Email addresses are incredibly valuable because they represent a direct line to your audience, requiring action from the user. Subscribers expect that in return, they’ll get engaging, relevant, and manageable content. The best nonprofit email marketing strategies hit all three points by:
- Crafting motivating subject lines and entertaining emails packed with visuals
- Utilizing groups and segments to send content only to those interested in that specific topic
- Maintaining a consistent newsletter schedule without overwhelming the audience
But what does this look like in action? How can you implement this in your organization? If you’re pondering these questions, don’t worry! We’ve gathered some of the best nonprofit newsletters and will show you why they stand out, so you can apply their best practices to your own efforts.
Learn how to leverage the curiosity gap to create great subject lines.
One Love Foundation
Founded in 2010 to honor Yeardley Love, the One Love Foundation connects with young people nationwide to spread awareness about the warning signs of abuse. They’re a fantastic model for organizations targeting younger audiences or aiming to boost engagement from this demographic. One Love regularly sends out a “heartbeat” update, sharing organization news and interesting articles. They keep things manageable by including only about three articles per email, ensuring their audience isn’t overwhelmed. The articles often touch on abuse and assault as depicted in popular culture, like in “50 Shades of Grey” or recent celebrity scandals. This approach, along with their clever use of emojis and hashtags, resonates well with their young readers.
charity : water
Talk about keeping it simple. This newsletter is a prime example of effective nonprofit storytelling. charity: water, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries, excels at this. Their emails share powerful stories of lives transformed by their programs. By showcasing the impact of their work, they inspire and motivate their audience. So, when charity: water sends a fundraising email, the vivid memory of these stories, accompanied by beautiful imagery, prompts people to donate. The emails are always straightforward, featuring just 1-2 short paragraphs and clear calls to action. This brevity gives recipients a glimpse that entices them to click through. It also eases the workload for the email writers and provides valuable data on user engagement via Google Analytics 4.
Everytown for Gun Safety
Everytown for Gun Safety is a movement of Americans advocating for common-sense reforms to reduce gun violence. Their cause is often highlighted in the 24-hour news cycle and political discussions. They smartly leverage these timely news stories in their newsletter subject lines to grab the attention of subscribers who are already tuned into current events. They keep readers engaged by personalizing the emails, making each one feel like a personal letter rather than a generic news blast. Additionally, they use bolding and highlighting to emphasize the key message: we need to take action, and here’s how.
EmbraceRace
EmbraceRace is creating an online community to discuss and share best practices for raising and caring for all kids, especially in the context of race. Their newsletter, aimed at teachers, offers valuable resources to promote inclusion and belonging in the classroom. Using familiar slang like “woke” in their subject lines, they tap into what’s top of mind for their readers, encouraging them to click through.
Each email starts with an update from the organization, followed by a series of relevant articles and videos. Much like One Love, they let the content speak for itself by featuring engaging quotes instead of lengthy descriptions. This approach is particularly beneficial if your team has limited writing capacity. The best part? They specify how long each article or video will take to read or watch, so users know exactly what to expect.
No matter your size or capacity, you can create an excellent newsletter by keeping the content engaging, relevant, and manageable. Remember to personalize your emails and always include a call to action. Know another nonprofit with outstanding newsletters? Share it with us and tweet @WholeWhale.
NRDC
The NRDC has a clear and consistent weekly communication called the Top of Mind Weekly, focusing on various themes related to the issues they champion. They even offer this alert as a text message, which is a nice added bonus. The regularity of these communications sets expectations and maintains a steady drumbeat of content. Their newsletter is presented in a clean, branded template and always features stunning imagery, showcasing the NRDC’s knack for visual appeal.
Template
Annual report template
Save time on design and focus on showing your impact