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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
Most organizations want to grow their online audience. Some of us rely entirely on our supporters to fuel actions and fundraising—the organizational
You sent 100,000 emails to the wrong list... You directed people to last year’s action... You addressed everyone as “Jane”... It happens.
Serious question. Success is more than a number. It’s an outcome. An increase in list size isn’t an end-goal; 1,000
These folks are some of the most innovative and transformative communicators in (and beyond) our movement. And they’re on a mission to help
Your reader trusts their own mind way more than they trust yours. No offense but it’s true. Knowing this, try to avoid
As changemakers, it’s our job to dream up all the ways our supporters can get involved to help our cause or win
How tempting is it to ‘bust myths’ and confront your opponent’s ridiculous claims head-on!? Hint: very. Proceed with caution—countering false claims can unintentionally
Technology moves at light-speed. Every day, smart people are pushing the boundaries of digital design, user experience, and communication. If we hope
The General Data Protection Regulation (commonly, GDPR) came into effect in May 2018. It impacts all businesses and organizations, everywhere in the world,
You’ve sent your action or appeal broadcast. It went okay. But you’re not satisfied that enough supporters noticed it or recognized its urgency.
Great action pages will attract people via social media, search, traditional media, and even word of mouth. This means they’re ideal for list-building.
When it comes to targeting the best supporters for specific activities, many of us are using (or have used) the sub-list model.
The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that leads us to overestimate the knowledge of our audience. If you allow this curse
How does the past experience of people on your list influence their interest in receiving ongoing email from you? It turns out
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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What makes a good ‘hero image’? 
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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