6 Elements for Perfect Political Fundraising Email
A political fundraising email is not something to be done aimlessly. One has to consider the process carefully, with informed decisions being made. Because of this, you will have to identify what such a critical email should contain.
You might have had an idea of what you intend to communicate in the email, but knowing the inherent elements will enable you to put forward a well-structured and straight-to-the-point message. As you strive to put out a top-quality email, check out these 6 must-have elements of an impactful political fundraising campaign.
1. Simplicity
The first element you should consider when preparing a political fundraising email is simplicity, which has to resonate with the message as well. You don't have to put your audience through the rigors of making extra efforts to understand the email.
They may lose interest quickly, and the purpose of the email will be lost if you do not take care of aspect. Consequently, you should leave the technical or complex terms out as much as possible. Better still, you can break such terms down in a way that most persons can relate to – without misconstruing the message.
However, you should not allow the need to uphold simplicity cause your political fundraising email to be less appealing. This is where good visuals or graphic elements come in; they will ensure that the email keeps them hooked till the very end.
2. Value and story
An essential element that your political fundraising email must contain is the value you intend to bring to the table. This is especially important when you are sending out the first round of emails to new or potential subscribers – you don't have to leave out your old subscribers, though. You should understand that if you present a good value proposition or ideology, it will propel more people to donate.
As an aspiring political office holder, you should be mindful not to put out anti-people messages. You have to take your time to relate your values and how society, at large, can benefit from this.
For this, you should learn the art of telling a story – a compelling one at that. The story should be relatable and address specific societal concerns; this is, more or less, like letting the people know you are a part of them.
3. Custom header and footer
You are positioning yourself as a brand as you seek that political post, and everything you do – including the email to be sent – must represent what you are about. Additionally, you must endeavor to customize your email header and footer, with some of your campaign features or logo displayed and designed for the cause.
By this, your brand will remain visible and become familiar as time passes by. You should never send an email with a bland or generic header and footer.
4. Call to action
A call-to-action feature is an element that ties the whole message together, giving you the amplitude to ensure that readers make a further commitment. The best practice for this is to choose just one call-to-action button that expressly tells your audience what to do – remember the rule of simplicity here.
By the way, the call-to-action element you select may not necessarily ask them to drop in their donations directly. It could be such that redirect them to your election campaign donation portal or some other pages that will aid your fundraising cause.
Some of the notable call-to-action buttons that often accompany political fundraising emails include "Donate Now," "Act Now," and "Register Now," to mention just a few.
5. Perfect closure
A perfect closure to a political fundraising email may appear to many people as some 'icing on the cake, but it can be much more. It could be the very element that causes an individual to finally decide to get more involved in the project.
So, you should create something that appeals to your audience's emotional or psychological faculties. The perfect closure should primarily be about thanking the readers for their time, and you can also reiterate your desire to build a more inclusive political architecture.
Plus, it would be best if you also considered mentioning the first name of the person as you bring the email to a close – take, for instance, "thank you, Diane"…. – to establish some connection.
6. Following up on responses
This may not be an element per se, but it remains a vital part of a political fundraising email. Your responsiveness – as well as how prompt you are at it – to the queries of prospective donors could go a long way in bringing a donation to fruition.
However, you must first ensure that you enable responses on the emails being sent out or have a dedicated channel to receive such feedback – so that the other one will be mainly for fundraising.
You should never forget that some folks may not have funds to give but contribute to a political campaign in some different ways. So, you should be dedicated to keeping in touch with your subscribers.
Final words
All the elements shared here are tried and trusted as many political office holders have successfully integrated them. And you can also discuss them with your team to see how they can be integrated into your fundraising drive.
Even if you have engaged the services of a media team, for this reason, you should make sure to check to what extent these elements have been employed. Plus, you should also evaluate the overall impact of your email fundraising drive so far.
In bringing this to a close, permit me to buttress the fact that you will not be the one aspirant seeking to get funds to run your campaign, so you must create a unique fundraising email that sells well. This uniqueness is what your story, branded footer/header, and CTA must reflect to have a good turnover on your email fundraising. With all these observed, you can expect to take your political fundraising campaign to a greater height.
