Ep. 165: Why Fewer Emails = Fewer Donations
EPISODE 165
Why Fewer Emails = Fewer Donations
About the Episode:
The fear of “bothering” donors has nonprofits sending fewer emails than Sephora sends about mascara. And you know what that means? Fewer emails = fewer donations.
In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on why silence in your donor’s inbox is way more damaging than showing up with short, story-driven emails. I’ll tell you why Patagonia, Old Navy, and Jimmy John’s can email you daily without you hitting unsubscribe, and why nonprofits should stop hiding behind once-a-quarter newsletters that nobody reads (hello, donor amnesia). This conversation is all about making email fun again and turning it into your #1 fundraising engine. If you’re tired of being ghosted by donors, I’ll show you how to stay top of mind, raise more money, and build genuine relationships… all from your inbox.
Here’s what you’ll learn:
Why “fewer emails” is a myth that’s keeping your nonprofit broke
Donor psychology: why silence feels worse than consistent outreach
What nonprofits can learn from Sephora, Old Navy, and Jimmy John’s
How one org went from $1,600 → $9,000 by shifting their email strategy
The difference between transactional emails (tax receipts) and true connection
Why good emails build trust while quarterly newsletters build amnesia
How to create fundraising campaigns that feel like conversations
It’s not your stories—it’s how you’re telling them. If your amazing work isn’t getting the attention (and donations) it deserves, it’s time for a messaging shift. The Brave Fundraiser’s Guide guide gives you 10 done-for-you donor prompts to make your message impossible to ignore. Get it for free here! https://christinaedwards.krtra.com/t/xKuLs6tOiPZa
Christina’s Favorite Takeaways:
“An email can change your nonprofit life if you let it.”
“Fewer emails equals fewer donations.”
“Donors are consumers. Consumers are donors. We are distracted, so we need reminders.”
“The problem with fewer emails is that inconsistency is forgettable.”
“Empty inbox trains your donors to forget you. Silence is the enemy of fundraising.”
“Big brands and businesses are using email to drive sales. ”
“Attention is a competition, so if you're not there, someone else will be.”
“Quarterly newsletters are not trust builders.”
“When I send emails, we make money.”
episode Resources:
FREE Resources from Splendid Consulting:
How to Work with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
Easy Emails For Impact™ - Turn Your Inbox into an Income Stream
Donations on Demand: Build a $5K Email Campaign System in 30 min/week
The SPRINT Method™ - Fundraise Like a Pro, 5 Figures At a Time
Connect with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
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*Links may be affiliate links which means I may earn a commission at no cost to you.
Christina Edwards 0:22today we're talking About why fewer emails equals fewer donations, and yes, the math can be that simple. I was teaching a guest workshop in front of an audience recently, and what I told them, we were talking about email. What I told them is, email can change your life like email can change your nonprofit life if you let it, it could be the secret to unlocking the next layer of funding for your organization. Like it's not a foundation, it's not some shiny grant, it could actually just be in an asset that already is in your backyard. It could be through email, if you let it. So we're going to talk today all about really addressing a really common mistake that people are making, which is, like, fewer emails are better. You know, let's not bother people. Let's just keep it as as we've been doing, like, let's not rock the boat. Nonprofits worry about bothering their donors so they send fewer emails like that. Worry causes them to just, you know, maybe it's weekly, maybe it's monthly, maybe it's quarterly, like, whatever your cadence is, there is a fear underneath there that is, if I email more, I'm just gonna bug people. The problem with that is fewer emails equal fewer donations every time, full stop, more is more here. Now let's let me go ahead and just like level set, I am not telling you, you have to write 30 emails in 30 days or anything wild. So let's just level set so you don't press pause and you don't go running out of of the podcast player, right? That's not what I'm saying. And this is about value. This is about the quality of your emails, not just the quality. So we'll address that as well. But I want you to think about the last time that you tried a new restaurant or shopped at a new boutique, right? If they didn't follow up with you, you forgot about them. That's churn. Donors are no different, and this has happened to me again and again and again, as I'll, like, try a new restaurant here in Atlanta and like, it was good, and I just will straight up forget about it, or I'll pop in at a store that maybe isn't like on my normal route, right? Isn't part of, like, my normal go to to the neighborhood, around the neighborhood, to the grocery store, etc, and I'll pop into that store one time, like, I'll happen on it. And if they don't send me an email, they forgot I forgot them. They forgot me. And it's not personal. There's actually, I'm thinking of a couple of spots of like, oh yeah. That business, oh yeah, that business. They never reached out again. They ghosted me. And what happened is I ghosted them, not because I didn't like their product or service because I forgot. Remember, donors are consumers. Consumers are donors. We are distracted, right? We need reminders. I want you to start thinking about I'm sending more emails. Is a service to them. It's not from, like, get energy. It's not from like, I'm going to get another donation. When I send an email, it's I'm going to give them a reminder to join our fundraiser, to be a part of our movement, to take some specific action. Right?
Christina Edwards 5:01
Yeah, so empty inboxes train your donors to forget you. Silence is the enemy of fundraising. Okay, it's not helpful by giving them lots and lots of space, email keeps you top of mind until they're ready to act.
