Click-through Rates, Compelling Links and Your End of Year Fundraising Appeal

Wondering how to get more from your holiday email appeals?

Reviewing the way you use links may be a good place to start – effective link copy and placement can have huge effects on click through rates and related fundraising results.

A few things to consider before we get into the key take away …

• People receive a lot of email. Nielsen Norman Groups’ research found the number of new or unread messages increased 300% from 2006-10.
• People often skim email. Jakob Nielsen’s research indicated only 19% of email is fully read.

What do those stats tell us? Essentially, you have less time to tell your story and inspire readers to give.

So, what can you do?

Make the most of what stands out to your readers.

Usually the first sentence, bolded text and underlined links will stand out to email readers.

And while links may catch someone’s attention, those that just say “donate” or “give today” will do little to inspire more click-throughs.

Making link copy compelling will have immediate effects on click through rates.

Click-throughs are what you need to get more donations.

The 2010 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study found that as click-through rates increased, so did conversion rates. In fact, the largest difference between high and low performing nonprofit email programs was in their click-through rates.

If links get noticed and the goal is to increase click-throughs, shouldn’t your links do more?

Some nonprofits believe so and create links that answer:

• What do you want me to do?
• Why should I do it?
• When should I do this by?
• Where is this taking place?

Here are a few recent examples from national nonprofits:

See the difference in the above compared to simply saying “donate now”?

Which do you think is more effective?

Remember, readers will scan your email and only take-away one or two key points. Make sure to communicate your most important messages clearly and succinctly.

And make sure your links summarize your ask and communicate an urgent need.

What tips do you have?