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Newsletter, December 2006By Karen Graham, Client Development Manager Nonprofit Neighborhoodthedatabank's Anti-spam Policy thedatabank has never tolerated spam, and now we have a written policy . The policy outlines the steps we take to ensure that our clients never use their Databank to send unsolicited email. New Feature: Schedule Emails to be Sent You asked for it, you got it! Clients told us they would like to write an email message, then schedule the date and time it will be sent. Now, with thedatabank's e-Marketing Module , you can do just that. From the Publish screen, choose "send later" and fill in when you want your message sent. (If you want evidence that it works - this message was written and scheduled last night, to be sent this morning while the author is sleeping in!) thedatabank Featured in St. Paul Pioneer Press Congratulations, Candidates! Last month, ten of thedatabank's clients were elected to the Senate, Congress, and a variety of state and local offices. From organizing thousands of volunteers, to energizing the base with email updates, promoting fundraising events, and preparing donor reports, the Databank was integral to managing these successful campaigns. Now let's keep the momentum going! We're already looking ahead to 2007 and 2008. Start thinking about how you can use your Databank to keep your supporters engaged, and poised to come out even stronger. Featured Client: America Votes brings record numbers of voters to the polls Over seven million voters in nine targeted states were contacted on Election Night Weekend, thanks to the hard work of over 250 national and local progressive organizations, much of which was coordinated by America Votes . To put this into perspective, in Ohio alone, a whopping 2.6 million voters were contacted. Great job to everyone who was involved in this GOTV Operation! Read our success story on America Votes thedatabank whitelisted in AOL We are now whitelisted on America OnLine, Compuserve and Netscape. This makes emails sent through your Databank more likely to go through to the recipient, without being snagged in a spam filter. Advocacy Module Users: Timeline for update of Target database The Target database used by thedatabank's Advocacy Module should be updated in January, around the time when newly elected officials take office. "Target" is the term we use for recipients of your activists' emails, faxes and letters that they send through thedatabank's Action Alert system. The Advocacy Module comes with access to legislative Target contact data, for both district and capitol offices, which is updated at least once per quarter. New Clients thedatabank is pleased to welcome these new clients:
Tip Du JourImprove email deliverability: 1 simple thing you can do The most effective way to make sure you get through people's spam filters is to ask them to add your email address to their "safe sender list". Send this request as a plain text email, so that there will be no graphics or HTML code to possibly trigger a filter. Also include the request in your printed materials such as a paper newsletter. Karen's BlogMaking a list, and checking it twice I got my first spam complaint last month. Here's what happened: I was so thrilled about our election results that I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. In my enthusiasm to tell everyone, I didn't stop to consider whether they would be as excited as I was about this information. I sent the announcement to a large list, resulting in two replies from people who didn't care to read about thedatabank's political persuasion. (All of our campaign clients happened to be from one particular party.) There was also a higher than normal number of unsubscribes. Oops. What went wrong? I didn't target my message. I should have sent the post-election email only to people who had expressed an interest in our services for campaigns and referendums, and not to our general nonprofit list. Worst of all, I am embarrassed to admit that I promoted exactly this type of targeting when I spoke at a conference this fall - and I failed to follow my own advice! Some lessons must be learned the hard way. So, to maximize effectiveness and minimize spam complaints, target your email messages. You can select the right list based on interest, historical response rates, desired frequency of contact, source, or other criteria. Make your list, check it twice - and then send. Karen P.S. Happy holidays!
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