This answer will surprise you. For most, it’s also a huge relief. The question: how should I benchmark my advocacy email performance? This is the second most frequent question I receive after ‘how often to email.’ Those who ask are typically expecting me to provide them with a specific metric, or point to a high-performing organization or established benchmark report. However, the answer is far simpler: Benchmark against yourself. If your email performance is continually impr

How often should you email your advocacy volunteers? It’s a question I receive from lots of organizations. Let me provide two answers. ANSWER #1: At least twice per month Advocacy volunteers want to take action. Unlike fundraising or general marketing lists, advocacy volunteers typically have to opt in to receive advocacy emails. They’re making it clear that they want to hear from you and be given opportunities to act on the issues they’re passionate about. Two emails per mon

Change my mind on this! I hate when nonprofit organizations send monthly advocacy newsletters. Here’s why: 1. They are typically sent on a strict schedule (i.e, the 5th of each month). It doesn’t matter if they have something compelling to say or not.  2. So much of the content isn’t relevant to me. I live in Atlanta. Why do I care that a bill passed in the Idaho Senate? Most of your volunteers don’t. 3. Engagement for newsletters is typically low. You wasted a good open or i

Wow! After 11 months of phone calls, lobby days, messages and more, I'm so excited to see the big wins achieved by the nonprofit health community in the FY26 spending bill. And I'm super proud of my clients' big wins in the bill.  No, we didn't get everything we wanted, but we'll worry about that next week. Today, we celebrate! Congratulations to all of the advocacy staffs (and their volunteers and members) who advocated relentlessly on behalf of their constituencies.

Here are 4 things advocacy teams must do by January 6th – the day Congress returns from its holiday break. (But they can’t be done the day before, so you want to start now.) ❄️ Refresh your welcome series A lot has likely changed since you created the last version of your welcome series. Be sure your content is updated and relevant to the current political and legislative environments. ❄️ Launch a re-engagement series Even the best organizations lose volunteers throughout th