Non Profit Email Marketing Best Practices Blackbaud

Blackbaud NetCommunity
Email Tips and Tricks
Andrew Shuttleworth
Internet Solutions Consultant

BBNC Email Tips and Tricks

Objectives…
Author compelling message content
– Anatomy of an effective message

Understand keys to successful delivery of your email
– What is deliverability and why is it important?
– What does Blackbaud do to help? What can you do?

Grow your list
– Six steps to help you know, grow, and maintain your list

Design compelling message designs
– Designing by display and by device

Two feature walkthroughs:
– Email Campaigns
– Conditional Content

Blackbaud’s Conference for Nonprofits — Charleston | Andrew Shuttleworth | Page #2


Best practices
Creating compelling messages



Anatomy of an effective email message

Recognizable “From” or
“Sender” address

Descriptive, inviting
subject line

Concise, relevant content

Compelling call to action

Supporting landing
page(s)



Recognizable “From” or “Sender” address
If readers don’t recognize you, they are likely to flag your message as spam

o The “From” line should reflect an identifiable organizational figure

o Don’t use a random name that people are not familiar with (and don’t assume
everyone knows your executive director’s name)
o Recommend using the organization’s name

o Avoid numbers/symbols in the “From” line – they may trigger spam filters

o Use consistent “From” and “Reply-To” addresses to build your sender reputation



Descriptive, inviting (and honest) subject line
Good subject lines tell the reader what’s inside – not try to sell what’s inside

o Keep subject lines clear and simple – not promotional

o Limit subject lines to 50–60 characters maximum (mobile devices only display the
first 15–25 characters)

o Avoid using $, ! or ALL CAPS in the subject – could trigger spam filters

o Look inside your own junk mail folder – and don’t do what they do

Good examples Bad examples
Baxter State Park Foundation: Newsletter Newsletter
Baxter State Park Foundation: October Update It’s not too late!
The top five things you can do right now for Maine wildlife You asked for it…
Upcoming events with the Baxter State Park Foundation You won’t want to miss THIS!
Happy holidays from the BSPF Become a Platinum Member and get exclusive invitations
We need your help to keep Maine green We need your help!!



Concise, relevant content designed to be read online
Even though you aren’t paying printing costs, you can’t skimp on careful writing

Think about the audience
• Establish ideal tone or editorial “voice” for messages
• Provide content that is appropriate for level of engagement, interest, knowledge, etc.

Keep content short and to the point
• Use headlines and bulleted lists for improved scannability
• Easier to read in a short timeframe; emphasize important points

Use stories to engage readers
• Share own experiences (or those of supporters) to engage readers
• Use statistics, testimonials, case studies, and expert opinions to support a point

Demonstrate a clear purpose and a clear call to action
• Each (promotional/appeal) email should have one main point, with a clear call to action
• Give readers a compelling reason to act now


Compelling call-to-action
The call-to-action is usually the entire point of sending the message

The call-to-action should compel readers to do something
• Contribute, sign up to volunteer, register for an event, download a resource, etc.

Give readers a sense of excitement and urgency
• Convince readers if they don’t act now, they might miss out on something really important
• Highlight any relevant expiration dates for a quicker response

Use specific, action-oriented language
• Instead of “You might want to check out our new art exhibit,” try “Become a Museum
Member by Tuesday and save 25%!”
• Use verbs to keep it active – write sparingly and make those few words count

However…
• Keep it soft: for a nonprofit, the identity is usually more important than “making the sale”
• Not every email needs to push the call-to-action: some emails may just be informational


Supporting landing page(s)
Give interested readers somewhere to go once they’ve read the message

You’ve motivated them to act – now bring them even closer
• Once you’ve got readers’ attention, why let them wander off?
• Draw them into the website with related content

Use the landing page to help keep your message brief
• Instead of packing every detail into a message (and losing a lot of readers in the
process), email only the basics and let them find more information online

Each kind of message might call for a different kind of landing page
Sample message Related landing page(s)
Monthly newsletter Multiple – one for more information on each article, plus a “donate now” button
Event announcement More information + signup page
Fundraising appeal Donation form
Progress report on mission Slideshow of activities, summary of media mentions, “tell-a-friend,” donation form



Learn along the way: test messages and methods
Effective message testing can dramatically improve response rates

What you might test What you should look for

Variations on subject lines Higher open rates

Designs, colors, graphics Higher clickthrough rates

Day of the week or time of day Higher conversion rates

Long copy vs. short copy Fewer unsubscribe requests

With incentive vs. without incentive

Product price vs. without price

Logo placement



Best practices
Deliverability!



