Nonprofit Match Emails
The Gist of It
The match is a great incentive for supporters to donate.
Send a reminder email 48-72 after the first one.
Keep the copy straightforward. Less text helps the message to stand out.
Transcript
People love to match. You know, like wearing matching shirts during family vacations. You can get matching rings, key chains, bathrobes, mugs and more.
In our family, we match Christmas pajamas.
Why do we like to match so much?
Matching is a great way to show love and support. This is why matches work so well for nonprofits.
Grab a few colleagues to see how one nonprofit approach the match email. Don’t worry you don’t need to put on matching shirts to go Behind the Campaign.
Introduction
Welcome to Behind the Campaign.
A showcase of the best nonprofit campaigns. Here you will get ideas, tips, and strategies to create successful campaigns for your organization.
The match is a great incentive for supporters to donate. According to one study, 84% of people are willing to donate if a match is offered.
The biggest reason supporters don’t give is a lack of awareness.
One way to fix this issue is through email.
Today, we will look at 2 emails from Water. org. The first email is a match appeal and the second email is a reminder.
Email Inbox
Both emails come from the organization.
The bottom subject line is the first email from water.org. “Your donations will be matched.” The subject line is specific and tells supporters exactly what to expect. This is a match email.
The reminder email also has a clear subject line and preheader. “Don’t forget to get your donation matched.” And the preheader expands on the subject line, “There’s still time to make a donation that will be matched.”
Match Email
The first thing you see when you open the email is a beautiful animation.
The illustration has swaying flowers and moving water.
GIFS are a great way to get attention and increase engagement.
About 57% of marketers use GIFs at least sometimes in their email campaigns.
A word of warning: GIFs have negative consequences, too. Supporters can find them annoying, distracting, or dull.
The GIF Water.org uses is subtle, so it does not become a distraction.
The text of this email is short. It is 6 sentences long and less than 100 words. Does this mean it is ineffective? No!
Less text helps the message stand out.
Water.org explains the value. You can change lives, and provide hope, health and possibility. Simple and impactful.
The second paragraph expands on the need. They share quick stories about how clean water helped people achieve more. For instance they say, “Sally’s kids can go to school each day.”
Four times throughout the email they mention this is a match opportunity. Once in the headline, another time in the copy, once in the call to action sentence and one more time on the button.
They leave no doubt any donation will get doubled.
The call to action button has specific text. Could they use “Give Now?” Yes, but it wouldn’t have the same results as the text they choose. “Double my impact” uses first-person language and it is more descriptive.
Click the button to go to a page designed for this campaign. The transition is another beautiful stroke.
The illustrations on the landing page use the same style as the one from the email. Along with images, Water.org includes more text to further explain the impact.
They have an animated counter showing supporters how gifts provide safe water to individuals, families, and communities.
After the donation section, you see more stories. This campaign is, after all, about how to give people new stories.
Now, let’s move to the reminder match email.
Reminder Email
The reminder email was sent two days after the first email. It’s good practice to send reminder emails 48-72 after the first one. This one did.
We see a new animated illustration. The style fits with the branding of the first email and the landing page. I like this GIF more. The running water is a great touch and it portrays greater impact.
This email is even shorter than the first one. They explain the value proposition, “women will get access to the safe water needed to change their stories.” It is important to state the reason again in this email, in case supporters didn’t open the first one.
Again, it is clear this is a match. It says so in the headline, copy and button.
A reminder email does not need more than this.
Conclusion
Numerous organizations send match emails, but Water.org sends two that rise above the crowd.
The purpose of each email is clear and engaging. The design is consistent between emails and the landing page.
Straightforward, beautiful, and effective.
So, to Water.org, who sends best in class match emails.
Game. Set. Match.
