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Most organizations want to grow their online audience. Some of us rely entirely on our supporters to fuel actions and fundraising—the organizational
Consider the moment before your supporter decides whether to open your email. They must sacrifice something in order to give you their attention.
Inboxes aren’t often exciting places. Neither are the majority of web pages, if we’re honest. This can work to your advantage. Your
How does the past experience of people on your list influence their interest in receiving ongoing email from you? It turns out
Every time you email your supporter, you’re doing much more than delivering a message. You’re cultivating a relationship. If
(Not in that way). Do you ever find yourself staring at your screen, wishing the thing you are trying to write was done
SPOILER: it’s not good. Sure—you know you’re writing an email to 5,000 people. But your task is to make your reader feel like
One of the hardest lessons to learn as a communicator is knowing what not to say. In a medium that forces us
Whatever you do—don’t just imagine your headline on your page itself. Consider how your headline performs without the rest of your page to
Think of split testing (or AB testing) like a deathmatch for ideas. It’s the best tool we have for figuring out what works
Bolding the odd word or phrase can help skim readers catch key ideas you don’t want them to miss. It’s also great for
Well-designed email templates are greeeat. But even the best layouts can lull readers into complacency over time. Consider mixing up your formatting occasionally
The moment after someone completes an online action presents a critical opportunity. A well-crafted thank-you email will help cement this action as a
Take your time. In the pursuit of saying more with less, I’ll admit—not every big idea can be reduced to a snappy soundbite.
Imagine you’ve been asked to have an important conversation with ... ‘someone’. Chances are, you’ll be much happier to have that conversation if
A token is a little snippet of encoded data that identifies a supporter and can be attached to links in your email broadcasts. When someone clicks on a tokenized link from an email to your website, your website can re-discover who that supporter is and continue to deliver a seamless, personalized experience. Your email broadcast system, website, and CRM will need the ability to ‘talk’ to each other to pull this off.
The tokenization process Tokenized links let you do all sorts of neat stuff
- Pre-fill any form fields using known contact details, enhancing data integrity and completion rates.
- Personalize landing pages (e.g. address your supporter by their first name).
- Match the content of an appeal to your supporter’s contribution level (e.g. if your supporter is a monthly donor you can personalize any fundraising asks to reflect their ongoing gift and offer them an upgrade form with tailored dollar handles; a non-donor hitting the same page might see a monthly pledge form and a different ask).
- Literally anything you know about your supporter can be used to enhance personalization on your website.
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Hi there! I’m Karen. I’m on a mission to reach my former self. Had I known 10 years ago what I know today, I could have achieved more good, made fewer mistakes, and had more weekends. Every time we share what works, we win faster. Let’s create digital experiences that move people — that grow our base and fuel our movements. Are you with me? Please share this with someone you know who wants to up their digital game!
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