Is Your E-mail Message Getting Through?

So, the first step is to define what your goals are for contacting your intended audience -- e.g., bringing visitors back to visit your Web site, taking prompt action such as contacting elected officials, getting recipients to read an article or request more information, increasing attendance for an event or obtaining donations. Then, using your fundraising software or contact-management system, you should segment the list of people who are applicable to this goal. A good system should be able to track, filter and sort the different attributes that match your desired audience, and be able to export that list to your e-mail marketing service. You should only send to a permission-based list, meaning people who either have a prior relationship with your nonprofit or who specifically requested to receive e-mails from your organization. [Quick Tip: Ask your e-mail recipients to put your e-mail address in their address book; this will help get you past many SPAM filters.]