A lot of attention is paid to new media and while it is exciting and has great potential for your nonprofit; it’s still new. Meaning that while a lot of people are now using new media tools (Twitter, Facebook, Digg, LinkedIn) others still haven’t even heard of them. There are 14 million people on Twitter and 200 million people on Facebook. Laura Quinn of Idealware pointed out, during the Tools Galore in Online Communications webinar held during the Women Who Tech online conference on May 12th, that both of these numbers pale in comparison to the number of people that use email. I bet if you are reading the Green Media Toolshed blog you have at least one email account and regularly use it. Do you have accounts on all of the social media sites listed above? Developing a strong email campaign can lead to huge results, because you can reach the millions of supporters, that have not tired new media. And you do not have to invest time or money into learning how to use these new tools.

You can use an email campaigns in several different ways. Emails can enhance your relationship with your members by letting them know what you are up to. You can also encourage them to participate in your events or donate to your organization. Emails can also be used to encourage new members to join your organization.

Most organizations already have a newsletter and a direct mail campaign. Email campaigns are very similar to direct mail campaigns. You will develop an email or an e-newsletter and send it to a list of members. Today an email address is like a mailing address, almost everyone has one. The same can not be said about the various forms of new media and even if your members do have a new media account; you don’t know which one they have. So emails are like a catch all safety net.

Here are some tips for improving your emails.

1. Laura Quinn mentioned that you don’t have to send out emails every week. You can sent up a monthly or quarterly email and supplement them as needed.

2. Look into tools like Constant Contact and Vertical Response to help you send out emails. These services enable you to build aesthetically appealing emails using their email templates. Your email can be text only or include website links and/or images.

3. Marty Kearns encourages clients to include links to their website so people will visit your organization’s website while reading your email or e-newsletter.

4. Create targeted lists. Every member doesn’t need to get every email. Developing different lists allows you to only send members e-newsletters or emails that will interest them.

5. Keep your emails short to help ensure your members read them. Nina (at Green Media Toolshed) includes a word count and rough estimate of the reading time at the top of her newsletters to encourage our members to read her emails.

If you have limited resources, now might not be the best time to dive into a new marketing strategy. A better option is to strengthen your current marketing plan. Everyone has an email address, so spend the time and money to reach out to them using this medium.