Build Relationships, Don’t Just Ask

Be careful not to turn your e-newsletter into all fundraising all of the time. You may be trying to make a year-end goal so it may be tempting to shoot out another e-mail asking for money, but keep your big picture and long-term goals in mind. Your e-newsletter should be about building relationships. You’ll have more success in the long term if you think about using e-mail to cultivate and steward donors and potential donors and ask when the time is right rather than just focusing on the ask. Usability guru Jakob Nielsen says that in the final days of the election, Kerry may have turned some people off by asking for money too much in his e-newsletter rather than talking about the issues and deepening bonds with his constituents. Read Nielsen’s comments here. It’s fascinating.