Ideas for Successful Nonprofit Welcome Email Campaigns

First impressions matter. A thoughtful welcome email campaign can help turn your nonprofit’s curious subscribers into committed supporters.

People usually sign up for a nonprofit’s email list because they are interested in its work and want to receive updates on the various causes the organization focuses on. But how should you respond as soon as people opt-in to receive emails from your nonprofit? Do you add them to your daily, weekly, or monthly newsletter list and send them the next one when it goes out? Or do you send them a note to welcome them to your organization’s community right away?

What is a welcome campaign?

A welcome campaign is a series of emails sent to your organization’s email subscribers right after they opt-in to your nonprofit’s email list. This is a great opportunity to communicate with new subscribers right when they want to hear from you the most, so take the time to craft and send a series of well-written emails to introduce them to your organization’s work. Aim to send around two to three emails to new subscribers during the first few weeks after they subscribe.

The first email in a welcome campaign

The first email in the welcome campaign series begins with a message thanking the subscriber for signing up for the newsletter. The next email, which should be sent a few days after the first one, describes the organization’s work. Here are some other ideas for running effective nonprofit welcome email campaigns:

• Be forthright about how many emails your organization will be sending so subscribers know how many emails to expect in their inbox.

• Share links to your nonprofit’s mission and causes pages. Although new subscribers might already be familiar with your nonprofit’s work, it’s always helpful to provide as much background information about your organization as possible.

• Provide links to your nonprofit’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and other social media sites, so they can stay connected to your organization.

• Give subscribers information about how they can volunteer at your nonprofit or help in other ways.

• Include a survey if your organization requires any demographic or other data to send targeted emails. You can also send a one-question survey – for example, “why do you believe in (insert cause)?”

You only get one chance to make a great first impression, so make sure you have an engaging, compelling welcome campaign in place to draw in supporters. Questions about email welcome campaigns? Let’s talk.