Email newsletters are still one of the most powerful tools for building relationships with your organization’s volunteers. Yet regrettably, volunteer newsletters are often an afterthought within volunteer organizations.
Volunteer programs are occupied with meeting critical community needs, and many lack the time to invest in their volunteer newsletter. When organizations send hurried newsletters (or don’t send one at all), they’re missing an opportunity to to engage with their volunteers.
The good news? By fixing these 5 common newsletter mistakes, you can turn around an under-preforming newsletter and more effectively engage and connect with your subscribers!
Let’s get started.
Volunteer leaders can develop rapport and build volunteer relationships when they send consistent volunteer communications. Every time a volunteer opens your newsletter, they learn more about your organization’s personality and mission, and become more invested in your cause.
For many organizations, newsletter timing is their #1 struggle. This might look like:
Lack of time and resources are the biggest obstacles in sending a consistent volunteer newsletter. When you don’t communicate consistently, your volunteers don’t get enough information about your program, its needs, and the ways they can contribute. They may eventually lose interest altogether and disengage from your cause.
On the other hand, some programs may bombard their volunteers with too many email updates. This is a surefire way to cause volunteers to disengage with you, or worse–unsubscribe.
So, how do you strike the right balance between staying in touch and becoming a nuisance?
While this varies based on your audience and industry, we generally suggest sending at least one newsletter per month. If you can send two, that’s even better.
If this seems like a lot of work, remember: quality is better than quantity. Focus on sending one solid newsletter update on a regular, recurring basis, even if it's short and sweet. This will help your organization stay on top of your volunteers’ mind (and inbox)!
It doesn’t matter how good your writing is or how interesting your stories are…if you neglect the design of your volunteer newsletter, you can expect decreased engagement with its contents.
A poorly-designed newsletter not only makes it difficult for your volunteers to connect with the content, but it also makes your organization seem less credible.
Luckily, a few simple tweaks can turn a visually unappealing newsletter into a polished cornerstone of your volunteer communication strategy. Here are some of the biggest design-related errors to watch out for:
Images are too large or numerous.
You should absolutely include images in your newsletter; these are some of the most engaging parts of your correspondence! However, you should make sure that your images aren’t hurting your newsletter’s performance. Oversized images cause slow loading times, which may prompt your readers to exit the email before it’s finished loading. Most marketers recommend keeping newsletter images around 600px wide so that they’re optimized for the web. Also, make sure you also don’t visually overwhelm your reader with images by striking a balance between text and visual components.
A common volunteer newsletter mistake is vague or absent CTAs. If you’re not including strong CTAs, you’re missing opportunities for volunteer engagement and program growth.
How do you find the right CTA for your newsletter?
When you’re drafting your monthly volunteer newsletter, you should have an end-goal in mind. Your goal might be to get more volunteer opportunity sign ups on your volunteer management software, to raise donations, or to create awareness of an upcoming event. You can then encourage your volunteers to take a desired action by including clear, enticing calls to action in your volunteer newsletter.
Keep these quick tips in mind so that you write a winning CTA in your next newsletter:
Need some CTA inspiration?
Try one of these clear and concise CTAs in your next newsletter:
Your volunteers are looking for curated, interesting content that resonates with their interests and needs. One of the quickest ways for them to feel unseen is by sending irrelevant, impersonal content.
Embrace personalization by collecting relevant volunteer data in your volunteer management software. Then, segment your email list and curate your content based on these data points. For instance, you might want to send different newsletters to your unengaged vs. recurring volunteers.
Volunteer data can help curate your language and Calls to Action to be more personalized and specific to your audience.
Personalize your volunteer newsletter in the following ways:
If you’re sending a volunteer newsletter without really tracking its performance, you’re not alone. But these results contain a wealth of information that can help fine-tune your newsletter strategy and boost engagement.
Email analytics provide insight into your volunteers preferences, and can also help you troubleshoot and identify underperforming sections of your newsletter. Here are some possible interpretations for your newsletter analytics:
By keeping a close eye on your email results, you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t for your unique audience. Use this knowledge to tweak your newsletter and increase your effectiveness over time.
Now that you know what not to do in your volunteer newsletter, let’s cover some of the key elements you should include:
Finally, let’s explore some of the top volunteer newsletter examples that harness effective communication strategies to engage supporters and advance their mission:
Oxfam’s newsletter is great because it’s visually appealing while also sharing the impact of their donors and volunteers.
Newsletters are more than just emails; they tell your organization’s story. When done well, newsletters have the potential to inform, inspire, and engage your volunteer force.
Make sure that your effort doesn’t go to waste by watching out for these 5 common newsletter mistakes and incorporating the elements you need to drive volunteer engagement.