Deliverability is a matter of trust
Reputation determines if you arrive in an Inbox or in Junk
– Low-reputation senders are more likely to land in junk mail or be denied altogether
– Sending large quantities to invalid addresses can lower the impact of messages sent
to strong supporters

Low reputation can disable email content
– ISPs often block images
– ISPS also may disable links from non-trusted sources



How Blackbaud helps
“Throttling” delivery
– Spammers typically send large quantities of emails in a short period of time.
– BB “throttles” or staggers large mailings by reducing messages delivered at one time

Blocking invalid accounts
– Spammers generally have large percentages of invalid accounts in their email lists.
– If ISPs detect a high number invalid accounts, they reduce the number of emails they will accept.
– If an ISP reports an address as invalid, we automatically block future emails to the recipient.

Blocking complainers
– When a recipient “complains” about your email by hitting the ‘Report Spam’ button, many ISPs will
send an email to inform us of the complaint.
– To eliminate the chance of future complaints from the same recipient, we automatically block
future emails to that recipient.

Monitoring reputation
– BB uses a number of tools to monitor the “reputation” for all of our NetCommunity clients.
– The goal is to detect/correct problems early before they can cause major issues.



What you can do
The single best thing you can do to protect your reputation
is to prevent complaints.

Send to subscribers only
– Send email only to those who have requested it.
– Sending to someone who did not request is more likely to result in a ‘Report Spam’
warning.
Keep it relevant
– Set expectations early and then send the type of email that people expect.
– Limit cross-marketing email across your lists (subscriptions to one program, likely
does not warrant weekly notices from all other programs)
Maintain expected frequency
– Tell subscribers how frequently they will receive email and then stick to the schedule.



Avoid looking like a spammer
CAN-SPAM and PIPEDA (Canada) legislation requires:
Bans false or misleading header information
– “From,” “To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address
– must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.
Prohibits deceptive subject lines
Requires that you provide recipients a valid opt-out method
– Must honor opt-out requests within 10 days; opt-out must be free
Bans the sale or transfer of email addresses of people who unsubscribe
Requires that “commercial” email be identified as an advertisement
– Adult content must be labeled as such
Ensures the email includes the sender's valid physical postal address
Learn more here: http://www.ftc.gov/spam/ http://www.ic.gc.ca/

Note: Transactional messages are exempt from these rules



“Hard” and “Soft” bounces defined
Soft bounces: Emails that are not delivered due to a temporary issue/error
(but may get through eventually). Possible causes include:
– Person has changed email accounts (and no longer opens this email)
– Email box is full
– Server is busy

Hard bounces: Emails that are not delivered due to a “terminal” failure,
generally caused by:
– Email account is no longer valid
– Domain does not exist (alo.com, homtail.com, commcast.net)
– Email address is misspelled or has syntax errors (for example: joesmith@hotmail.om
or joesmith@sbc global.com)

Hard bounces will eventually be sent to Invalid Accounts
Some soft bounces do eventually get delivered
(but we can’t see which ones, unfortunately)



Managing hard and soft bounces
Some options for dealing with those frustrating bounces….

View/edit “Bounced” recipients via the Messages Gallery
– Select message, view Message Statistics (magnifying glass) and click on recipients
– “Bounced” recipients will display a yellow “action” icon – click for bounce error/reason
– If user is a constituent in Raiser’s Edge, access the record directly to fix any errors

Query on Bounced emails and the reason – then contact manually
– Create query for “Soft” bounces and resend the message to that list
– For the “Hard” bounces, contact constituents by another method (direct mail, phone) or
include them in a future data cleansing initiative (see below)

Remove/notate “Bounced” addresses
– Use “hard bounce” query to globally add an attribute or action of “Bounced” to the user
record, or globally change the phone type to something like “invalid” or “bad address”
– Globally deleting the email addresses isn’t an option with standard RE functionality, but
there is a custom phone type remover plug-in which is available through RE Support



Managing invalid accounts
In Invalid Accounts, you can view email address accounts that have been
reported as “Invalid” by their ISP
– An ISP may report an email address account as “Invalid” due to a nonexistent or
canceled account. Typographical errors in the account name or domain name also
cause an email address to be reported as Invalid.
– Accounts that bounce email for another reason, such as a temporary network issue,
a full mailbox, or due to a content filter, do not appear in Invalid Accounts.

