This post is the third in a series designed to teach the fundamentals of email marketing for nonprofits. These posts are based on the Effective Email Engagement for Nonprofits: The definitive guide to better nonprofit email marketing. Each post focuses on an element of conducting an email marketing campaign, from crafting email to measuring recipient responses and adjusting your email approach accordingly.

Every great capital campaign starts with a great idea—a project the community can support and get behind.

The first step to a success? A Campaign with heart and soul. (There won’t be anything to write about in your campaign emails if the soul of your project is missing!)

First, distill what the campaign’s really about. It’s not just this project, this money or this gift. It’s about the mission and the message behind it. Why are you here, working on this right now?

Return to that core message in every email you send. That’s what keeps the soul of your capital campaign alive throughout the campaign—and keeps donors engaged.

What’s a reasonable expectation for your community to contribute? Your fundraising goal will set the tone for the rest of your campaign, and determine some of your. As you get closer to your goal, send fundraising progress updates to your list to let them know how far along you are, and what that means for the project.  

Line up some suggested giving amounts. For example, you could say that “$500 buys a treatment for one child,” or “$20 feeds an animal for the month.” Linking donations to a tangible impact gives your recipients the sense their donation matters. Make sure your donation suggestions are realistic and empower donors, rather than discouraging them.

The Stages of the Campaign

1. The Opener. Once you introduce the campaign to your recipient list, clearly outline what the project is, why it’s important, and what recipients can do to be involved. Make sure at this stage that you introduce the stakes. That is, tell your recipients why this particular project is so critical to your nonprofit’s overall mission.

• Make links to your giving page as clear as possible.
• Include your preset donation amounts.
• Pepper your campaign introduction with appealing photos that harken back to your mission.

2. The Conflict. Next, it’s time to start building the tension. Write about what might stand in the way of achieving the project goal—and what the donors can do to help overcome it.

Conflicts can be small, too. Perhaps your campaign is to fund a new addition to a children’s hospital, and the email is about an obstacle your team has met in the process of getting a building permit. Stories with a goal, an obstacle in the way of achieving it, and a heartfelt discussion about overcoming and triumphing—appeal to the heart and get recipients invested in the cause.

3. Ramping up the action. As your campaign progresses, so should the tension! Are you going to meet the deadline? Will you raise enough money by then for the project? Send regular progress updates to your list. You might be sending emails more frequently the closer you get to your campaign deadline.

This is a great opportunity to do some deeper dives into the project and what it means for your nonprofit long-term. What are you missing now that’s essential to achieving the mission? How will the project help you reach the next level?Remember: return to the message and the mission, and guide your storytelling around it.

4. The big twist! As you reach the final stretch of the campaign, it’s time to pull out all the stops. This is the “climax” of the story—the big moment that lies between success and failure. The tone of your emails should reflect how much closer you’re getting to the finish line with more urgency and energy.

If you’ve solicited some large donors for the campaign, this is a great time for some big contributions to come in. If the campaign isn’t as close to the fundraising goal as you’d originally projected, extend it, and let everyone know they still have time to contribute!

5. Resolution to the story—and the thank you. Once it’s all said and done, be sure to make an announcement about the final result of your capital campaign (whether you met the goal or not). Be sure to thank everyone who contributed!

And as always, send a progress email as the newly-funded project gets underway, so all your donors can see their donations at work.

The post Designing Your Perfect Campaign Story appeared first on Greater Giving Blog.