The BSD Blog

The New Organizing Institute is an amazing program that trains tech-savy organizers to work for progressive campaigns and organizations. Whenever there’s an NOI training or meeting, BSD tries to attend.

Katelyn Sabochik and I just got back from their 2008 DC Organizers Summit, where we led a discussion on email writing and online campaign design. Since a lot of our clients weren’t able to attend the training, I wanted to preview the 10 simple, concrete ways I suggest campaigns and organizations can write better emails.

1. Keep it short. People don’t want to read a long essay -- they’re skimming what you write. If you’re in a Word doc and your email reaches a full page, wrap it up.
2. Think about your subject line -- it’s the most important part of your email. Be concise, grab attention, and be creative.
3. Keep it conversational – you don’t send formal letters to your friends or coworkers by email, do you? Use voices and personalities in your email to start a dialogue with supporters.
4. Never send an email without an action -- the only thing people can do is unsubscribe. That being said, try not to have more than one action per email or you’ll confuse and overwhelm people.
5. Treat new supporters differently; make a good first impression. Send a welcome message and explain what to expect from your campaign. Don’t throw them into the regular email list immediately.
6. Use images sparingly. Don’t use images just for the sake of using images. Simple, compelling buttons are good, but don’t hold up an email for one.
7. Don’t be afraid to try something new -- gimmicks can be your friend. Don’t know what we mean? Look to the presidential campaigns as a guide.
8. Ask people what they want. Surveys are good for both you and your supporters. They solicit ideas, tell you what people care about, and make people feel engaged.
9. Timing is everything. Sometimes it’s better to be the first that to be the best. If you’re waiting 3 days for policy experts to fact-check your brilliant email, you’re too late.
10. Test and segment your list. Figure out what works best for your own organization.

Need more help? Contact the BSD Strategy Team for more help to improve the emails your campaign, organization or company sends out.