Why I Hate Newsletters

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 inbox placement. 

4. Rarely does an organization test to determine if a newsletter eventually leads to increased actions or donations.

Years ago, I ran a newsletter test at a large nonprofit organization. I split the email list in half. For six months, half the list received the newsletter and the other half didn’t. I then compared the action-taking rates of the two lists over that period of time. 

The result? I posted it in the first comment below.

Are your newsletters bolstering your advocacy program? Do you have the data to prove it? If not, then stop wasting time writing and programming them. Instead, focus on sending emails when you have highly compelling and relevant content, not just because it’s a certain day of the month.

If you do have great data-driven newsletter success, tell me about it in the comments. Change my mind!