Designing and regularly distributing the right e-newsletter is a proven way to strengthen relationships with your organization’s key audiences and to motivate them to act. E-newsletters create a two-way dialogue that motivates conversation with donors, volunteers, clients and others; showcases the impact of your organization’s work; increases program and service utilization; and positions your organization as a thought leader in your field. Here's how to make that happen!

1. Breakthrough E-Newsletters
5 Steps to Shaping E-Communications that Connect

2. I’m so pleased to be here with you today…
I’m Nancy Schwartz
• Publisher, Getting Attention Blog & E-Update
• President, Nancy Schwartz & Company

3. Today’s Learning Objectives
1. Increasing impact—Opens, click-
throughs, response rate
2. Building and maintaining a good
email list
3. Evaluating and revising
4. How to fit it in w/everything else

4. You’ll Leave Today
Knowing How to…
1. Define realistic goals
2. Shape the right approach
3. Design the most effective delivery
4. Master the mechanics
5. Promote your e-newsletter to get the
most from your effort.

5. …And with Your E-News Plan
1. Directs your focus
2. Forces you to articulate objectives
3. Baseline for making the right decisions
4. Generates better results

6. Credit: Kivi Leroux Miller,
Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com

7. Effective e-News =
Engagement + Action
Photo: Julia F

8. Baseline—
What E-news Success Looks Like
Personal Stories that
engage
Clear,
visible calls
Useful info to action
whether
readers
give or not Accessible
Credit: Lori
contact
Jacobwith info

9. E-news Plan Template
1. Goals
2. Measurable objectives
3. Target audience
4. Roles & responsibilities
5. Content
6. Personality-Image & tone
7. Format, design & timing
8. List building & maintenance
9. E-News service provider (ESP)
10. Work plan
11. Evaluation & revision

10. Evaluation—Planning’s Other Half
Only 37% of orgs know
what’s working.
63% don’t.

11. E-news Plan Template
1. Goals
2. Measurable objectives
3. Target audience
4. Roles & responsibilities
5. Content
6. Personality-Image & tone
7. Format, design & timing
8. List building & maintenance
9. E-News service provider (ESP)
10. Work plan
11. Evaluation & revision

12. Focus & Goals

13. Measurable Objectives
• Open rate = # messages opened / # messages delivered
• Click‐through rate = # clicks / # messages delivered
• Response Rate = # actions taken / # messages delivered
• Unsubscribe rate = # unsubscribes / # messages
delivered

14. Evaluate to
Increase Impact
1. What’s working
2. Who’s engaged and who’s not
3. Your base’s habits
4. What content is most compelling

15. How did it do?

17. Know Your Audience
• Segments
• Wants
• Needs
• Preferences
• Habits

18. Point of Connection—
Powerful Messaging—Where Org Needs Meet Audience Wants
Org Needs Meet Audience Wants

19. Roles & Responsibilities
– Editor‐in‐Chief
– Writer
– Proofreader
– Formatter
– Technologist
– Review
– Analyst

20. Content – Classic E-News or…

21. Content – Action Alert

22. Editorial Calendar

23. Content Formula
• Maximum of 4 elements, aka standing heads
• One call to action per element/story
• Be consistent

24. Your Subject Line is Critical!
• Flag waving is not a rebellion
• Friday is the last day to test your ocean IQ!
• Phenomenal
• Short: 50‐60 characters max
• Specific about what’s inside
• Show what’s in it for the reader (in 1st 2 words)
• Piggyback on hot topics

25. Content: Style
• Keep paragraphs short.
• Line breaks between
paragraphs.
• Use bullets and white space
• Headlines and sub-heads
• Highlight links in a color

26. Make it personal!

28. Give Your E-news Personality!

29. Design—Keep It Simple

31. Building Your Mailing List
• Make sure it’s very easy to sign up
• Include sign‐up everywhere online, and links
offline
• Feature elements that increase registration
rates
• Convey the value to readers

33. Maintaining Your Subscribers

34. Email Service Providers

35. Your E-News Work Plan
1. Collect article ideas
2. Turn ideas into rough drafts
3. Drop draft copy into e‐news template, edit
4. Write final article titles, draft subject line
5. Test by sending to internal "newsletter approval"
group and every e‐mail client
6. Check every link
7. Print out to do a final proof
8. Sharpen the subject line one
last time before you publish

36. Evaluation and Improvement
Open rate = # messages opened / # messages delivered
• Average is 15‐25%
• Declining due to image issue
• Increase by:
– Writing for the preview pane
– Test changes in subject line, format, time, day
Stats: NTEN/M&R: 2010
eNonprofit Benchmarks Study

37. Evaluation and Improvement
Click‐through rate = # clicks / # messages delivered
• Average is 1‐10%
• Increase by:
– Make content and descriptions compelling
– Ensure subject line is accurate
– Test changes in format
– Highlight what you want readers to click on (box)

38. Evaluation and Improvement
Response Rate = # actions taken / # messages delivered
• Average for fundraising emails .75‐2%
• Average for advocacy emails 3‐15%
• Increase by:
– Providing a compelling reason to act
– Optimize your landing page

39. Evaluation and Improvement
Unsubscribe rate = # unsubscribes / # messages delivered
• Average is .3%‐1% for a single email
• Decrease by:
– Providing a compelling reason to act
– Optimize your landing page

40. E-news Plan Template
1. Goals
2. Measurable objectives
3. Target audience
4. Roles & responsibilities
5. Content
6. Personality-Image & tone
7. Format, design & timing
8. List building & maintenance
9. E-News service provider (ESP)
10. Work plan
11. Evaluation & revision

41. Other Useful Resources
http://delicious.com/gettingattention/e-news
Flickr: accentoneclectic

42. Contact Me!
Email: nancy@nancyschwartz.com
Twitter: @NancySchwartz
Phone: 973-762-0079
Blog: http://GettingAttention.org
Website: http://NancySchwartz.com
Facebook:
http://Facebook.com/gettingattention
Getting Attention Resources
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