Email – not Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms—remains King of the Hill when it comes to driving online advocacy action and contributions.

That’s the key nugget delivered to nonprofit news and public media organizations by

Jesse Littlewood, a campaigner and digital strategist who’s helped build Common Cause’s impressive digital advocacy and fundraising efforts from 250,000 supporters to over 1 million in 36 months while yielding millions of dollars in small, individual gifts.

Jesse’s recommendations, delivered in a webinar at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media Politics and Public Policy,  can be found here:  Five Reasons Why Nonprofit Media Should Ask Their Audience for Support via Email More Often.

Although Jesse’s advice is aimed mainly at news /public media and advocacy nonprofits, there’s good advice here for everyone.

Key Takeaways

• “Email is still king for donations.”  Citing stats from M+R’s 2018 Benchmark Studyhe notes,  “Most organizations are best served by a ‘donor pipeline’ that converts social media followers into email subscribers before they make a donation.” Email revenue was up 24% last year and is far more scalable than social media channels.

• “Monthly giving is where it’s at. Monthly giving continues to grow and is becoming a large part of all online revenue ( All nonprofits: 16% in 2017. Public media sector: 34% in 2017.)   See his post for specific recommendationson tactics/techniques for monthly giving..

• …it takes sending more emails. Because open rates and click-through rates are shrinking –nationally open rates are now down to 15% and click-through rates have declined by 2.5%– Jesse feels it’s necessary to increase frequency.  And, he says you should be worried by the increase in volume noting that “unsubscribe “rates are also down.

• Nationally, in 2016 the average organization raised $36 per 1,000 emails delivered. In 2017 the figure grew to $42 per !000 delivered emails.

• Sectors vary. Compare your activities with other groups in your sector.  For example, the pubic media sector outperforms other sectors on email fundraising — $104 in revenue per 1,000 emails compared to overall nonprofit average of $42. Take a look at the M+R Benchmarks Reportto see how your sector/organization is doing.

• So, what does this all mean for your organization. In a nutshell, here are the steps Jesse recommends you take: 1) familiarize yourself with the metrics: are you under or over performing? 2) Test to learn what works by way of themes; 3) A/B test subject lines; 4) test “hooks” based on the news cycle and 5) test a ‘celebrity’ or well-known signer.

• Test increasing the volume. Re-ask non-respondents to a successful appeal…ask recent donors to go one step further and make another gift or become a monthly donor..be especially aggressive during year-end giving season…and highlight meaningful anniversaries.

FINALLY….

• Always be sure to say thank you. “Fundraising is the art of asking but also the art of saying thank you in a meaningful way  Honor the importance of your audience’s contributions.”     Jesse urges you to go the extra mile:  1) Make a truly personalized thank you with a phone call, personal letter/note or even a personalized video.

AND… ”a small act within 48 hours of a gift will make a major impact on the success of recruiting a donor to give again, even weeks or months later.

Thank you, Jesse.

Roger