1. EMAIL

3. Fundraising

5. Email newsletter click-through rates are nearly double that of email fundraising appeals, showing constituents’ willingness to click items with a lower level of commitment than a fundraising ask.M+R Strategic Services 2009 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

7. Appeal to skimmers: use headlines, subheads, and short chunks of text

8. Have a consistent banner and a prominent sidebar

10. Adjust topics with what’s happening in the news

11. Tell stories to engage donors in our work, to reinforce their giving decisions, to inspire them to do more, and to encourage more word-of-mouth marketing on our behalf

13. Talk about the staff, donors, or volunteers involved in the work and include pictures of people

14. Give articles bylines

15. Write in a casual, conversational style

17. Include specific calls to action and links that make following through as simple as possible

19. Collect stories from:

20. Employees

21. People we help

22. Our supporters

24. Allow people to segment themselves by interest

27. Clicking on links? Which ones?

28. Following through on calls to action, like donating?

29. Unsubscribing?

30. Not receiving emails because our newsletters bounce?Ask for feedback: ratings for each issue, additional comments