How NOT to ask for money – a real example

Imagine that your organisation wanted to appeal for new regular givers, reaching out to those who they had contacted for other reasons previously.

How may of these things would ring alarm bells for you?

  • Poorly formatted email message
  • Addressed to ‘Dear Supporter’ rather than a name (which is available)
  • Send yourself a test email and then forward it (at least it was BCC’d) but so the subject starts with ‘Fwd: …’ and there are two email signature footers
  • Clearly using Outlook rather than an email marketing tool
  • Send it to people who had not given consent for marketing (and soft opt-in does not apply as they are a charity)
  • No link to a Privacy Notice
  • No way of opting out
  • Email footer telling me that if I am not the intended addressee, I must not read the email

Sadly, this is a real example of an email that I received last week. The organisation is a good one, delivering a really important impact through a team of dedicated people. Unfortunately, they way they are using technology, and their data protection governance, is letting them down.

Please don’t let this happen to you! If you are doing any of the things above, or are not sure what’s wrong with any of them, then please contact me or book a free 20-minute insight call at https://zorva.info/free-insight-call/