Christina Edwards 5:24
Just like the restaurant example, if you've tried a new restaurant and they never follow up, they never reach out, no email, no text, no nothing, you forget they exist. And that's churn. That's what your donors do when you go radio silent. And let me go ahead and just like, click in a little bit more an email that is a tax receipt for a donation is not does not count. That's email zero. So if somebody makes a donation today to you and you're like, Christina, we send more emails than that. We send them this email that's like, here's your tax receipt. That's email zero. That is not yet a story driven email that is not yet creating that connection. That is the bare minimum. Okay, so we can improve, we can iterate. We can go beyond that. Let's dig into some donor psychology and some parallels we see in the business world. Businesses train you to expect them. Sephora, Patagonia, Old Navy, gap, who's in your inbox right now? Jimmy John's, jersey Mike's, like, who has your email address right now? They're in your inbox constantly. It cracks me up. They'll email me about a turkey sandwich seven days a week if I let them. And guess what? You don't unsubscribe. You buy when Sephora is like, listen, we got a new thing, or Old Navy says it's time. It's the sale. Kids close, whatever it is the fall edit, right? They're using email to drive sales. It works not to repel people. Otherwise they wouldn't be sending emails in the first place, right? This system works. It's working for these big brands and businesses. It's working for E commerce. It's working for grassroots, brick and mortar stores, and it can work for you, too, if you let it. Non profits are the only sector scared to show up. But attention is a competition, so if you're not there, someone else will be. I can think of a handful of non profits that do this, well, that do email. Well, there are so few. So it is such an opportunity for you to be the one, Be the one that is personal and connected and authentic in your donor's email inbox, right? Is such an opportunity for you to stand out in a sea of boring newsletters, in a sea of monthly updates, imagine what you could become.
Christina Edwards 7:52
we have clients that went through our program, Easy Emails For Impact™, and they thought donors would be annoyed. Instead, donors were more connected. Donors responded to their emails, their emails that they sent out to 1000s of people and they felt personally spoken to like personally seen. We have donors who have replied to emails and said, Let's meet. Let's talk. I want to help. What? What can I give? How much do you need? We have emails that have created five and six figure gifts from email. We have, we have clients who went through this process and saw open rates increase not decrease, even though they increase their frequency. This is not people getting annoyed, this is people becoming more connected. Think about dating. Think about dating, not like the crappy guy you dated in your 20s, but like the guy who ends up you the guy you really liked, right? You go out on a date, date goes really well, and the guy starts texting you once a month. You're like, never mind, right? You want the guy to follow up. You want to follow up with the guy. It's reciprocal. You want to feel more connected, right? It has the power to do that, if you let it.
Christina Edwards 9:06
We have clients who, like, I said, had major donors reach out for more meetings unsubscribe rates were not even issue. And this is the most important thing. This is why I'm doing this series. Funding jumps from 2x 3x even 9x we have a client who went through this? He said the fir the most we had ever raised through email was about $1,000 $1,600 something like that. I went through your course. We raised over $9,000 in one campaign. Let it be easy. Let it not require pouring hours and hours and hours into a grant or a gala, right? Let it just be that foundational. Let yourself raise $9,000 from your laptop on your couch at home. It's possible, right? Because if you're not emailing your donors, Netflix and delta and Amazon and Old Navy and Ulta one. Will gladly take their inbox space. They're signing up and reading someone else's emails. Why not yours? Why not yours? Quarterly newsletters are not trust builders. They just building amnesia, like kind of sort of remember, sort of them that organization reaching out to me, right? That's all it's doing. And this is really important, donors aren't annoyed by good emails. They're annoyed by silence, then a desperate ask once a year. That is way worse, where you're just trying to give me space with that monthly update or that quarterly update, and then what do I get? The Knock, knock, knock. I need money. Email. We don't like that. We want the connected, impact driven emails, and then we want to also contribute to your fundraiser. So if your nonprofit thinks that four newsletters a year is a strategy, you're playing checkers while everyone is playing chess. If you want the system, the tools, the support, the templates, I highly recommend signing up for my webinar, where I'm going to be showing you a glimpse into this process. I also have some really fun bonuses. When you join Easy Emails For Impact™, you can go to splendid courses.com, forward slash demand to sign up because email isn't just about volume. It's about presence. It's a both and right? It's not just send more emails make more money. It's send higher quality emails and make more money. Okay, higher quality emails. And doesn't mean it has to be super long. We talked about that in the newsletter episode, but it is about showing up, connecting, inviting action. That's how donors remember you. That's how you take lurkers, subscribers who have never, ever given once before, but have been hanging out on your email list, and turn them into recurring donors. So if you're thinking, I don't know what to say beyond the quarterly update, I don't know what to say to shift into a more personal, more story driven email campaign. I don't even know what a fundraising campaign would look like on email then I highly recommend signing up for that webinar. That's why I created the course is a very affordable price, and it is designed for every size organization. We literally have had the new new organization joined. We've had the organization join with 50 plus 1000 subscribers on their email list. It works for both. Okay, so go to splendid courses.com, forward slash demand to join.
Christina Edwards
One of my favorite quotes from one of my clients is she says, When I send emails, we make money, and that can be true for you too. I have tested and tried this with in my private practice. That's how I originally started this. Then I have built the program where we've welcomed so many organizations to follow this method and it works their their their donors are more connected. Their donors are more excited. Their donors are showing up and giving more you should be running email fundraisers throughout the year, not 24/7, but at key points throughout the year. If you don't have an email welcome series, we teach you how to do that, right? So it's highly recommend rethinking your entire email strategy to be front and center foundational for your digital fundraising efforts. Okay, I'll see you in the next one.