Why is email marketing a must for non-profits?
Email marketing is an essential tool for nonprofits, offering a cost-effective way to engage supporters and drive impact. Here’s why it’s so valuable:
- Low cost, high impact – Email marketing keeps operational costs low while allowing nonprofits to reach a broad audience, making it a budget-friendly alternative to traditional marketing.
- Direct & personalized communication – Emails land directly in donors’ inboxes, fostering a personal connection that strengthens relationships and keeps supporters engaged.
- Automation for consistency – Automated email campaigns help nonprofits maintain regular communication with donors without requiring constant manual effort, ensuring ongoing engagement and support
💡 Related guide: A Guide to Email Drip Campaign and How to Get Started With it
How to measure the success of your non-profit emails?
To assess the effectiveness of your emails, non-profits should track key metrics. One of the most important indicators is the email open rate, which shows the percentage of recipients who open an email.
But how do you know if the open rate you’re getting is good? Understanding what qualifies as a good open rate helps non-profit organizations evaluate campaign performance and make improvements.
What is a good open rate for non-profit emails?
The benchmark for email open-rates are different for different industries. There’s also a different benchmark for email open rates for nonprofits with different causes. Take a look at this chart from statista below.
Source: Statista
In 2020, non-profits in the US for hunger or poverty saw an average open rate of 24%. 20% and 21% of emails sent by the environmental and the disaster/international aid non-profit sector respectively were opened.
According to The Nonprofit Times, non-profit-open rates are at a whopping 26.6% in 2022 compared to 20.39% pre-pandemic. Click-to-open rates are at 10.2%, with 2.7% of click-through rates. An open rate that meets or surpasses the average mentioned is a good open rate.
5 non-profit email marketing strategies
Here are some non-profit email marketing strategies you can use to get more donations and create personal connections with your subscribers.
1. Use data-driven campaigns
Leveraging data to inform your email marketing campaigns is a powerful strategy for non-profits. By analyzing past campaigns, you can better understand the behaviors and preferences of your audience, allowing you to tailor your content, timing, and messaging to maximize engagement and donations.
For example, identify which days and times your subscribers are most likely to open and engage with your emails. Understanding these patterns enables you to send emails when your audience is most receptive, increasing your chances of conversion. Additionally, track open rates, click-through rates, and donation conversion rates for different types of content or campaigns. By segmenting your email list based on factors such as donor history, location, age, or interests, you can create more personalized and targeted messages.
You can even automate certain aspects of this process by integrating your email platform, such as Mailmodo, with your CRM. This integration allows you to export valuable data—such as the average donation amounts, conversion rates, or donor retention metrics—into your existing software stack.
2. Optimize the non-profit marketing funnel
You can create a funnel to help new supporters stay with you for longer using the AAARRR framework (Awareness, Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue).
When interacting with a new audience, the first aim should be to sign them on for your newsletter. Your newsletter subscribers can become aware of your cause and know the details of your activities. Then, asking for funds in later interactions, it will be easier to convert them into donors.
To ensure repeat donations, you can share updates about what you achieved with the money they contributed through success stories.
This simple shift re-engaged 10% of inactive donors. People don’t stop giving because they stop caring—they stop because they feel disconnected. Keep them involved.
— Sahil Kakkar, CEO, WebSignals
3. Tell a story
People contribute because of their emotional connection to the cause. When communicating with a larger audience, do not talk about how many kids you feed or how many shelters you have created.
Talk about that one kid who was hungry and was fed a nutritious meal. Instead of shaping your email like a performance report, zoom in on a particular success story. Talk about that one family that was rescued from the urban floods because of your shelters.
Effective non-profit email marketing starts with compelling storytelling. Non-profits should craft emails that highlight their mission’s impact, using real stories and testimonials to connect emotionally with recipients.
- Steve Neher, CEO, Mail King USA
4. Make it easy to donate
Make it a one-step, one-click to act on the CTA - to find payment information. Use interactive emails and webpage functionalities to make this happen within the email body. Use a prominent DONATE button in your communication. As shown below, you can create a landing page to request users to donate.
