The document outlines the fundamentals of email campaigns, defining them as a series of targeted emails with specific goals such as fundraising or engagement. It explains how to effectively plan a campaign by setting objectives, defining timelines and messaging, and segmenting the audience, while also emphasizing the importance of measuring the campaign's success through various metrics. Additionally, it provides resources for further assistance and tools to enhance email campaign effectiveness.

1. Email Campaigns: Anatomy 101 Annaliese Hoehling, Membership & Outreach, NTEN http://nten.org

2. What is a “campaign” anyway? A set of emails with one objective/goal Conducted over a time period Targeted to specific audience(s) NOT one email to everyone in your contacts list NOT the same email sent out multiple times http://nten.org

3. When to use a campaign? Annual fundraising drive Annual membership drive Long-term advocacy appeal Recurring/Automatic “welcome” or “get engaged” series to new subscribers A campaign needs lead time for planning, and involves a progression of a message http://nten.org

4. How to Plan Your Campaign Define your objective/goal: Strategically Advocacy? Fundraising? Engagement? http://nten.org

5. How to Plan Your Campaign Define your objective/goal: Quantitatively Advocacy? # signatures # phone calls Fundraising? Total $ # new donors Increased $ from returning donors Engagement? # new event attendees # new volunteers # new subscribers Flickr: Caruba http://nten.org

6. How to Plan Your Campaign Define timeline and messaging frequency 1 Month? (advocacy, for example) 4 emails, 1/week? 2 Months? (engagement, for example) 4 emails, 1 every other week? 3 Months? (membership drive, for example) 6 emails, 2/month? Don’t forget to factor in coordination with other channels like mailings, events, online buzz http://nten.org

7. How to Plan Your Campaign Define audience and segments Returning donors vs. new donors? Active vs. non-active? Demographic segments? Define message arc What is the story that you need to tell? What will each email add to the message? Make campaign calendar Include draft deadlines with time to review Allow time for complementary tasks like web pages, postal mailings, etc. Add supporting staff and tasks Writers, designers, reviewers, executers http://nten.org

8. Planning Example NTEN 08/09 Renew Campaign : c. 1000 lapsed members (expire dates 10/1/2006 - 12/31/2007) Goal: 5% conversion = 50 Renews Audience Segments: Vendors/Providers Communications/Marketing/Fundraising Staff IT Staff/IT Consultants Other Nonprofit Staff Calendar and Messaging: Round 1 email: July 8/9/10 save money Round 2 email: July 21-25 get attention/be heard Round 3 email: Aug 4-8 get connected Round 4 email: Aug 18-22 achieve mission Goal is high, but achievable, based on our data Segments based on our key constituencies Calendar has date range at this stage – to compensate for other communications factors Each stage of campaign has one key message Each message (“round”) will have 4 different emails Progression of message designed for impact http://nten.org

9. How to Track Your Campaign From Raising Thousands (if Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars with Email , by Madeline Stanionis http://nten.org

10. How to Track Your Campaign Basic metrics to track: Sent (# emails sent – note that not all emails in your list will be deliverable; for subsequent calculations, use # sent rather than list size) Open rate * (# emails opened / # delivered emails) Click-throughs (unique clicks of links in email) Conversions > multiple ways to look: Total of actions or gifts (campaign goal) % of opens who took action/donated (campaign effectiveness) % of clicks who completed action (campaign effectiveness) % of total sent who took action/donated (campaign effectiveness) * Open rate as an absolute metric isn’t as helpful as comparing to trends (against your own data or against comparable data from other orgs). http://nten.org

11. More Tracking For testing effectiveness, other things to track: Subject lines Sender names Images in email Formatting Links/buttons Copy/message Timing of sending email http://nten.org

12. Example Campaign Tracking Use spreadsheet to track campaigns, and compare multiple campaigns over time You can add metric columns later if your tracking technology changes or you decide to update your campaign tracking goals, but try to be as consistent as possible for best analysis. Look for patterns, red flags, and where to focus on improving results http://nten.org

13. 2010 eBenchmarks Study with M+R Strategic Services 31 Groups By Sector Civil/Legal Rights Environmental International Health By List Size Small – Under 100,000 deliverable email addresses Medium – 100,000-500,000 deliverable email addresses Large – Over 500,000 deliverable email addresses http://nten.org

14. Email Messaging Results by Message Type http://nten.org

15. Email Open Rates by List Size http://nten.org

16. Email Unsubscribe Rates by List Size http://nten.org

17. Where to Get More Help Data and Research for Comparison: M&R Strategic Services: http://www.mrss.com/publications NTEN: http://nten.org/research Providers who provide research and statistics: Convio Blackbaud Other Consulting Firms With Educational Resources: Big Duck DonorDigital FireFly Partners Nonprofit Marketing Guide http://nten.org

18. Where to Get More Help Tools, Strategy, and Advice Idealware.org: software reviews and comparisons, nonprofit considerations for selecting technology Techsoup.org: software donation program, resources NTEN.org: community of practitioners, educational programming http://nten.org

19. Some Recommended Resources Nonprofit eBenchmarks Study from M+R & NTEN ( http://e-benchmarkstudy.com ) The Mercifully Brief Real World Guide to Raising Thousands (if Not Tens of Thousands) of Dollars with Email , by Madeline Stanionis ( http://tinyurl.com/Stanionis-book ) Groundwire’s 2010 research/guide to email broadcast tools ( http://tinyurl.com/email-tool-comparison ) Field Guide to Software for Nonprofits from Idealware ( http://idealware.org/field-guide ) http://nten.org

20. Thank You Stay in touch: [email_address] Twitter.com/annaliese_h Slideshare.net/ntenannaliese NTEN Connect e-Newsletter: http://nten.org/newsletter http://nten.org