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6 eNewsletter dos and don’ts

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the Internet has been the newsletter. Instead of having to print countless copies and send them individually, email has allowed newsletters to evolve into eNewsletters.

While they are a lot more convenient than their print counterparts, eNewsletters are not without their headaches. Anti-SPAM rules have made sending eNewsletters to your supporters into an art form. If you don’t do it correctly you could find yourself in trouble and blocked.

In the book “Nonprofit Management 101,” Kivi Leroux Miller, president of NonprofitMarketingGuide.com, offered six dos and don’ts to ensure your eNewsletters are in compliance:

  • DO use an email service provider. You can’t do bulk email from your desktop for a variety of reasons, including the potential you’ll be labeled as a spammer.
  • DO let your readers talk back. If someone replies to your eNewsletter, make sure it goes to an email box that someone is monitoring.
  • DO master the art of subject line writing. The “From” field and the “Subject” line determine whether your email gets opened or deleted. Ensure what’s in the “from” field is recognizable to the reader and what’s in the subject line is interesting, intriguing, or otherwise compelling to your readers.
  • DO master the art of headline writing. People naturally skim email, starting with headlines and subheads, so you want to grab their attention.
  • DON’T send attachments, including PDFs of your print newsletter.
  • DON’T rent or sell your e-mail list, and let your subscribers know that’s the case.