Why Blasting the Same Comms to Every Donor Is on My Comm Fail List

I love a good decluttering, Home Edit style. Who’s with me?! 

Recently over on LinkedIn, I mentioned an email purge, my very own email unsubscribe fest. It felt good to clear away the excess! And it reminded me of another common donor comm fail I see in the orgs I work with:

FAIL #2 ONE NEWSLETTER TO INFORM THEM ALL 😨

Newsletters—whether email or direct mail—have been the backbone of donor updates for NP orgs. And that’s good—constituents need to know how their partnership is making a real difference through your org.

But not all donor partnerships are the same. Some gave earlier this year because a coworker’s kid was hosting a fundraiser. Some give every month without fail. Others are investing deeply as volunteers AND donors.

All these donors have DIFFERENT REASONS for donating, and therefore, need to hear different things from your org.

>> HERE’S THE THING: When you send the SAME UPDATES to your whole donor list, that generic message isn’t doing you any favors. It puts you in that unsubscribe category during a decluttering.

INSTEAD, your newsletter messaging should be customized by segment to specifically nurture relationships with specific donors. That would make your news update much less likely to get the ax.

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P.S. Here are three ways I can help your team make your mission irresistible to donors:

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