How do you send emails to supporters and others who want to hear from you?
- An email marketing tool built with nonprofits in mind?
- Microsoft Outlook or Gmail?
- Carrier pigeons?
If you answered anything but the first in that list, we're here to sound the "bad idea" alarm. (We won't get into why carrier pigeons are a poor decision . . . Let's just say their delivery time isn't up to snuff and clean-up is a nightmare. And honestly, doing email marketing from your desktop email program isn’t much better.)
Many nonprofit organizations get started with email marketing by sending out e-newsletters via Outlook or Google's Gmail. But beware; there are rules, caveats amd landmines awaiting the nonprofit using Outlook or Gmail for email outreach.
While Outlook and its many cousins are fine for 1-to-1 email, they weren't designed for sending email newsletters or fundraising appeals to groups of people. To do this effectively, you need an Email Service Provider.
An Email Service Provider Built for Nonprofits
Network for Good's EmailNow was built by email marketing experts to do the tough stuff for you. It allows you to send beautiful email appeals without having to become a designer or a software engineer or someone who knows HTML or the CANSPAM regulations.
To visit EmailNow : www.networkforgood.org/npo
| Good Nonprofit Email Service Provider | Bad Nonprofit Email Service Provider |
| 1. Addresses the reader directly as “you” | Must be thoroughly read, not skimmed, in order to be understood |
| 2. Is short – think hundreds of words, not thousands | Involves scrolling -- lots and lots of scrolling |
| 3. Can be
skimmed in a few seconds – which means you’ve included great headlines, subheads and link text |
Covers too many topics |
| 4. Focuses on just a few items – and ideally only one | Sounds academic or formal |
| 5. Directs the reader to some kind of next step, even if that’s just “learn more” | Leaves the reader hanging |
| 6. Is designed for the preview pane | Uses generic email templates (like Winter, or The Green One) |