WHY 25 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER FOR CHARITY E-CAMPAIGNS

Email contact with supporters during a campaign is very important but recent research suggests that it’s not just the message that’s key in your communications.

Mail provider Constant Contact looked at more than two million campaign messages to supporters of not-for-profit organisations and found that messages of 25 lines and three or fewer images achieved the most click-throughs. This compares to just 20 lines for communications from for-profit organisations.

It’s not a huge surprise that interest in information from a charity is greater as people are often supporters because of an emotional connection. But it does help to give some guidance and structure if you’re in danger of putting too much into your emails to supporters.

Looking at the figures displayed on a graph it seems there is more to be learned from the research. Spikes of click-throughs go in fives – at 15, 20 and 25 lines. This could be because of the way paragraphs are arranged or because there is a link to click on at a number of points so readers have a chance to sign up, learn more or act at different points in the text.

But beware of not giving your readers enough information. The graph also shows that emails with fewer than 12 lines had little impact.

Constant Contact is an American email company but it’s unlikely that the results would have been different if they’d examined communications with UK audiences. We all receive marketing from global sources and although messaging might be tailored to UK supporters in terms of tone and language, the statistics no doubt hold true.

The important thing to bear in mind is that if your supporters have delighted in your 25 line email and clicked-through to where you want them to go, don’t disappoint them when they get there! Communications can be wasted because a link doesn’t work, the landing page is uninteresting or doesn’t deliver what the link suggested. Test everything before you send it out, check your messaging is consistent and know how you’re going to measure the success of your e-campaign.

And if the research is right, you’re still reading this!

 

NEW ENGAGEMENT METHODS AND THE QUESTION OF EVALUATION

Earlier this year we asked people working in the voluntary and public sectors about their use of engagement – what drives it, who they seek to engage, what approaches and tools they use.

It is clear that engagement is very much alive and many of those completing our survey and taking part in interviews believe it is having a positive – and in some cases transformative – effect.

However, some are struggling to assess and to demonstrate the difference their work is making.  Respondents told us about the quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods they are using, but a significant proportion highlighted evaluation as an issue.

It was interesting to hear about the range of techniques people use: workshops, focus groups, surveys, co-creation sessions, Open Space events and art exhibitions.  Online platforms are, of course, increasingly important for many organisations.  But the vast majority of our survey respondents said they would…

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