June 2001 - Issue 13

Putting Email to Work For You

By Fred Waugh
VP Product Management

We've already provided tips on how to build your email housefile and permission-based marketing program, but to run a successful campaign, it's important to equip your organization with an email marketing tool. This month, we spotlight Convio Email MarketingTM.

Email Marketing: Why it Works
More organizations today are integrating email into their marketing and constituent relationship management strategies. It is more important than ever to provide the nonprofit sector with the capacity to send frequent, personalized, and relevant messages to supporters. Email lets organizations reach constituents more frequently and at a lower cost than direct mail. It provides higher response rates, especially when personalized by constituent interests. Sending messages to constituents that greet them by first name, reference previous interactions with the organization, and speak to their particular areas of interest is a strong way to build and maintain relationships, ensuring a loyal support base.

How it Works
Convio Email Marketing allows you to easily create richly formatted messages using HTML and graphics without requiring technical knowledge. In cases where recipients are unable to receive HTML email, a plain text message is automatically substituted. Organizations can create a customized look and feel for their messages. By using the mail merge feature, email can be automatically personalized with constituent information including name, address, giving history and more. Specifying someone from your organization as the sender in the "from" field gives your communications an even more personalized touch.

Push Relevant Content to Member Groups
Flexible segmentation tools help you customize your message for different groups, and mailings to multiple groups are automatically filtered for duplicate names. Email can be sent to thousands without being subjected to "bulk email" filters. Giving email recipients the option to unsubscribe is critical for effective permission-based marketing.

Sending the Email: Why It's Important to Track and Measure Response Rates
Email is only fully effective if your organization can ensure the receipt of messages and track response rates. When messages bounce due to invalid email addresses, Convio Email Marketing automatically flags and removes the addresses from your database. When messages bounce due to factors such as full mailboxes, these messages can be re-queued for future delivery. Convio issues a comprehensive email success report which details click-through rates, opt-in/out rates and much more. Beyond monitoring early responses, the Convio tracking and reporting system gives you the opportunity to measure your campaign. Did it meet your expectations? How did it compare to other campaigns - including traditional forms of direct marketing?

Learn From Your Experience
Running an email campaign is a work-in-progress. It is a great opportunity to learn more about your constituents and prospects. You may receive direct feedback by email, phone call or a letter. You can apply this new knowledge to your next campaign. Immediate response rates from email can even help you tweak and tailor messages during your campaign.

Building Loyalty: Keeping Supporters in Touch with Your Organization
Supporters like to be kept informed about the organization to which they are donating time, money and talents. Convio Email Marketing can be used to send e-newsletters and notify constituents about important issues as well as upcoming events and news. The easier it is for an organization to communicate with its constituents, the greater the likelihood of strong stewardship, leading to higher levels of support. Providing your email recipients with the ability to respond or click through to a website enables your organization to have a more expansive and sustainable dialogue with its supporters.