To prevent your email from being blacklisted, Blackbaud NetCommunity
does not send emails to invalid accounts
– For each email address in Invalid Accounts, you can view the bounce error that
caused the ISP to report the account as invalid.
– If you feel an account is incorrectly marked invalid, you can mark it as active
to include it in a mailing.
– If you correct an invalid email address in Raiser’s Edge, the incorrect address
will/should still remain in the Invalid Accounts Gallery. However, the corrected email
address will be included in future mailings.



In summary…
Some of the most important factors for deliverability include:

Predictability
Volume of email sent
Bounce management
Complaint history
Reputation



Best practices
List growth



Step 1: Know your list
Don’t focus too much on acquisition – pay attention to your current list

Organize and track your email file in The Raiser’s Edge
– Regularly measure the size/growth rate of your email list vs. your entire database

Keep your list clean (hint: let supporters do the work!)
– Allow constituents to verify, modify, or delete personal data you collect at any time
– Allow easy opt-outs; remove/update invalid or bounced addresses when
possible
– Avoid buying or selling of your list

Set clear expectations and keep subscribers engaged
– Respect subscriber expectations; reinforce newsletter/email subscriptions with a
confirmation page or email that reminds them of planned frequency, topics, etc.
(and be sure to honor these)
– Communicate with subscribers regularly; always recap why you are emailing
them and how they can opt out/update subscription preferences



Step 2: Use your website
Be sure to get permission – an opt-in list is the key to success

Use site-wide forms to capture subscriptions
– Make email a required field on all online forms.
– Include opt in checkbox on all relevant forms (New User Registration, Profile/Login,
etc.)
Encourage subscriptions through transactional/acknowledgement emails
– Drive readers back to the site to subscribe to newsletter(s) or other publications.
Encourage readers to pass along your message to friends
– Include option to subscribe from all publications.
Direct staff and other close supporters (board, volunteers, etc.) to include
subscription links in email signatures
– May also include links for upcoming events, campaigns, etc. to drive traffic to
website.
Use Search Engine Optimization to increase traffic and subscriptions
– Post web-based versions of current and past emails or newsletters (archive).
– Content will be accessible via search engines (and will increase your rankings).



Step 2: Use your website
Make it easy to subscribe – users shouldn’t have to search for your form
Feature a quick way to subscribe from each page of your site
– Promote the benefits of subscribing on the sign-up page.
– Offer a relevant incentive, such as an email-only discount, free shipping, or link to
download an informational resource.
– Offer multiple subscription options (by topic, frequency, format, etc.)



Top of page
• “Join our email newsletter”

Subscription callout on home page
• “Stay in touch” box describes benefits of signup

Footer navigation
• Link to newsletter



Create an email subscription landing page
Email subscription page
• Benefits of subscribing
• Quick, easy way to subscribe
• Link to email archive
• Invitation to share certain personal
details – e.g., interest categories,
suggestion box ideas
Bonus: Link to manage all subscriptions
from one location



Provide an incentive to opt in Incentives for Subscribing
• Gift challenge campaign to encourage wide
subscriptions

Clear Call to Action
• Click to campaign landing page



Campaign Overview + Benefits
• Describe gift challenge program and impact

Easy Subscription Process
• Anonymous subscribe



Step 3: Grow your list through 3rd parties (online)
Think about how to leverage external resources to grow your list

Investigate alliances or partnerships with similar or complementary
organizations to reach common supporters
– Promote partner’s program/events/subscriptions to your list, and vice versa.
– Corporate or media sponsors may email signup invitations on your behalf.

Promote email/newsletter in online articles, press releases, etc.
– Include a reference and link to newsletter after the byline.
– Promote email/newsletter or articles in industry directories or websites.

Use social networking sites and blogs to increase reach
– Encourage staff and supporters to promote to your newsletters or email articles via their
MySpace/Facebook/Blog pages. (Works well with specific call to action or campaign.)
– Encourage staff to contribute to and comment on industry blogs when relevant. Make sure they
link back to the organization’s website.



Step 4: Grow your list offline
Don’t be afraid to ask for your supporters’ email addresses – if they like and trust
you, they will gladly provide them

Ask for email addresses at every touch point
– Over the phone, at special events, office/store/school visits, registration desk, box office, etc.
– In addition to adding the email address, ensure you are noting “subscription preferences” in The
Raiser’s Edge (add attribute, solicit code, etc.).

Provide option to receive future communications via email vs. direct mail
– Emphasize the how email is more “green” than printed mail.
– Publicize online versions of traditionally offline material online (i.e., Annual Report, Press
Releases, Newsletters, etc.).

Offer opt-in service to receive special offers or reminders via email
– Advertise special discounts, upcoming sales, event/ticket availability, etc. via email.

