Growing your donor email list is a big undertaking with an even bigger benefit! By focusing on bringing more people into your movement and starting long-term relationships with your supporters, you are creating a sustainable and powerful email program that engages your passionate grassroots community.
Your email list is made of real people who do real work to support your campaign or organization. Small-dollar donors are often the most invested and go beyond donating — they also volunteer, vote, and start conversations that get more people to the polls! Growing a healthy and engaged email list takes time, but we’ve got your back with these tips on the basics, as well as the do’s and beware’s of list building!
Strategies for growing your donor email list
On your website:
- Make sure there’s an easy-to-find place on your website to sign up for your email list. Make it super simple for supporters to sign up by just asking for their names and emails. Even better: Add a pop-up on your website so the first thing people see is an opportunity to join your movement by signing up for your email list.
- If your campaign or organization has a blog for sharing your work, place a subscription button at the bottom of your blog post asking, “Do you want to receive important updates like this in your inbox?”
Through email:
- Tandem Fundraising: Team up with a campaign or organization related to your cause and create a Tandem form where donors can easily split one donation between the both of you! Then, send the form to both of your email lists to build a coalition and introduce each other’s work to your dedicated supporters.
- Community fundraising power: When you encourage supporters to create their own fundraising page and share it with their friends and family, you’re reaching people who may not already be involved with your campaign or organization. You’re receiving new donations and adding more people to your email list! It’s easy to get your supporters fundraising with our community forms or supporter forms. Watch our free webinar on community fundraising or read about supporter forms to learn more!
Through ads:
- Try running ads online asking folks to take an action, such as signing a petition or joining your movement. When people click, ask them to provide some basic information like their first name and email so they can join your list.
- If your website or fundraising pages don’t show up on the first page of a Google search, make sure you’re buying an ad to get it to the top. That way, supporters can find your website easily, and the pop-up they’ll see when they reach your website will drive them to sign up for your email list.
On social media:
- Drive email sign-ups and keep your social following engaged with different interactive strategies! You can encourage followers to sign up for email updates or host swag giveaways and ask folks for their email to enter.
- If you are using social media to ask people to sign up for your email program, make sure your form has a social share image and text that shows up when you share your form’s link to energize potential supporters.
- Highlight community fundraising and Tandem Fundraising on your social media to extend your reach and include more supporters in your movement!
In-person:
- When people buy tickets online for your event, include a way to subscribe to your list for email updates. Better yet, sell tickets to your event using an ActBlue event form! The event form will automatically collect email addresses so you can communicate with supporters.
- During events or volunteer shifts, be prepared with a sign-in sheet to collect the email addresses of every single person who comes out to your rally, event, or canvasses! You can also generate a QR code for your ActBlue contribution form and display it at events so anyone with a mobile device can donate. Their email addresses will be automatically collected, so you’ll be fundraising and list-building at the same time!
When you add new people to your list, be sure to send them welcome emails introducing your campaign or organization so they can get to know you. Never forget that your email list is made up of real people who are trusting you!
Remember to keep your list clean as more folks sign up. Implement an opt-in email and let go of inactive subscribers, which affect whether your emails will land in spam or “Promotions.” Block known email address typos with a block list and/or programmatic removal. And always have an “unsubscribe” option at the bottom of every email to keep your list healthy and full of engaged supporters!
Tip: Use segmentation to determine which asks each potential donor will likely be receptive to, primarily over email. Reaching out to people who have never donated? Make a small, one-time ask: “Can you give $10 right now?” Add a Goal Tracker to your contribution form to establish a target to work toward or take advantage of Smart Boost to automatically prompt donors to increase their impact.
Be sure to reach out to returning donors with ways they can deepen their connection with you and help support your work long-term. Invite them to become recurring donors or to maximize their impact with Bump Your Recurring. Or invite them to fundraise on your behalf in their own community!
Quick takeaways:
Do: Start building your donor email list now for success later!
Beware: Assuming you’ll receive an influx of donations around end-of-month or end-of-quarter without first doing the crucial list-building work.
Do: Promote signing up for your email list wherever you can. (Don’t be shy!)
Beware: Stopping at promoting — have a plan to welcome and engage new supporters on your list!
Do: Reach out to us for help! We love talking about digital strategy that fits your campaign or organization and are excited to help you build your grassroots movement!
