Raising awareness as a nonprofit organization is no easy feat. In fact, it’s one of the greatest challenges you may face. On top of that, budget constraints prevent you from using multiple touch points to present your vision.
Now imagine an environmental organization that wants to inform people about an oil spill. They have no partnerships with influencers to spread the word. No budget to spend on paid ads either. What they choose to do is send a carefully crafted email using their email newsletter platform.
In the next few hours, hundreds of recipients open and click through the email. Some of them forward it to their mailing contacts while others sign petitions to support the cause. Perhaps it reaches journalists and influencers, too. That’s what an effective nonprofit email can do, raising awareness and turning it into action.
Social media posts could get buried in users’ feeds. Planning awareness events isn’t a tactic that you can invest in too often since it takes money and time. Whereas nonprofit emails land in front of people in their most personal digital space—and subscribers read through and act on them, if you’ve done everything right.
Looking for some inspiration? We’ve gathered five powerful nonprofit email examples to analyze what they do right. Also, we’ll highlight how to apply these strategies to inform your audience and make them feel part of your noble mission.
1. The Welcome Email
Once a user signs up for your email newsletter, they should receive a welcome email. As the first point of contact with your new subscribers, such a campaign defines the first impression you make. Therefore, it could be the decisive factor in convincing future supporters.
This doesn’t mean you can send a donation request right away, though. Instead, you must give recipients a chance to get to know your nonprofit, focusing on what you’re doing and who you’re helping.
The most meaningful way to do so is by sharing informative resources that introduce recipients to your mission and current programs. You can present team members and volunteers while explaining how they share your commitment to making the world a better place. Featuring a warm thank you note from the CEO is a nice touch, too, making potential donors feel appreciated.
Treating each subscriber as a unique individual is another effective way to welcome them and have them notice you. Personalized nonprofit emails work towards this goal. In welcome emails, it could be something as simple as including the subscriber’s name in your subject line.
Did they sign up after attending an event? Send them a welcome email sharing key takeaways from that event. You can also use the subscriber’s location to personalize the content of your welcome email, mentioning local initiatives they could support. With these additions, nonprofits set the foundation for lasting connections.
Did you ask for additional data during lead generation? Use it, along with any other information you collect along the way, to deliver laser-focused content and incentives to every subscriber.
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Save the Children’s email includes elements to start the relationship on the right foot: a personalized greeting using the recipient’s name, information about the brand’s actions, and a short note on what to expect from their emails. The heartwarming image of a child, the positive tone used in the copy, and the inclusive CTA are also key to make a lasting impression and inspire action. Last but not least, the entire email is a personal note from the nonprofit’s CEO, further enhancing the warming feeling of the message.
2. The Success Story Email
Whether it’s a book, a film, or a brand message, people love reading stories. In nonprofit emails, sharing success stories is one of the most effective methods to create relatable messages. To ensure emotional responses, it’s best to center your story around a single person. By identifying one individual as the protagonist, you help readers connect with them on a deeper level.
Put the hero front and center of your email and turn their personal story into a vivid and emotional narrative. You don’t have to share every little detail about how you made it happen. Tell a result-driven story, focusing on how the person’s life has improved through donor contributions. Success stories work as powerful incentives for readers to learn all about your cause, and, ultimately, support it.
Apart from reading compelling stories, subscribers are eager to share them, too. People rarely miss opportunities to tell great stories to their friends online.
To capitalize on this tendency, encourage subscribers to forward your email to their contacts so they grasp the impact of your efforts, too. Alternatively, include a summary of the story in your email and direct subscribers to your website or blog to read more. Using an actionable CTA in your email, invite them to share it on their social media channels. Make sure to mention that this kind of social sharing enables you to support more people like the one in your success story.
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Canadian Red Cross’s email showcases how they helped 90 teenage newcomers attend a camping weekend where they learned more about their host country. They took their email storytelling to a new level, directing subscribers to watch the corresponding videos through dedicated CTAs. By complementing the powerful email copy with video marketing, this email is a great example of how to get your message across and drive empathy through a success story.
3. The Impact Report Email
Most companies face a common pain point: overcoming consumers’ objections. For nonprofits, this means being transparent about donations. People who support nonprofits want to know where their money ends up and whether their donations make a real difference.
Addressing this concern is critical to motivate subscribers. A donation impact report email provides your readers with context, letting them know exactly how you use donations. When potential donors learn what you do with their contribution and how they’ll help suffering individuals and groups, it shows transparency. Which, in turn, is key to making them believe in your commitment in the long run.
