Communication is at the core of your organization. Have you ever wondered if I can communicate best with my nonprofit using email, twitter, snapchat, or some other newfangled communication tool?
There are several ways to communicate with those in your community, but depending on the size of your community and number of resources you have at your disposal, some of those ways just don’t make sense. Some of these approaches work better than others – some are very practical, and others may be far too time and labor-intensive for your organization. Yet with all the changes and new services on the internet, email continues to be one of the easiest, fastest, more personal, and most effective methods of interacting with the people in your community.
To start out, sales of smartphones have consistently increased in the last decade, putting access to email in nearly everyone’s pocket. You may be thinking: OK, they have their phones on them at all times – so why not text? Well, texting can be really hit or miss. First, it can be expensive for your organization to send mass-texts. Second, many people don’t even use their default texting app anymore, opting for another messaging app or apps in its place. And third, sending an email is actually handled very similarly to texts on mobile devices. You receive an email, and what happens? You get a notification at the top of your phone screen that you can click, that will take you right to the message. That’s really not much different than receiving a text. Using an email campaign tool like Fresh Vine allows you to see when your message is open, and by whom.
Some may think of email (particularly email campaigns) as detached and impersonal. We think it can be just the opposite. It can be the most ideal way to communicate best with my nonprofit. Emails don’t need to encompass every detail of your organization, or be sent to every person, every time. Use a tool to segment those people or groups in your organization, so you can target specific messages to specific people. In fact, just by segmenting your list of people and using targeted messages, it makes your messages feel more customized and personal to those receiving them.
[Tweet “Texting, and other apps come and go, but Email is here to stay.”]
Image: Phil Campbell
