I've been having lots of conversations with clients and others lately about building email lists. Often these conversations start with them asking me if they should do this one very specific tactical thing or not, which is not the right place to start. Instead, think a little more big picture first. What is it that…
We spent a lot of time talking about nonprofit newsletters last month (August 2012) on my blog (1) because it's a very common communications channel for nonprofits and (2) because I needed to focus on the topic for the new book I am writing on content strategies for nonprofits. We focused on it so much…
You don't have to try hard to find people who despise the idea of nonprofit newsletters, whether in print or email. Boring, they say. A huge waste of time and effort. No one reads them. And, you know what? In many cases, they are right. But that's because many nonprofits have drifted away from the…
Stop right there. When you read that headline, were you thinking it meant something like, "Producing my newsletter is a big fat waste of my time because the newsletter doesn't really do anything for our organization" or were you thinking, "My readers think my newsletter is a big fat waste of their time because it's…
You can organize an editorial calendar in several ways. By Channel. Create a separate editorial calendar for each major communications channel that requires a significant amount of content, such as your newsletter or blog. You can also create an editorial calendar to note when you'll post new content to Facebook or Twitter. By Audience. You…
The following article was used as the outline for Kivi Leroux Miller's presentation, "Ensuring Your E-Newsletters are Read - Not Dead - On Arrival This Year," for Network for Good on February 9, 2010. For more free tips from Nonprofit Marketing Guide, sign up for our free Learning Center membership for e-book and webinar downloads.…
Coming up with article ideas for your nonprofit's newsletter is easy if you plan ahead, using an editorial calendar. An editorial calendar is a simple grid that helps you plan what you'll write about, when you'll write it, and where you'll publish it. Download a sample editorial calendar. Every month of the year includes holidays…
On September 15, 2009, Kivi Leroux Miller will present a Nonprofit911 call for Network for Good called "Your Best Email Campaign Ever: 4 Steps to a Winning Strategy This Fall." Here is a rough outline of that talk, full of questions you should ask yourself as you create your fall email campaign. The Goal: Increasing…
Before your email newsletter will be read, it has to be opened, and what your supporters see at a glance in the "from" field and the subject line will determine whether they'll glance at what's inside.
Here are my top five tips for writing the best possible subject lines for your email newsletter.
By Kivi Leroux Miller
To write a good profile about a client, donor, volunteer or other supporter of your nonprofit organization, you need to see several sides of that person. One good way to do that is to conduct an interview. You can interview in person, over the phone, or via email.
The specific questions you ask and how you word them will depend on the relationship between that person and your organization, how much time you have, and how long you want the profile to be. You'll pose questions about working with your nonprofit a little differently, based on whether the person is a donor, volunteer or recipient of services.
