are you sending in December? How much are you able to break down segments and customize?

M OConnell

Right now our organization is sending a complex "lead-up" campaign to both GT and YE fundraising. It counts to about an email every other day and several on the day of. Segmentation of messaging and design is by the usual housefile sub-divisions - Active, Major Giving, [any number of Interests], Lapsed, etc.


I know, we all have to be careful because of GMAIL! Does anyone else have trouble maintaining their Reputation score (according Google Postmaster)?