Include your website address on all printed materials
– Promotional items (bags, t-shirts), forms, surveys, direct mail, print ads and catalogs.
– Promote your email/newsletter in your other organizational publications.

Utilize an Email Append service like Blackbaud’s EmailFinder
– Finds email addresses for many constituents already in your database; invites them to subscribe.



Step 5: Cultivate new subscribers
Acquisition is only half the battle – have a plan for keeping them involved

Hook subscribers early, and keep them engaged over time

Optimize the “Welcome” message
– Send out a welcome/confirmation message immediately after they subscribe.
– Thank them for signing up; recap subscription details.
– Include link to privacy policy, contact information, and link to manage subscriptions.

Send follow up message within a week (or less)
– Link to the most recent newsletter (and/or past issues).
– Provide helpful links and/or important places to visit on your site.
– May include a link to special offer or “insiders only” information/benefit.

After a few months of active email, survey readers to see if you are
meeting expectations
– Is the timing, frequency and content meeting your readers’ needs?
– Are your readers interested in learning about other topics?


Step 6: Targeting Non-Responders
Don't forget the non-responders
– Just because someone doesn't open in 72 hours doesn't mean he/she is not
interested

Three is the magic number
– As a rule, emails perform best when the same message is sent to a non-responder
three times (in a bit of a different creative shell of course)

Many organizations focus on the 30 percent who open and cast off the 70
percent who don't
– A subject line with "last chance" or "final offer” can help activate your non-responders



Best practice examples
Using your website



Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW)

Top of page
• Name/Frequency of Newsletter

Subscription callout on landing page
• Previews topics and features
• Explains other ways to get involved

Sample Issues
• Link to view archives
• Current issue posted on actual page



CFW – Email Preferences Form Separate Email Sign Up
• Specifically reference Email Sign up (not direct
link to Login page)

Shorter Form for lower barrier to entry
• Only ask enough to create record
• Only capture interests/subscription data
• User creates login so can manage
subscriptions (vs. nuclear opt out)

Sidebar Callouts
• Value-add links to Donate, Get Involved, etc.



Accion International - Subscription Landing Page



NY Foundling Email Preferences Process



Attribute-based Form
The form uses four different constituent
attributes that are setup using tables (not the
Yes/No type).
This allows us to use two table entries - "Yes"
and "No" - and because "Yes" is listed first, the
attribute appears to default to it.

Note: all queries they pull for lists must now
exclude attributes where the answer is No for
certain types of email.



Best practices
Template creation and visual design



Key points
Design for the preview pane of email applications

One giant image is a bad idea

Never put important information like the call-to-action in an image

Avoid large blocks of text – use headlines for increased scannability

Provide a link to a web-based version of your email (at the top)

Remind recipients to add organization to their address book/safe sender list

Test HTML emails in multiple email clients before sending



Design for the preview pane: sample “don’ts”
Often, only the top 2–4 inches (or 400–600 pixels) of your email will be viewable in the
preview pane
Use images and text wisely – use images for text very sparingly
Don’t put all your content in just one image – and use ALT text if you do

Image displays, but no content!

No text + no ALT tags = no content!



Design for the preview pane: sample “do’s”
Good use of images/text to preview message content
Use HTML text when possible to ensure proper rendering (avoid risk of image
suppression)

Image displays and call-to-action is above the fold

Image and text display, and call-to-action is above the fold



Using one giant image: bad idea
It might look pretty – but if the image is blocked by the email client, you don’t have much
of a message left
Disney and Apple are notorious for this kind of thing – unfortunately most of the rest of us
don’t have the name recognition and can’t get away with it

No image, no alt tags…no call to action



Design for mobile devices
Many recipients read email via a Blackberry or
iPhone
According to MarketingSherpa.com, “64% of key decision makers are
viewing your carefully crafted email on their Blackberrys and other mobile
devices ... And, chances are, your email looks downright awful.”

Design emails for mobile reading
– Mobile readers are more likely to scan, not read
– Include compelling call to action of your subject line
– Avoid “top heavy” images in the design
– Use ALT tags on images
– In addition to testing email clients, test messages in
handheld devices

Acknowledge mobile readers
– Ask reader to “flag” message for later review
– You may want to eventually offer separate
subscription/preference for mobile delivery and
provide a shorter, text-only version


Email editing do’s and don’ts
Never copy and paste text or images directly from Microsoft Word or another
word processing program.
– Always either “clean” the code before pasting, or try pasting into Notepad or another
plain text editor and then copy/paste into the email message.
– Pasting directly from Microsoft Word tends to transfer some of the underlying code
which will inevitably disrupt/distort your message.

