Following the U.S. elections, I received tons of emails from groups urging me to subscribe to their action updates, bulletins, latest news, etc.

I did. But in doing so I vowed I would track the follow-up of the various organizations to see how well they did in persuading me to do more than simply sign up. And, of course, I wondered just whether all this post-election activity was worth the effort in terms of fundraising.

For a head start on the answer I turned to my friend, Australian fundraiser Sean Triner. In his post Welcoming E-News Subscribers Sean does some math, provides practical insights and sets forth some recommendations on guidelines you should consider following.

First the Numbers

Assuming ‘fundraising’ is the ultimate purpose of the e-newsletter (other purposes might be for ‘information’ or ‘donor service’), Sean offers the following hypothetical numbers. (He notes, “It is fine to adjust my numbers, just make sure you follow a similar logical process and measure reality against your projected numbers.”)

“For example let’s say you have 500 new subscribers a month. Perhaps 300 will ever open another email, 150 might click on anything, and in the end, only 1-20 would ever donate. Of those who donate perhaps 20-30% would ever donate again.

So…this means 500 new subscribers a month leads to just maybe 6 repeat donors. [Emphasis mine: 20 donors max x 30% max for repeats = 6]

Using Sean’s hypothetical this means that for a year’s work you may bring in 6,000 new subscribers of whom 72 will become repeat donors.

Consequently, Sean advises:

• Be careful how much time and effort you put into an initiative like this. And be sure to budget and keep track of the time involved.

• If fundraising is the purpose of your e-news you have about 30 days to get a phone number and/or a donation. After that says Sean, “the chances of a donation are so low it was all a waste.”

• Most important factor determining success in that 30 day ‘honeymoon’ period? The volume of emails. “Not a volume of rubbish emails, but a volume of quality and thoughtful emails.”

• Aim for a click or feedback every time and include surveys, asks, information, links to video and more.

• If you’re on top of your data, Sean advises “to save the ask for towards the end of the thirty days so you can personalise depending on people’s clicks, links, shares and feedback.”

• And, if you have the capability, don’t forget that age targeting is important. If you’re asking for a monthly gift, folks over 45 years of age are best.

Surveys Essential

Sean assigns high importance to surveys for their effectiveness. His guidelines on surveys?

Every survey question needs a purpose. It should be one of these:

• A question that makes people want to fill in the survey;

• A question that aids targeting (especially age, or age bracket);

• A question that leads people to donate;

• A question that can and WILL be used in personalization.  ‘As a mother of two children you understand…’ or ‘imagine if Bramble didn’t have the love of you and your family and was abandoned…’;

• A question that tries to get across the key proposition of the organization;

• Something that captures address or other details but most importantly, a phone number.

So, the next time the CEO or one of your colleagues says, “Hey, we need to go after folks and get them subscribe to our e-news. I bet it’ll raise a lot of money.”  Get out this check list or share Sean’s advice with them.

What’s your experience with e-news subscribers? Please share.

Roger