How Often to Email in 2011?

by Kivi Leroux Miller on December 14, 2010

in Nonprofit Communications

I just took a look at the results to date from our survey of nonprofit communicators, as I prepare for our webinar tomorrow (Wednesday) on Trends for 2011 and Your Nonprofit Marketing Plan for 2011.

The “How much email is too much (or too little)” question is one I get all the time, so I was particularly interested in the results to the question on how frequently the respondents expected to email their lists.

Here’s how it breaks down so far.

44% – Monthly

17% – Every Other Week

12% – Weekly

12% – Quarterly

4% – Twice a Year

2%- Several Times a Week

The rest, 9%, said they didn’t know.

I think it’s really encouraging that 75% say they’ll email at least monthly. That’s what I recommend as the minimum for most organizations.

This represents only about 150 nonprofits so far, and we’d like to hear from a lot more of you! Please take the survey and let us know where you are on the spectrum. You’ll get a free copy of the report on January 10 when you do.

  • http://gettingattention.org Nancy Schwartz

    Thanks for sharing the data, Kivi!

    My recommendation is that it takes bi-weekly (every other week) emails to be remembered as a “regular” email by recipients (e.g. one that’s not deleted on receipt).

    That being said, I think analytics provide lots of great info on the ideal frequency. What’s critical – no matter the frequency – is that every email that comes from your organization is targeted, specific and features a single, clear to call to action.

    Interested in what else you learn!

  • http://gettingattention.org Nancy Schwartz

    Thanks for sharing the data, Kivi!

    My recommendation is that it takes bi-weekly (every other week) emails to be remembered as a “regular” email by recipients (e.g. one that’s not deleted on receipt).

    That being said, I think analytics provide lots of great info on the ideal frequency. What’s critical – no matter the frequency – is that every email that comes from your organization is targeted, specific and features a single, clear to call to action.

    Interested in what else you learn!

  • Liz

    We’re a local environmental nonprofit that is new to email marketing. We are in our 2nd month of doing it, and we have sent three emails so far to our list of about 1000. We have plans to send two emails next week with a 100% year end fundraising focus, and I am having second thoughts on that frequency. I do not want to turn our donors off from our new embrace of online communications! I also know online attention spans are short, and we could be missing out on some donors if we don’t do this. Any thoughts?

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