Here’s an excellent piece of advice about emailing donors from the Vertical Response website.
To summarise, you start with three emails that don’t ask for money and simply seek to establish a relationship with new members: Welcome, Did You Know, Special Offer.
Next you send three emails asking for donations: Success Story, We Have A Goal, Fundraising Event.
Finally three emails you should send to maintain donors: Newsletter, Useful News, Donor Preferences.
There are also three tips for success: Add Pictures of People, Segment Your List and Use Empowering Language. I particularly liked this last one. For example, instead of ‘We can’t do it without you’, say ‘Donors like you make this possible.’ Instead of ‘Click here to donate’, say ‘Make a difference today’.
If you work for a charity and need to raise funds from members and supporters, I thoroughly recommend that you read this article in full.
