High ROI Signup

PORTFOLIO

TRAINING TESTIMONIAL

"What a great resource! I have received a number of similar mailings over the years, and always ended up unsubscribing — mostly because they were too much text. This was short, sweet — and useful! I can't think of someone better qualified to share this kind of advice!"

Josephine Martell
International Fund for Animal Welfare

Giving Back E-Tips

Frontload Your Subject Lines to Increase Your Donations

Want to reverse the trend of declining email open rates for your fundraising appeals? Try this proven effective tip.

Pretend that you are writing to someone who can only view your email subject lines on a Blackberry screen — which means they can only see the first 15 characters (approximately 2 to 3 short words).

Make sure your 15 character message says it all — and features the "key words" that someone would use to search in Google for a topic.

Here's an example. Rather than writing a longer subject line that says,

"We need your help to protect turtles from pollution."

Try this telegraphic subject line instead...

"Turtle Toxins"

In tests for other clients, we've found that these intriguing short subject lines — which always feature the wildlife species as the first word — produce higher open rates. Snappy subject lines also generate higher click-through rates — and most importantly, more donations.

Try it... and let me know if this tip works as well for you as it has for your colleagues.

Need help with crafting subject lines that increase your donations? Contact Karen at 718-680-1627 or at kg@karengedney.com.