As part of FUNraising Season don’t forget to create emails that get the results you need.
We all want our customers and prospects to have a successful customer experience no matter what Season it is. Since 1995 interest in Data Mining (knowledge discovery) has grown: most every industry and organization, from the government to the local mom and pop store, collect information about their customers, prospects, citizens, and volunteers. All of the information you collect is very valuable because it will paint a profile of the person, or type of person that shops at your store, eats at your restaurant or donates their time and money to your nonprofit organization.
In general, when everyone shops, eats and donates (to mention a few activities), their likes and dislikes, opinions and brand loyalty is being tracked. With this in mind, if you collect the right data you can create a personalized profile, based on the information you have about said subscriber. In fact, people expect that their favorite charity, for example, to use the data the charity has about them to create and deliver a better-personalized email experience and a better FUNraising Season for you..
A better experience for your subscribers is one that uses personalization to promote loyalty and will guide your supporters on a more desirable journey. 
With the right personalization inserts, your email will evoke feelings of value and appreciation: an all-around positive feeling towards your nonprofit.
Don’t
- Rely just on data points that use only the name, email address, location
- Assume that just because its written, it’s correct. Test every email you intend to send; Nothing is less personal than receiving a “Dear First Name” or “Dear %lastname%” email when you’re trying to get personal
Do
- Taylor your message to be relevant, include the last event they attended, the donation they had made: Use insights derived from well-designed research
- Address the subscriber’s needs, desires, fears, preferences and other aspects of their personality in your message.
- Verify your message is going to the right list at the right time
- Send relevant content
- Make sure all the content is timely, free of spelling and grammatical errors
- Check that graphics and images render properly in all email clients including mobile
- Confirm all links go to the right place
Put together an in-house procedure that includes multiple opportunities for you and your staff to:
- Proofread and check your triggered email, such as the personalized auto-reply that sends a “Thank You” email message when someone donates
- Verify this is the correct list, Is the right list, correct segment (s)
- Validate the criteria for your triggered email, does make sense?
- Review your contacts. are they labeled accurately?
If you need help with personalization or have questions, drop an email to help@dundee.net. We’re always here to help.