CTT in the News - 2004

Sue Fidler describes how email can change the way charities communicate

Charity Times - Online Insight Colunm - August 2004
Email seems finally to be coming of age for charities, but the majority are still on the steep section of the “learning curve”.  While for years, at charities, we have been deluged with email marketing firms telling us how email can change our lives, precious few successful case studies were made available.

In this article I hope to outline some areas where charities (and some commercial organizations) have seen tangible, economic successes from the use of email and how its management differs from the more mature direct mail medium.  Firstly, there is a need to dispel certain widely held myths:

• “Our supporters don’t use email” – This statement is just getting out of date.  At the end of 2003 20% of the 55+ age group were active users of the internet and these generational leaders are those likely to want to give their email address to the charities they support.  Few charities can boast 20% penetration of email addresses from their whole supporter base (including youngsters) and so there is surely some way to go before a balance is reached.
• “Our supporters don’t need more regular communications, and if we gave it to them they would just unsubscribe” – The unsubscribe rate for charity emails is well under the equivalent commercial rates and some charities boast a close to zero unsubscribe rate on individual emailings from  mature lists.  Additionally, most charities which start email program have received very positive feedback from their supporters.
• “Email has a much lower response rate than direct mail and so it doesn’t justify the costs” – While email response rates are much lower than direct mail, it is around 30 times cheaper for charities with big mailing lists to send 20 separate email campaigns per year than 3 pieces of direct mail (assuming no additional cost to the actual writing of the content).  In addition, email “teasers” and “reminders” have been shown to lift response rates to direct mail when used in conjunction with traditional campaigns.
• “Data Protection is a real problem for us” – Although the onset of email has highlighted the importance of compliant contact management systems for charities, it should not materially change or add to the burden of responsibility on charities already if structured correctly.  Once a charity has approved DP wording for its communications and uses a DP compliant tool or service provider, these issues become routine and easy to manage.

Email is a “numbers game”.  When charities begin to use it, it is hard to understand, people make mistakes, the costs are relatively high compared to the number of email addresses held, content takes time to create, its unclear who “owns” or “controls” the channel (eg. DM, Comms or web team) and the results are not immediate.  However, over time an email campaign will build email address lists itself, attract new supporters, build traffic to websites, support other online activities, act as a promotional tool for a charity’s portfolio of fundraising activities and substantially reduce the cost of supporter care and retention.

Areas where email has had an extremely positive impact on the outcomes of charity activities include :

• Recruiting Volunteers:  There are a number of case studies that conclusively prove that there are many people sitting in offices who would never have considered volunteering for local charitable work had they not been engaged via email;
• Online Sponsorship:  One of the great “winners” in the rush to raise money online.  Online sponsorship allows the event participant/ fundraiser to use email to get their friends to pledge money for the sponsored activity online.  The email engine will drive new supporters to the charity and the charity will get a chance to have them to subscribe to future email information from them;
• Campaigning:  The collection of e-signatures has had a dramatic and positive influence on the cost for campaigning organizations to raise large numbers of signatures on letters, e-cards and petitions.
• Awareness Raising:  There is nothing like an email campaign to spread the word quickly and efficiently among supporters of new events, calls to action and opportunities to give.  Awareness of events and charity news is core to most charity objectives and much of the battle to raise funds is waged in the education phase of getting a potential supporter familiar with the cause and activities of the charity – or as a follow-up to a telephone call or face-to-face visit.

I conclude from my positive experience of email at WaterAid and discussions with other charities that a well run and consistent email program relies on the following elements :  integration of the email channel into a charity’s thinking (certainly communications and web strategy), 2-3 year horizon period, strong co-ordination with traditional contact channels (DM, telephone) and an email tool or service provider who understands the overall needs of the charity and can compliment the charity’s skills with specialist email know-how.

Sue Fidler, Communications Director