July/August 2004

Effective Email List Building: Creating and Growing Your Online Database

Most organizations today understand the importance of building online relationships with constituents. The Internet is an efficient channel for nonprofits to reach more people and increase support for programs and fundraising.

But, many organizations face a fundamental challenge: how can they collect enough email addresses to begin meaningful online communication? Read on to discover techniques that some of today’s most successful nonprofits are using to create and grow their email address files.

How many email addresses are enough?
Many successful communications and development professionals initially focus on existing donors when building their online strategies. Typically, they have valid email addresses for 10-40 percent, or less than one-half of their donors. Getting email addresses for these existing supporters is important because email can and should play a key role in stewardship and donor renewal.

Just as important, if not more so, for online success is building a database of potential donors. In many organizations, the first communication with a constituent is a fundraising appeal. In direct mail campaigns, nonprofits often rent lists and send a mailer asking the recipients for donations. The process works differently online. It starts with gathering constituents’ email addresses, followed by a period of cultivation and learning. During this period, an organization will send email newsletters and other online communications to constituents to keep them informed, and also use online surveys to gather more information about their interests — before making that first appeal.

Of course, only a small percentage of an email file will respond at any given time. That means that an organization needs many email addresses to get a response from a single donor.

So, how many is enough? Generally, organizations should collect as many email addresses as budget and time allow until the quality of those addresses begins to diminish. Email addresses are of poor quality if they belong to people who have no real interest in the organization and its mission. Watching response rates and surveying constituents in the email file will indicate when the organization has begun to acquire poor-quality email addresses.

Convio Email Marketing  Find out how Internet software can help organizations create and execute effective email marketing campaigns every step of the way — from building an email address file to writing and sending email messages that get response.

What’s the best way to collect more email addresses?
There are several proven methods to increase the number of email addresses. This includes appending email addresses to a donor file (see below). But first, an organization should use its best asset for collecting addresses: its Web site.

Consider this: people visiting an organization’s Web site are qualified prospects. They have sought out the organization online and probably already have an affinity for, or interest in, the organization’s mission. The first hurdle is to turn these anonymous visitors into known prospects by convincing them to provide their email addresses. Try these tactics:

• Provide a prominent registration box with a compelling incentive — such as receiving the organization’s email newsletter — on the Web site’s home page.
  
• Employ “viral” or tell-a-friend marketing. For example, offer a link that lets a site visitor easily forward the organization’s Web address to a friend. Also offer online greeting cards — a fun way to let site visitors send an electronic greeting card, with the organization’s brand and message, to their friends.
  
• Drive traffic to the Web site. While gathering email addresses from site visitors is key, growing site traffic is important for ensuring a steady stream of new constituents and potential donors. Two quick techniques: ensure the organization’s Web site is visible on search engines, and include the organization’s Web address anywhere its phone numbers, mailing addresses or other contact information are listed, such as on brochures and mailers.

How do I calculate conversion of site visitors to constituents?
To measure effectiveness at converting Web site visitors to registered constituents, track the conversion rate. It is a simple, but helpful, metric for understanding if people are motivated to register. Here is the calculation:

For instance, if 30 of every 1,000 visitors to the site register each month, the registration rate is three percent. Typically, nonprofit organizations register two to three percent of all site visitors. During promotions, fundraising drives and other events, this rate may increase.

If the registration rate is low, consider these tactics:

• Ask someone unfamiliar with the organization’s Web site to go to the home page. He or she should find the registration option within five seconds. If the registration box or link is not prominent, valuable prospects may fail to register. Consider varying the position of the registration option on the page to gauge the effect. Often, top right-hand placement yields a good conversion rate.
• Ask constituents if the incentive to register — which, for many groups, is a newsletter — would make them provide their email address.
• To allay fears about potential misuse of email addresses, include an explicit link to the organization’s privacy policy near the registration box that explains how the collected information will be used.

How can I start communicating with my donors online?
Another powerful method for jump-starting an email program is using an email appending service. This service matches an organization’s donor file against a database of “opted-in” email addresses, so the organization can immediately start communicating online with its donors. Convio offers this service through its Solutions Partner, HEP. (For more information, see Best Practices for Electronic Email Appending in this issue of Convio Connection). 

Although building an email address file is an ongoing process, these techniques are sure to get any online program off to a running start. For more information about building an email address file, please download The Basics of Email Marketing for Nonprofits: Using Email Communications to Build and Strengthen Constituent Relationships Online.

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