Are Donors Even Reading Your Emails? 13 Pro Tips to Help You Write Better Emails

Recently on our team Slack channel, our coaches shared that we send a lot of these tips to our clients about how to write an effective email, so I thought it would be a great resource to share them here so they’re all in one place for your easy reference.

Here are some of our standard tips for email communication. (These are general guidelines, but of course there may be exceptions where you must use your best judgment.)

1. Proofread, proofread, proofread – Before sending anything out, especially on a large scale, read it aloud to catch any typos or missing words. If an email is going out to a lot of people, ask someone else to proofread it as well. Then email it to yourself to review for any formatting issues. Make sure to also read it on your phone, to see how it looks on mobile and how long it takes to scroll.
2. Consider what to say in your greeting – “Dear” may feel too formal for people you know well, but “Hey” or “Hi” could be too casual for a first email. If/when they respond, you can follow their lead.
3. Use your donor’s preferred name – This should be obvious, but double and triple check the name and the spelling. It may be Catherine in your database, but if she signs her emails as Cathy, you should address her as Cathy.
4. Avoid generic opening lines – If you don’t know the donor well yet, and you don’t have a personalized opening specific to that donor, don’t lead off with a generic opener like, “I hope this email finds you well.” Instead, just get right into the body of the email after saying hello.
   
   If you have not been able to connect with them before, it can help to offer some context with your opening, e.g., “I’m sorry we didn’t connect when I called last (week, month, fall).” This helps to remind the donor who you are.
5. Be thoughtful about the number of action items per email – Ideally, you want one main focus and a single call-to-action for the donor, like a meeting request or a request to donate. This is especially the case when the action is a significant priority. You don’t want to request a meeting AND share an article for them to read AND let them know about a volunteer opportunity because it dilutes the focus.
   
   There are some circumstances where you may want to include more than one link or resource. For example, if you are still learning the donor’s passions and interests and your email touch point is meant to share some program information as a report back, you could share resources to 2-3 programs that you think the donor might be interested in. But then the call to action should still remain focused on your pull question (i.e. Which of these stories spoke most to you?).
6. Respect your donor’s time – If you are sending something that’s a longer read, acknowledge that right at the top of the email. “Hi Ed, I wanted to share the story below. It’s a longer read than what I normally share with you, but a really impactful story of her journey.”
   And when sharing a video, make sure to give context for how long it is (e.g. “Watch this 90-second video / 5-minute video,”) so your donors know what to expect when they click.
7. Don’t assume they’ll watch the video – If you’re using embedded videos in an email message, don’t bury the point of the email or action item in the video. Presume that donors won’t open or watch the whole video (especially if they get your email in a time or place where opening and watching a video isn’t easy to do). Any key takeaways or action items that you share in a video should also be in the written body of the email.
8. Watch your punctuation – Don’t use more than two exclamation points per email, at least until you know the donor well and have established a tone and rapport with them. Exclamation points can help make your writing feel informal, but when you use too many in a row, the tone comes off as somewhat frantic!!! Use them sparingly.
9. Don’t use the royal “We” where you can use “I” – As a gift officer, you’re trying to establish a personal relationship with the donor. So say, “I hope you enjoy this story,” instead of “We hope you enjoy this story.”
10. Best practices for scheduling a meeting or follow-up – If you’re trying to schedule a meeting, give a few timing choices, but no more than three. If you give too many options for your donor to consider, it becomes a job for them to compare to their calendar.
    
    A general guideline: when offering times to meet with someone, suggest dates that are about two weeks out. Too much further out than that and they won’t have a sense of their calendar, while sooner than that may not be enough notice.
    
    Also, if you are in the Qualification Process (for major gifts) or Intro Series (for mid-level), and you know approximately when you’ll be making your next phone call attempt, tell them that in the email and offer alternatives. “I’ll plan to give you a call next week, likely on Thursday morning. If you’d rather schedule a different time to chat, or if you’d prefer to connect via email, let me know!”
11. Beware of attachments – Some email providers strip them out. Also, depending on the person, they may not be savvy about opening, saving, or printing them. Rather than sending an attachment, you might choose to share a link to a landing page or cloud document so that your donors don’t have to download a file in order to read it.
12. Consider the timing of your email – Is it a holiday? Is there an election happening where they are getting bombarded with emails? Try different days of the week or different times of the day to see when your donor is most likely to open your message. This can vary widely but in general, at 10am and 1pm during the work week. Sunday and Monday are typically highest email read days.
13. Less is more – This expands on our general rule to have only one call-to-action, but it’s also worth highlighting that less is MORE! Our attention spans are getting shorter. Most people will not read your email from start to finish, and oftentimes they’re reading on their phones, which means they’re scrolling quickly. To help get your message across, use bullet points and put any action steps in BOLD. This makes it easier on the reader to skim your message and respond.

I hope these tips come in handy as you’re writing your next email! Any other email rules you’d add to this list? Share it in the comments!

Jeff