By: Karen Zapp | pkscribe.com

Email ought to be as integral to your fundraising and cultivation efforts as direct mail and your nonprofit website.

And regardless of the channel, we all want bigger lists. So how might you grow your nonprofit email list?

1 – Give donors, members, advocates and prospects a darn good reason WHY they should sign-up for email.

2 – Don’t proceed with any other steps until you finish #1. I’m serious!

3 – Add a sign-up box to your website pages that’s above the fold. And ask for the minimum information which is their first name and email address. Use future communications (e.g., your email welcome series) to get more info you may desire.

4 – Add a newsletter sign-up module on your Facebook page.

5 – When appropriate, the call-to-action at the end of a YouTube video could be to sign-up via email for more info. ALWAYS send viewers to a unique landing page for signing-up!

6 – Again when it makes sense, use social media updates (e.g., Twitter and Facebook) to invite people to stay informed on a topic by signing-up for your email.

7 – Online press release. When an inspiring story occurs – something that stands out – share it in a press release. The call-to-action promises more stories like this and the hyperlink takes readers to a unique landing page where they sign-up for your email updates.

8 – Ask for their email address in direct mail appeals. Many nonprofits add a line to their reply device requesting this info (Important: Refer to #1, above).

But on a hot topic you can also encourage readers to share their email within the body of the appeal as a way for supporters to get timely, breaking news.

9 – Use 2D barcodes (e.g., QR codes) that people can scan that takes them to a sign-up page with samples of what they’ll receive. (Refer to #1, above.) These QR codes can appear on any nonprofit printed collateral, signs, business cards, etc.

10 – Whenever a donor, member or supporter calls your nonprofit, have your call center invite them to share their email address. (Refer to method #1 in previous post to have better success with this.)

11 – Include an email sign-up on search landing pages and make it very visible.

If someone has searched on a topic and ends up on your nonprofit website, there’s a good chance they’ll be receptive to receiving more info via email on that topic.

12 – Utilize third party resources such as Care2 and Change.org.

13 – Your email service provider should have a way for subscribers to easily share (the email they just received from you) on social networks and by forwarding your email with a single click. Enable this “share” feature on every email sent. And from time-to-time add ad line or two within the email encouraging subscribers to share.

Perhaps there’s even a way you can give subscribers an incentive to share (e.g., a special report or sneak preview).

14 – Format your email to be mobile friendly (i.e., readable on smartphones and tablets).

15 – Integrate with other channels. For example:

> Support direct mail with email follow-ups

> Post social media updates that link to same landing page as the email but with separate trackable links.

> Send text messages to your nonprofit supporters that link to same landing page as the email but with separate trackable links.

16 – Analyze your email data to monitor trends; what’s working and what isn’t in terms of messaging, days of the week you mail, etc.; why subscribers are leaving and how can you minimize this; what they respond to the most; and periodically encourage subscribers to give you feedback and update their preferences.

17 – Keep subscribers engaged. The secret here is to get them engaged with one of the first two or three emails you send them. Optimize their front-end experience and then move them up to the next tier of engagement over time.

18 – Deliver quality content that’s relevant, personalized, and of value to your subscribers. In this case THEIR opinion on what is relevant and of value is the opinion that counts … not yours. Number 18 is as fundamental and crucial as method number 1 of how to build an email subscriber list.

Nothing earth-shattering in that list; and probably not anything new. But it’s important enough to warrant a reminder.

How are you building your nonprofit email list? What else can we add to this list? Please share in the comment box below.