Be careful when selecting text to edit/replace.
– If you select more than just the text you are trying to edit (say, a blank space at the
end or beginning of a word) you may inadvertently delete the underlying
code/formatting that should be there.

When sending email, only use Web-safe fonts.
– Most email tools will only offer a few limited fonts for email text. The most common of
these are Arial, Verdana, Georgia, and Times New Roman.
– Don’t try to use non-web fonts – they won’t work
– If you have a specific font that you want to include for branding purposes, it is safest
to do it in image form – but do this very sparingly.



More email editing do’s and don’ts
Always resize and compress images before inserting into your message
– NetCommunity allows you to easily add/place images in the message, but it does not
have robust built-in image editing tools.
– It’s best to use 3rd party graphic software to prepare the images before uploading

Always include important content within body content, not just in images
– Many email browsers/tools automatically block images by default and your reader
may or may not decide to display the images.
– To ensure your most important messages are viewable (especially for mobile
devices), its best to include them in the first part of the message or near the top of
your content.

Use consistent “From” name to build your sender reputation
– The “From” line should reflect an identifiable organizational figure, not a name that
people are not familiar with. (The safest bet is using your organization’s name.)
– Be sure to use the same name repeatedly over time to recipients come to expect to
“hear” from you.



Tips for making sure email arrives looking its best
Always use inline styles when formatting Emails
– In-line styles can dictate:
• Image and text alignment
• Appearance/formatting of Bulleted lists
• Text size/color formatting
• Link Styles
• Spacing/padding for text and images

Be sure to copy/paste body content and/or call outs carefully
– Carefully select text to be edited.
– Right-click elements to copy > soft return > paste element.
– Ensure spacing is appropriate (use <br> tag for one line/space, <p> tag for 2 lines).
Ensure images fit within template [guidelines] before inserting
– Using an image that is too large or too small can greatly distort the overall template.
– Be sure to use “Alt Tags” on images in case they do not display properly.

Use browser testing to ensure image, text and cells alignment and padding
– Many ESPs will not correctly align elements unless specified (in-line) within each
area of the template.
– This is something to watch out for when doing browser testing.


Test messages in multiple browsers before sending
Browser testing allows the user to preview how the email will “render” or look when it’s
delivered to recipients’ inboxes

Option 1: Manually Test
– Create multiple "test" accounts in various email systems
– Build test lists via imported lists or constituent queries in The Raiser’s Edge for quick
access

Option 2: Utilize a paid Testing Service (if possible)
– Paid preview services are either pay-per-use or a subscription-based fee
– Simply upload an HTML email and see how the email SHOULD render in browsers
– Some vendors also offer Spam Checking and link-validator services

But a disclaimer: No email will look the same in all email clients
– Previews are only "best guesses" for how the email might render
– Browser testing doesn't take into account any user preferences/settings that may be
configured on the recipients’ end (servers or inbox)



Feature demonstration
Email Campaigns



Step 1: Target Lists
Insert one or more Target Lists
containing the primary recipients for
your appeal. Each list may be sent
one or more test messages prior to
sending the final message.

Each member will only receive one
message from this appeal.



Step 2: Seed Lists
Insert one or more Seed Lists
containing recipients you wish to
have copied on every message.

Seed list recipients receive all
test messages to every list and
are not counted within the
statistics and reports.



Step 3: Exclusion Lists
Insert one or more Exclusion Lists
containing those recipients you wish
to exclude from any messages sent
from this appeal.

Recipients in this list will not receive
any emails.



Step 4: Create
Your Messages!



Step 5: Prepare Splits
N number of test messages for
each list allow testing of content,
subject line, scheduled time of
departure, from name, and from
email address
Test message sample size can be
based on exact quantities or
percentage of list



Step 6: Send Final
Send “winning” message to
remainder of list

Any recipients of tests or
exclusions will not receive a
second message



Step 7: Reporting



Feature demonstration
Conditional Content in BBNC 6.1



NetCommunity 6.1 – conditional content
Add conditional content to an email message to customize the message for
different types of recipients



Why use conditional content?
The more specific your message, the greater the impact
Not all communications are for all your constituents
It enables you to customize each of your messages for various segments while
just clicking “Send Final” once
Help reduce unsubscribe rates by using all the information you’ve got about
your constituents



An example…



Set up your lists…



Design your message…



Add your conditional content…



Preview the message for each segment…



Send, and view your reports!



Questions?

Andrew Shuttleworth, Blackbaud Internet Solutions
andrew.shuttleworth@blackbaud.com
www.blackbaud.com/connections


Non Profit Email Marketing Best Practices Blackbaud

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