1 Email to Steal, 1 Email to Learn From

It’s no secret that whatever is in the inbox when your nonprofit’s email arrives is a competitor. In our efforts to filter down the contents of our inboxes to a manageable amount, we may toss the email from the well-meaning nonprofit even if we support it and believe in its mission.

But two recent emails caught my attention. The first came from eBay, reminding me it was my 12-year eBay anniversary and to tell me how much the company valued having me as part of the eBay community. It also attached a PDF of a certificate (sadly, not personalized) that I should “display proudly.”

I admit it — I was surprised (pleasantly); I had no idea it had been 12 years. And yes, I felt pretty good that eBay took the time to acknowledge and thank me. Yes, I know it’s all automated and no human woke up that morning and said, “Hey! It’s Pamela Barden’s eBay anniversary!” But my non-rational side — the side that decides where to invest my disposable income, — felt pretty positive about eBay that day.

The second email came from the issuer of my small business credit card.

Did I mention I am a small business? You know — I keep the books, buy the ink for the printer, reset the network when it goes wonky and even get to do some fundraising from time to time. Apparently my opinions are important to the folks at the credit card company, and they wanted me to complete a survey to share those all-important opinions with them and a research company.

But then I realized it would take me 25 minutes to complete this survey. Did I mention that I am a small business? For me, 25 minutes is a big chunk of time. And it’s a chunk I really can’t afford just to give my opinions to a gigantic bank and credit card issuer that I really doubt cares about my opinions all that much.

Where did they go wrong? Asking me to spend 25 minutes to complete a survey was an imposition. It implied that I had lots of time on my hands. If they had asked me to take just five minutes once a week for five weeks to complete a series of surveys, I would have done it. Five minutes at one time is “waste-able” — 25 minutes is not.

So what are the nonprofit takeaways from these two commercial emails?

Surprise your donors
Acknowledge their milestones — giving to you for three consecutive years, total giving since their first gift totals $1,000, enough donated to feed 250 people, or whatever giving highlight makes sense to recognize. Save the Children once sent me a certificate to honor my first year of partnership; what a nice touch — that I still remember because it was the one and only I have received from any nonprofit. These kinds of emails are relatively inexpensive but can be invaluable in deepening a relationship.

Make it easy
Make it easy for your donors to provide information, make a gift, read your material, peruse your website or whatever else it is you want them to do. Unlike you, supporting your organization is not their full-time job. We love involved donors, so make it simple to get involved by providing lots of “baby steps” along with the serious leaps of commitment. Don’t let the tail wag the dog — for example, your forms being driven by data-processing policies rather than ease for donor completion — or you risk frustrating donors.

This old dog digs through an inbox full of mail every morning looking for buried bones ... uh, I mean buried treasure. Make sure your emails are counted among those few that survive the first and drastic purge of the day. Surprise me, involve me in a way that makes sense — and watch me grow into a donor who sticks with you. After all, retention is not a statistic; it’s a relationship.

Pamela Barden is a fundraising consultant and author of FundRaising Success’ Old Dog Fundraising blog. Reach her at pamela@pjbardeninc.com or on Twitter at @PJBarden