This post is a special shout out to Kathy Howrigan at St. Michael’s College.  Thanks for giving me the idea!

Email marketing is cheap, but it isn’t easy.  There are strategies and guidelines to follow to really do it well.  You can raise a lot of money over email, and if you do it right, you’ll get a return on investment in the thousands.  Here are some things to keep in mind when creating email solicitations: 

What’s your value proposition?

Writing an effective email solicitation isn’t easy.  You’re selling a product, but it’s not a product in traditional terms - the value a university delivers is in the education of its students and the value those students provide for society.  It’s the most intangible of products, but you’re still asking people to give you money for it.  A solicitation is one message where you have to have your WIIFM nailed down - your users will be much more likely to give if they can answer the question “What’s in it for me?” 

What matters to your users? Is it getting their gift matched? The delivery a large gift for their reunion? Or a competition for most dollars raised between classes? Or getting their name included in the annual list of donors? Worse comes to worse, offer some sort of premium for giving a gift.  Don’t be afraid to experiment - this value proposition is the most important thing to nail down, even before you start writing copy or designing templates.

Keep the Template Simple

This rule applies to any type of email marketing message - don’t overthink the template. A simple banner is really all it takes.  Here’s an example of a basic template:

emailtemplate

Some more tips:

  • Keep your copy short - higher ed has a tendency to give their users the wordy, boring owners manual, instead of the spiffy, pretty brochure. Give your users the spiffy brochure version.
  • Don’t waste time on gratuitous graphic design - the design of an email is the least important part, since the majority of your users will be viewing the message with the images off.  However, do take the time to make sure your emails look good with images off. 
  • Don’t be afraid to link whole sentences, instead of just one or two words.  Always bold your links - it adds a little extra emphasis to them.
  • When at all possible, stick to one call-to-action.  Having more than one will distract your users from what you want them to do.
  • Utilize the PS to reiterate your main call to action: For some reason, the PS has a magical power over users. They are more likely to pay attention to what’s written there then in the main body of your message.

Be Bold with Messaging

Reading email is a passive activity for most people….unless you grab your user’s attention.  I’ve often said that email is about hitting the user over the head with a sledgehammer.  Don’t let your main message and call-to-action get lost for the sake of telling a fluffy, emotional story about all the good the gift will do. Remember that the ultimate goal of your message isn’t to tell a story, or to give your users a warm, fuzzy feeling - it’s to get them to make that donation. Keep your eye on the prize. 

Make it Personal Through Segmentation and Customization

Nowadays, list segmentation is not optional in email marketing. If you can’t segment your list into at least two groups, you should think twice about sending your email.  Your users are comparing your messages to every other message in their inbox - and the corporate sector is a lot better at this than higher ed. Segment your lists down as far as you can, based on what is reasonable for your resources.

If you can’t segment (or even if you are), customizing your messages through merge fields is a must.  Think about adding some of the following attributes to your email messages: 

  • Class year
  • Ask amount/pledge amount
  • Time of their last gift
  • Amount of their last gift
  • A photo of “someone like them”
  • Any affinities they might have - major, athletics, student activities, greek life, areas they’ve previously allocated to, etc.

Adding this information will make your copy a bit more intricate, but these personal touches show your users that you’re paying attention.

What would you add to this list? Leave a comment!

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