Email marketing: Incorporating email into your marketing outreach
for cost-effective, driven results for non-profits

1. EMAIL MARKETING
Incorporating email into your marketing outreach
for cost-effective, driven results
Lisa Ghisolf > Gizmo Design, Inc.
www.gizmo-design.com
312.545.9235
lisa@gizmo-design.com
@gizmo-design.com

2. WHAT IT ISN’T

10. WHAT IS IT?
• Text or HTML/graphic-based—we’ll be
talking about HTML

11. WHY EMAIL MARKETING?
• Targeted results and ROI
• Increase engagement, event ticket sales with cross-promotion and up-and
cross-selling
• Immediate and measurable tracking
• Update and maintain prospect and client lists
• Price
• Email marketing rings in at about $0.01 per contact—a fraction of the
cost of direct mail

12. ROI

13. WHY EMAIL MARKETING?
• Improve brand awareness and preference: front of mind
• Reach large audience quickly & keep a clean list
• Build word-of-mouth, social sharing
• Showthe personality of your organization with personal
touches, like a blog or Twitter feed
• Create a two-sided relationship

14. HOW DO YOU IMPLEMENT IT?
• Best to use an outsourced system
• Tracking and reporting
• Keep up with technology
• Managed relationships with ISPs
• Manage unsubscribes, bounces and subscribers
• Get sound advice
• Test, test, test!

18. BUILD A LIST
• Ask for an email at every opportunity
• Signup box on every page of web site
• Ask volunteers, donors, board members
• Ask at speaking and networking events
• Explain benefits
• Double opt-in creates a cleaner list

19. BUILD A LIST
• How are you asking? • Askfor preferences in
content, frequency
• No means no
• Letthem know what
• Too much, too little? they’re getting
• Share your privacy • Losing
open rates?
policy Ask again
• Do you have a • Say “thank you”
privacy policy?

20. HOW TO WRITE
E-NEWSLETTERS
• What do they really want to read? Ask them!
• Use humor
• Share successes, news, needs
• Archive to create further value
• Survey or interview your readers
• Abide by CAN-SPAM laws

21. QUICK RUNDOWN
OF CAN-SPAM
No false or misleading header information.
1.No deceptive subject lines.
2.Identify that the message is an ad.
3.Tell recipients where you’re located.
4.Tell recipients how to “opt out.”
5.Honor opt-out requests promptly [10 business
days].
6."This means you!”

22. HOW TO PAWN THE WRITING
OFF ON OTHERS
• Invite guest writers
• Ask
readers, clients, volunteers, donors, board
members to contribute
• Get free articles from others
• Hire a writer
• Co-brand with a company or organization—
carefully!

23. HOW TO DESIGN IT
• Ask a pro :^)
• Brand it!
• Design well — headers, table of contents, color, short sentences, lots of
space
• Consistency in design!
• Design to the preview pane and disabled images
• Be sure to connect to your web site’s various pages, not just your home
page [landing pages!]

24. TARGET SMARTLY
• What are your “competitors” doing? Then toss it out the window!
• Target by delivery time
• Split your list up
• Staff, volunteers, clients, board members
• By interest
• Events, volunteer & need opportunities
• Thank yous
• Renewals, donation requests
• Awareness & informational communications
• By age & demographics?

25. TARGET SMARTLY
• Create anticipation, response through your story
• Don’t forget that call to action—and make it obvious
• Tie in with other communications
• Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn: Where is your supporter base?
• Offline marketing
• Get readers “in” on the secret—use direct mail to point them to sign
up for emails
• Donors who give online & offline are the most valuable to non-profits,
according to recent Convio study
• Frequency: What’s right for you?

26. MEASURE—AND PAY
ATTENTION TO IT
• Learn the lingo
• Really read your statistics and measure them over time
• Average open rates for house lists are averaging 25.44%, according to
Epsilon; mobile phones accessing email up 28%.
• What does that mean to you?
• Open rates, bounces can be deceptive
• What is getting through? Be creative
• Mix in text emails, interactive forms in the email, surveys

27. IN THE END
• Get serious about email marketing to realize its results
• Eventhough email is a cheaper media, invest time and money
to get the best results
• Utilize experts who understand the media

28. THANK YOU!
Any questions?
Sign up for a copy of this presentation
& my e-newsletter!
Lisa Ghisolf > Gizmo Design, Inc.
www.gizmo-design.com
312.545.9235
lisa@gizmo-design.com
@gizmo-design.com