Have You Sent A Crisis Email Appeal? It's Not Too Late!

If you’re like most nonprofits, you may be seeing some negative impacts that COVID-19 can have on your funding. Canceled events, suspended programs, etc may have you wondering how to best fund your mission over the next few months.

There are many ways you can pivot your fundraising, but for today’s sake, my question is… have you sent a crisis email to your list of donors?

At Bloomerang, over the last couple of months we’ve taken a look at how our customers have been utilizing email during COVID-19 to see what impacts crisis emails can have on the funding of your mission and the results speak for themselves. On average, Bloomerang customers sending crisis-based emails have seen an increase in money raised in March 2020 by about 30% compared to March of the previous year. We are also seeing similar results in April.

You may be thinking to yourselves, “Is it too late now?” The answer is a resounding “NO!”.  By spending a little bit of time on this appeal, you will be surprised at the giving potential of your donors.

Here are 5 basic tips to get you all started:

• Keep it simple and to the point. When thinking about emails you’re receiving on a daily basis, how do you feel about reading big blocks of text? I’ll speak for myself in that I quickly open, look at the text, archive, and never come back. This is the case for your donors as well. Think urgency. Your goal here is to get to the point and demonstrate your needs quickly so those donors who stop reading quickly are still likely to give.  No fluff necessary.
• Transparency is key. Again, you want to keep things short and simple, but be honest with what your current struggles are. Tell them that you didn’t budget for this specific situation we find ourselves in and need help. Transparency is an emotion that donors like seeing and are going to willing to support you, because they CARE!
• Demonstrate a call to action quickly. Going back to the first bullet, many donors will only read the first few lines of your email. Immediately after demonstrating your needs, you should make a direct ask for help, and ask for the gift TODAY.  This gives those donors who “skim” your communications a better likelihood of making a gift. You should still feel free to share a short story and what the overall impact of these gifts will cause, but make a direct ask first (and ask at the very end as well).
• Create urgency in your subject line. As someone who has worked in the world of sales, I can speak to the importance of a subject line and open rates :) Your subject line should mention the pandemic and the urgency for funding. Something simple like “Coronavirus Impact: Emergency Funds Needed” or “COVID-19 Crisis: Funds Needed” will work just fine.
• Don’t stop at one email. If you’re utilizing an email platform that captures email engagement, you should send a few copies of these appeals out. Run a simple filter/query and only send the following variations to those who didn’t open the previous or that haven’t given since your first email went out. Some donors may actually be busier during this time and may have missed your previous email.

During times like this, it is important to understand your donors have supported you in the past for a reason… they care about the goodness you provide.  Be transparent, display urgency, and let the donor know the impact of what their gift will do during this tough time.

Best of luck!