Source: Morweb
💡 Related guide: 15 Deadly Email Marketing Mistakes You Must Avoid in 2025
Non-profit email marketing best practices
Some email marketing best practices are universally effective, and they apply no matter the campaign. While you may already be familiar with the common ones, here are key practices to keep in mind for nonprofit email marketing:
Personalize the subject line
Build organic email lists
Regularly clean your email lists
Keep a clear call-to-action (CTA)
Avoid using “no-reply” email addresses
Use dynamic email templates
However, you can consider these 5 best practices for your non-profit email campaigns:
1. Integrate your ESP with a CRM
Every person associated with your non-profit is a potential donor, and every small or big donation makes a difference. Use a CRM to keep track of all your donors, volunteers, and supporters in different capacities. There are many free CRMs available for non-profit organizations to use.
Integrate your email marketing automation tool with CRM. Use the information from CRM to create meaningful list segmentation. For instance, Mailmodo effortlessly integrates with most CRM tools and needs minimal developer assistance. You can quickly connect your CRM in just 2 minutes with Mailmodo to sync data and launch effective campaigns.
2. Highlight the timeline for donations
To encourage urgency and spur action, highlight the deadline for donations. Using a countdown timer to show the time remaining until the end of the donation window can create a sense of urgency and motivate potential donors to act quickly.
This strategy is especially effective for campaign-specific funding, but can also be applied to other nonprofit programs that require a set amount of funds within a specific timeframe. Clearly emphasizing the time-sensitive nature of the donation goal can inspire immediate support and drive contributions before the deadline.
3. Close the loop for donations
Closing the loop is essential for fostering repeat donations. To transform a one-time donor into a loyal supporter, it’s crucial to demonstrate how their contribution is making an impact.
Start by sending a personalized thank-you email, and then establish a communication flow that keeps them updated on the progress of the cause they supported.
A key part of this strategy is reaching out to previous donors with tailored messaging, encouraging them to become repeat donors. While anyone can make a single donation, it’s the true supporters of your cause who will return for repeated contributions.
Over time, these repeat donors will become ambassadors, sharing your mission with others and driving sustainable, organic growth for your non-profit.
4. A/B test emails
A/B testing is more than a mere hygiene routine. A/B testing beyond checking the subject line allows us to see which target audience responds to what kind of funding/action appeal.
For non-profit marketing, simply bombarding the target audience with emails daily is not an option, lest it is marked as spam. Because sending impactful, quality content is pivotal to the campaign's success; even a single email should not go without A/B testing it with a smaller audience first.
💡 Related guide: How to Run A/B Tests on Your Email Marketing Campaigns
5. Email security
A lot of effort goes into establishing credibility. It takes only one security incident to wipe out years of hard work. Taking serious measures will make sure your campaign emails are going into spam.
Aware readers appreciate security measures like using a CAPTCHA image because it is good to know that you are serious about security.
When assured about adequate security best practices, supporters feel more confident about larger and repeat donations.
💡 Related guide: Email Security Best Practices to Keep Your Business Safe
6 best non-profit email campaigns to send
Whether you're looking to raise awareness, increase donations, or show gratitude, a well-crafted email can help keep your community connected and motivated.
Here are six of the best types of email campaigns to send.
1. Newsletters
For nonprofits, newsletters are a powerful tool to engage supporters and grow your community. Make it easy for people to sign up by placing prominent buttons on emails, your website, and landing pages. Since newsletters are free to distribute, they offer an accessible way to stay connected with your audience. Through your newsletter, you can share updates, highlight key initiatives, and showcase the impact of your work, helping to build credibility and trust. Over time, a well-crafted newsletter becomes a vital way to nurture a committed base of supporters who are invested in your mission.
💡 Related guide: How to Create Email Newsletters That Engage and Convert
2. Donation appeal
This is a simple campaign. It includes informing the reader about your initiatives and asking for a reasonable donation. It may also include signing up for the mail list/newsletter to get regular updates. A donation appeal must be simple and have a prominent donate button and options.
