A successful capital campaign represents a significant accomplishment for your organization and reflects the collective effort and commitment of your community of supporters. Whether you’re wrapping up the campaign or you’ve just achieved a big milestone along the way to your larger goal, it’s important to stop and celebrate your wins.
Email is an excellent tool for doing just that—it’s a cost-effective medium that allows for high levels of personalization and the inclusion of various multimedia elements. Plus, email has the power to grab your community’s attention. Research shows that 99% of email users check their inboxes every day and 58% check their email before social media or the news.
Are you ready to tap into the power of email to celebrate your capital campaign achievements? We’ll help you get started by examining a strong example email. Let’s dive in.
Example
Say a nonprofit animal shelter, The Furry Friends Group, recently broke ground on a new facility being funded by a capital campaign in its final stretch. Here’s an example of what a celebration email might look like for that milestone:
Subject Line: Something special happened today🐕
Hi [Recipient Name]!
We’re thrilled to announce that, thanks to support from donors like you, we broke ground on our new animal shelter today! This milestone signals a huge leap forward in our mission to provide a safe and loving environment for local animals in need and will allow us to house 100 more dogs than we currently can.
We wanted you to be among the first to know and celebrate this moment with us because this achievement isn’t just ours—it’s yours, too! Every donation given, every hour volunteered, every social media post shared, and every word of encouragement has contributed to making this dream a reality.
Check out the pictures below to see our groundbreaking ceremony, or if you’re in our local area, consider walking by the construction site soon!
In the meantime, help us get ready to welcome our new doggy residents next year by donating shelter supplies.
Visit our website to learn more.
Thanks for all you do for animals in need!
The Furry Friends Group Team
Breaking It Down: Why This Email Works
Let’s take a closer look at the elements and strategies that make this email work well.
Compelling Subject Line
The first thing an email recipient is going to see is the email subject line. The subject line above works well because it’s short and compelling—it hints at what recipients can expect from the email and even includes an emoji to help the message stand out in recipients’ inboxes.
How to Do It Yourself
- Write to create curiosity. Think of your subject line as teasing or previewing the content in the email itself. Choose descriptive words that will hook your recipient and encourage them to click on your message.
- Keep it short and simple. MailChimp recommends using no more than nine words or 60 characters.
- Be mindful of emojis. If you use emojis, make sure you use them to supplement words in the subject line, not replace them. MailChimp suggests limiting emoji use to one per subject line.
- Learn from great examples. ContactContact offers a great list of email subject line examples. You can even browse your own inbox to see which subject lines catch your eye and which fall flat.
Short and Sweet Text
The Furry Friends Group’s email is only 155 words, and yet it does exactly what it needs to do—connect with the recipient, announce the milestone, thank the recipient for their support, and encourage further action.
How to Do It Yourself
- Get straight to the point. Begin with the most important information. This way, if your recipients only skim your email, they’ll still get the gist of what you’re trying to say or what you’re asking them to do.
- Break up long paragraphs. Keep paragraphs to one to two sentences. You can also add visual variety to the email by breaking paragraphs into bulleted or numbered lists.
- Edit ruthlessly. After writing your email, go back and ensure every sentence is serving a purpose. Cut out any unnecessary words. Use a tool like Grammarly to help.
Donor-Focused Language
The example email is written with supporters in mind. Phrases like “thanks to donors like you” and “this achievement isn’t just ours—it’s yours, too” put the focus on the recipient, making them feel like a team player in the nonprofit’s success.
How to Do It Yourself
- Use “you” instead of “we.” This is a best practice that applies to all your campaign marketing materials. Put the focus on your supporters and invite them into the narrative by using “you.” For example, “Your donation will help us reach our goal” is more engaging to the individual than “We need donations to reach our goal.”
- Personalize the message. Even if you use an AI tool to help you create your emails, they should still be personalized. Use your donors’ names (and, if relevant, their specific contributions, like donation amounts) in your emails. You can easily automate this using your chosen email marketing platform.
Gratitude
In the email above, it’s clear that The Furry Friends Group is grateful for all their supporters have done to make their groundbreaking possible. They highlight that the milestone was only possible because of their community’s support and then sign off with a final thank you.
How to Do It Yourself
- Be as specific as you can. Some celebration emails will be more general, like the one above. Others will allow you the room to thank supporters for their specific donation amounts or number of hours volunteered. Being specific can help your supporters feel seen and valued for their individual contributions.
- Acknowledge their role in your larger mission. Supporters need to know they’re important to your organization not only in the context of your campaign but also in the context of your larger mission.
- Be sincere. Your supporters are savvy—they’ll notice if you sound phony in your emails. Ensure you’re being honest, transparent, and genuine when you express your thanks.
Key Achievements/Impact Stories
The Furry Friends Group email is focused on one key achievement—the groundbreaking for the organization’s new animal shelter. Your own emails might focus on an achievement, an aspect of your campaign, or even the story of someone who made a difference in helping you get closer to your goal.
How to Do It Yourself
- Lead with the achievement. There’s a saying in the world of journalism—“Don’t bury the lead.” This just means you shouldn’t shy away from sharing the most important information right off the bat. Let your supporters know what happened and why it matters.
- Focus on tangible results and outcomes. Connect the dots for your recipients—explain why what you’re celebrating matters to your campaign and your organization. In the example above, The Furry Friends Group clearly explains that the new facility they’ve broken ground on will let them house 100 additional dogs.
Engaging Visuals
While there is only a mention of visuals in the example email, don’t overlook the power of incorporating visuals into your own messages. They can help to break up the text and give your recipients more context for just how far you’ve come with your campaign.
How to Do It Yourself
- Use your organization’s branding throughout your emails. Ensure your emails are recognizable as being from your organization by incorporating your organization’s branding. Be consistent in how you apply your branding across your emails and ensure it aligns with your branding strategy for other campaign materials, like your campaign brochure.
- Incorporate relevant photos and images. Depending on the content of your email, this might mean sharing photos of your team at work or an infographic that explains your fundraising progress so far and how much further you have to go. Whatever you incorporate, ensure it’s high quality and engaging.
- Ensure the visuals complement your text. Your emails should feel balanced, so don’t use so many visuals that they overwhelm the text or make the message too long to read through.
Invitation for Ongoing Engagement
In the email above, The Furry Friends Group wraps up its message by issuing two calls to action—one to check out the groundbreaking photos (or visit the construction site) and another to give again to the campaign. This is an online marketing best practice that opens the door for further involvement and deepened investment in the organization’s success.
How to Do It Yourself
- Demonstrate an urgent need. You want to ensure your recipients feel compelled to act. Make it clear what you need them to do and why you need them to do it now. In the example above, it’s clear that the nonprofit needs shelter supplies.
- Make your invitation stand out visually. Consider creating a clickable button or image with your invitation. This way recipients will see it quickly and be able to click on it to take the desired action.
- Provide a clear next step. The easier you can make it for your supporters, the better. Clearly explain just one step that will get them closer to engaging again, like visiting your website, following you on social media, or registering for an event.
Celebrations are an important part of a solid capital campaign plan, and you can use emails to invite your entire community to celebrate your achievements along with you. Reference the example email and the tips above to write your next celebration email, and good luck with your campaign!