Inbox Visibility

I manage two inboxes, one personal and one business. Let’s take a quick live look into them:

That’s right. No emails.

I’m a big believer in Inbox:Zero. I don’t want emails cluttering up my inbox. I want emails to come in, read them and then deal with them. The longer they sit, the easier it is to forget about them. Which could mean I miss an important opportunity.

I am well aware that for some (most?) of you reading this, your inbox resembles a nuclear disaster zone. You have 37,542 emails in your inbox.

And that works for you! Though it makes me shudder a bit, I get it.

But today I’d like you to look at your cluttered inbox from someone else’s perspective. Specifically, your nonprofit’s email audience.

If their inbox looks like yours, what are the odds they’re going to see your emails? And if they never see your emails, they’ll never open, read, click and take action.

Which leads to the question: How can we overcome overflowing inboxes and get seen by our email audience?

Inbox Visibility

Thee are numerous actions we ask supporters, followers and advocates to take:

• Register for an event
• Donate
• Download an ebook
• Sign up to become a volunteer
• Create a peer-to-peer fundraiser
• Subscribe to an enewsletter
• Join a committee

Email is a great platform for getting the word out about all of the above. With the right image, content and call to action, you can mobilize people to take action.

Only one problem: If they never see or pay attention to the email in their inbox, they’ll never open the email. That means many many lost opportunities for them to take action.

Here are four ways to strengthen inbox visibility.

Personalization

Emails with personalized subject lines generate 50% higher open rates.

If you have it, use the subscriber’s first name in your email subject lines. The name will stand out and therefore so will your emails. As Dale Carnegie said: “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Use better subject lines

One third of subscribers decide whether or not to open an email based on the subject line alone.

That means your subject line has to shine. Here are some ideas:

• Clever and catchy (One click, two click, right click, new click)
• Short and sweet (We’re thankful for you)
• Ask a question (Heat or eat? Which would you choose?) Important to note: Questions are great but not yes or no questions. If I can answer the question in the subject line, then there’s no need to open the email. Make sure your questions are thought provoking ones that make people want to open your emails.
• Use a number/stat (5 things everyone should know about pancreatic cancer)
• Offer a sneak peek (A playlist made by and for the people)
• Create a sense of urgency (Only 1 hour left for the $1 million match opportunity)
• Create curiosity (Not just a nursery rhyme)
• Offer value (Got vaccine questions? We can help!)

A good subject line will stand out in the inbox.

Variety of content

If you’re an Email 366 subscriber, you know that every Wednesday I share an email content idea that is NOT a fundraising ask.

Why?

Because that’s the most common question I get from clients and followers: What other content can we send besides fundraising campaign asks?

Email is a two-way street. You need to provide value for subscribers. Educate them. Give them something fun to do.

If all your emails are fundraising campaigns, that gets real old real fast. But if you provide readers a variety of content, content that engages them, they’re more likely to open your emails.

And more likely to be looking for your emails in their inbox.

Provide what your subscribers seek and they will in turn provide what your organization needs.

Send More Emails

This is the one where I get the most pushback.

“But it’ll upset our subscribers if we send them too many emails!”

No. No it won’t.

Just because you or your Board Chair get annoyed when nonprofit X sends you two emails in a month doesn’t mean the same is true for your readers.

I’m not a fan of open rate (understatement) but let’s use it for a sec: The average email open rate is between 27-33%. That means people read one out every three or four emails you send.

Obviously you could be doing much better than that but the fact is people don’t read every email you end. Sending more emails allows for more opportunities for people to open and read your emails.

If you send fewer emails: Outta sight, outta mind.

Does that mean pile it on? Nope. When I receive 14 emails in 15 ½ hours from one organization, that’s excessive. (See ”the bad” section for more info regarding sending too often.)

But to email subscribers weekly? Go for it!

It’s way better than monthly when you try to fit nine different sections into the email. (No one scrolls that much and almost everyone will stop scrolling after section two.)

Send more emails. More chances for opens, more chances to engage, more chances to encourage people to take action.

Be Seen

The first step to email fundraising and marketing success is being seen in the inbox. Once they see and start opening your emails, you need to bring the awesomesauce and keep them engaged.

Looking to keep your supporters informed about the impact they’re having in their community? Email is a great platform for doing that! Check out my email services and let’s work together so email boosts your organization’s fundraising and marketing efforts.