Source: 4 a Good Cause
3. Fundraising events
Fundraising events can be conducted online or even in offline mode. These events help create awareness about the cause at hand and generate funds. They help bring together a network of supporters who can influence each other to create an impact through the activity. Marketing about such events through email to a wide audience effectively makes such events successful. You can also send….Below is an example of a follow-up/feedback email after such an event.
Source: Mailmodo
4. Thank you email to show appreciation
Thank you email immediately after a contribution is a great “well-done” boost to the supporter. It helps to reinforce the message about the impact that their donations can create. The email below is a great example of that.
Not every email should ask for money. One non-profit we worked with sent a gratitude-only email thanking donors and showing real-world impact—without a donation link. Ironically, it led to an unexpected 15% increase in unsolicited donations. Why? When you give value without asking for something, people trust you more—and give more.
- Vaibhav Kakkar, CEO, Digital Web Solutions
Source: Water.org
5. Progress and impact updates
'Progress and Impact' emails keep supporters informed about the initiatives they've shown interest in. These updates not only encourage repeat donations by deepening their involvement but also create a sense of urgency, motivating first-time donors to take action.
Source: Houston Zoo Fund
6. Success stories
Success stories can inspire new supporters to donate. Even people who have contributed earlier can understand that their efforts have been successful. This helps increase the chances of repeat donations. The email below is a great example of sharing a success story to motivate new users to donate.
Source: Clear Cambodia
Start sending non-profit email campaigns with Mailmodo
Mailmodo is an exceptional email marketing platform that empowers you to create dynamic, interactive email content with website functionalities right inside the email body. This means you can scale your non-profit campaigns effortlessly—without the need for developers or designers.
Here’s why Mailmodo is a must-have for your non-profit email marketing strategy:
Interactive emails: With Mailmodo, you can create engaging, interactive emails using AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) technology. This allows you to incorporate features like forms, surveys, and donation buttons directly within your emails, increasing donor engagement and interaction.
Email template builder: Design beautiful and dynamic emails with our no-code email template builder. Add a variety of pre-made content blocks and AMP widgets to make your messages visually appealing and functional.
Extensive template library: Access a diverse collection of professionally designed templates that are specifically tailored for non-profit email campaigns, saving you time and ensuring your emails look polished and on-brand.
Hyper-personalization: Go beyond basic personalization by customizing emails with recipient-specific details like name, company, event attendance, geography, and more. You can also create custom personalization factors to suit your needs.
Email automation: Automate your campaigns with ease. Set up trigger-based automated emails such as donor onboarding messages, donation receipts, event confirmations, and more. Automate transactional emails at scale and improve engagement without extra manual effort.
Email analytics: Measure the performance of your email campaigns with Mailmodo’s comprehensive analytics suite. Track key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to fine-tune your strategies and improve results over time.
A/B testing: Test different subject lines, content variations, and calls-to-action with A/B testing to identify what resonates most with your supporters and optimize your campaigns for better results.
Dynamic segmentation: Segment your audience based on factors like donor behavior, event participation, and geography. This allows you to send more targeted and relevant messages, increasing engagement and conversions.
AI email writer: Use the power of AI to help you craft compelling email copy quickly. Mailmodo’s AI Email Writer can assist you in creating personalized, impactful content, saving you time and effort while ensuring your emails resonate with your supporters.
STO (Send time optimization): Optimize your email sending schedule with Send Time Optimization. Mailmodo automatically determines the best time to send emails to each subscriber, ensuring higher open rates and better engagement.
Start sending non-profit email campaigns with Mailmodo
Wrap up
Paraphrasing Jana Stanfield’s quote, “you cannot do all the good the world needs. But the world needs all the good that you can do.”
Email marketing is a wonderful opportunity for non-profits to promote their good deeds and grow a loyal supporter base without spending a dime. In this article, we've covered all the key essentials for maximizing email as a communication channel. By following the best practices we've outlined, you can begin sending the types of emails we've discussed. You can also check out our guide on creating engaging newsletters to convert your email subscribers into your strongest advocates.
