I wrote earlier this week about how writing informally can be a great strategy to personalize a donor letter. We all use email and receive way to many mass emails. We have become experts at figuring out what is an email we need to read and what we can delete right away.
If we put in the subject of our email, “December Newsletter,” or “Seeking Volunteers for Such and Such,” people will know we are emailing a number of people and not just them. Often we will try and say way too much in one message. Volunteers and donors will not respond to an email that asks them to do 3 or 4 different thing but they might respond if you ask them to do one little thing.
So here is my secret. Create a spreadsheet and put the first name of who you will be sending the message to in one line, and their email in the other. Use Word and do an email merge. Type a short message asking a specific informal question:
We are having a breakfast for new volunteers on Friday, can you attend?
Thanks,
Jason
And then do an email merge with their name and stick your email signature at the bottom.
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This is a great idea Jason but you have to be carefull because your ISP might shut you down if they suspect you are doing large email blast without a commercial account.
Bellsouth did that to me when I tried to send to many. I discovered if I sent around 100 twice a day especially late at night they didn’t bother me about it.
I know my wife sends out around 600 twice a month to her list but she gets her web designer to do it using her commercial account.
Thanks for this idea it’s a keeper!
Scott thanks for the warning. I would also add this method is suppose to be used only with people you know that you’re trying to connect with.
I received a question about what to put in the subject line of these emails. Once suggestion was to put the question in the subject line. I think that can work well for internal people if you’re trying to get a project done. I would suggest putting something simple like: “Breakfast Event” or “Follow-up Calls.”