Although newer communication channels like text messaging and social media are growing in popularity, email remains an important channel for marketing and fundraising for nonprofits. “2023 Nonprofit Tech for Good Report” 68% of nonprofits use email marketing.
While there have been many effective email marketing software products on the market for years, new tools have emerged that offer nonprofits more options and more sophisticated email marketing capabilities. So, is it time to start looking for new email marketing software for your organization?
Let’s look at some key things to consider when thinking about which tools your nonprofit should use for email marketing.
What email marketing tools are currently available to nonprofits?
Email marketing tools for nonprofits generally fall into four main categories.
1. Industry-agnostic email marketing software
These are the most common email marketing products used by organizations of all types and sizes. Popular and cost-effective products in this category include Campaign Monitor, Constant Contact, and MailChimp.
They're a good fit for nonprofits that need a tool with basic, robust email functionality, but unlike other options, they usually don't offer more advanced or nonprofit-focused features, like the ability to display dynamic content based on donation history.
2. Email Tools Built into Nonprofit Software Products
Several fundraising and nonprofit customer relationship management (CRM) software platforms include email marketing tools and features, including platforms from companies such as Blackbaud, Bloomerang, Bonterra, Charity Engine, Engaging Networks, Neon One, and Virtuous.
Some nonprofits may find these email tools extremely useful because they are built into the core software used across the organization and give you direct access to constituent data to segment and personalize communications with your audience. However, nonprofits with more sophisticated and growing email marketing campaigns may find that the email features included with the software lack the more complex features to support their needs.
3. Email tools designed specifically for nonprofit marketing
New email marketing tools like Feathr are coming to the market that offer email marketing software specifically for nonprofits. Nonprofits looking for more advanced marketing capabilities may find these tools appealing because they integrate with commonly used nonprofit software and support more complex marketing campaigns and journeys (beyond just email) through artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features.
4. An enterprise-level CRM platform with advanced email marketing features
CRM platforms from companies like HubSpot, Microsoft, and Salesforce offer advanced email marketing solutions that are integrated with their solutions for nonprofits. These email marketing solutions are continually evolving and increasingly support email marketing automation and AI-driven capabilities, making them attractive options for nonprofits with advanced and complex marketing needs.
How to Choose the Right Email Marketing Software for Your Nonprofit
There are many email marketing tools on the market today, but how do you know which one is right for your organization? Here are some things to research and consider when searching for the right email marketing software for your organization.
Ease of audience segmentation
Segmenting your audience and sending targeted email messages makes your email communications more relevant to recipients and ultimately improves response rates. Look for a solution that fits your organization's audience segmentation needs. For example, can you segment your audience based on previous interactions, transactions, demographic data, and other areas you want to target?
Integration Features
To accurately segment your audience, your email tool needs to be able to integrate with your organization's other software, such as a donor management system or CRM system. Consider the primary systems you use to track constituent information and make sure the email marketing software you choose integrates properly with those systems.
Ability to create email journeys
Depending on the sophistication of your marketing campaigns, we recommend creating email journeys, which include the ability to set up multiple email messages and automatically send specific messages or series of messages to specific audiences based on their interactions with your organization.
These types of journeys can range from simple to extremely complex, so you should consider your organization's marketing strategy and how advanced your needs are in this area. If you require this type of functionality, we recommend asking your potential product vendor for a detailed demo of how this works in their product to get a good understanding of the functionality and ease/difficulty of use.
Ease of email design
Most tools these days offer easy-to-use email builders with drag-and-drop functionality, but it's also important to consider the complexity of the email messages you want to send and the skill level of the staff who will be creating, editing, and sending your email communications.
For example, if you want to include lots of visual elements, videos, and conditional content in your email communications, but your staff doesn't have much experience with email design, make sure you create email templates that make it easy to incorporate those elements into emails, or at least make them easy to use.
Artificial Intelligence Features
AI capabilities are becoming more commonplace and have the potential to help you craft email messages faster and build more effective email marketing campaigns. Consider your organization's marketing strategy and the extent to which you want to incorporate AI into your campaigns. Some of the AI-powered capabilities you may need include:
- Generate an initial draft of your email correspondence.
- Identify target user personas and segments for your marketing and fundraising campaigns.
- Streamline and strengthen your marketing and fundraising communications by determining who to contact, how often to contact them, and what messages are most effective in your communications.
As you can see, there are a lot of things to consider when searching for the right email marketing software for your nonprofit. In today's evolving technology market for nonprofits, it's important to know your organization's goals and understand your options.
The previous post was Non-profit PRO. The views expressed here are Non-profit PRO.