In this nonprofit email example, you’ll need to turn ideas into tangible results. To increase awareness on the progress of your projects, let numbers do the talking. If you have matching visuals like images or videos, incorporate them into your email content to convey your message more effectively.
Invest in clear and straightforward language, listing specific achievements. Avoid adding other kinds of information like upcoming projects or your brand’s story since it will stray you away from your main objective. Last but not least, always communicate you wouldn’t make it without your donors’ support.
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Care Australia sends a year-in-review email, including all their projects and their outcome in numbers. By matching each project with specific data and an impactful image, donors see the result of their contributions and rest assured that their money is allocated as intended. Plus, the email layout guides the recipient’s eye towards the actionable CTA, encouraging them to read more stories about people in need.
4. The Donor Appreciation Email
Email storytelling for nonprofits isn’t limited to the narratives of affected people. Donor stories in your emails can be just as powerful in raising awareness. With these emails, you turn the focus on the donors’ generosity and motivations rather than the victims’ challenges.
Donor appreciation stories help you make an example of existing supporters while demonstrating the fulfillment of giving. In other words, these narratives may serve as social proof for your mission. How did your supporters contribute to change? Use data and real-world examples to describe the impact of donations.
Also, what urged these people to give? Let donors speak for themselves, sharing why supporting your cause matters. That way, like-minded readers might relate to their motivations and feel prompt to follow their lead.Besides sharing a single donor story, you could send milestone updates to demonstrate that donations make a difference. For instance, “Thanks to 300 donors like [Name1] and [Name2], we’ve provided 50,000 meals to children worldwide.” Highlighting the results of recurring donations makes existing and potential supporters feel part of a community that shares the same values.
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Charity: water’s donor appreciation email is minimalistic, straightforward, and focused. They’ve created a dedicated “love letter,” a series of emotional stories that anonymously narrate each donor’s journey with the organization. By highlighting different donation options, like children trading their birthday gifts for clean water, the nonprofit demonstrates that everyone can support their cause. You may notice that the email concludes with a donation request CTA. However, the content is centered around telling donors’ stories and celebrating their support.
5. The Event Invitation Email
Nonprofit events aren’t limited to fundraising. They can also bring your cause in front of more people and motivate them to make a contribution. This is particularly true for educational events like community forums or webinars where your audience gets to explore critical issues related to your mission. Which, in turn, allows for audience engagement and advocacy.
How can an email campaign help you maximize awareness? Rather than just including the event details, highlight what attendees will walk away with, things like expert insights and real, moving stories. Or it might be connecting with fellow advocates or discovering simple ways to make a difference in their daily lives. The key is to frame your nonprofit event as an opportunity to be part of something bigger, making participants feel like they’re entering a community.
Also, a clever idea is to urge recipients to post about your event on social media, forward the invite to their contacts, or just bring a friend. The more people who join, the more visibility for your message and overall mission.
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Road Scholars created a virtual lecture series to educate and engage their audience. The event invitation email encourages readers to sign up to the next webinar and live Q&A that will present the stories behind the creation of four famous museums. The brand takes it one step further, including additional resources and inviting recipients to join their Facebook conversation. That way, the email content provides multiple awareness opportunities.
Get Nonprofit Emails Right with Targeted, Timely, and Impactful Messages
Each subscriber is unique, and your messages should reflect this. So, rely on detailed segmentation using data like your readers’ interests, sign-up method, or engagement patterns. That’s how you ensure that each recipient receives relevant email communications. For example, someone who signed up after attending an awareness event could receive a follow-up email with statistics and numbers that show the impact of your programs.
Going beyond segmentation, data insights play a pivotal role in elevating your email strategy. Most email marketing platforms offer detailed reporting, including important metrics on opens, clicks, time spent on email, etc. You can also identify the days and times when recipients tend to open your nonprofit emails. For instance, if younger adults often open your campaigns around 10 AM while older donors around 8 AM, you should schedule your email delivery times accordingly for each group.
Finally, compelling nonprofit email examples do more than inform—they inspire people to believe and envision. As the common saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, allowing readers to visualize your mission. When strong storytelling joins forces with eye-catching visuals with compelling storytelling, your audience immerses in your content and feels like they’ve met the protagonists. And that’s perhaps the most effective way to understand the impact of your fight, care about it, and become long-term advocates.