Write Blurbs: How to get your donors to want more of your email newsletter

Emails like this don’t get read:

  

Email blurbs like this do:

By using blurbs, your newsletter will be:

• Easier to read
• Quicker to read
• Fun to read

Here’s how you do it:

1. Write the long description of what happened like you normally would. Using blurbs in your email newsletter is not about getting rid of you writing a lengthy description of what’s happening in your ministry. It’s about re-packaging the information to cater to your donors.

2. Post your long description of what happened to your blog. You can write as much as you want about what’s happening in your ministry on your blog. People who want to read it will read it. If you don’t have a blog, learn how to make a blog on wordpress.com. Or, Tumblr is an easy-to-use blogging platform that you could use as well.

3. Summarize your long description into a blurb headline.

Example: Game night.

Example: A lost son has come home.

Example: I gave a talk at our large group meeting.

4. Summarize your long description into a blurb.

Example: 80 people, 15 different games, and a whole lot of fun. Read more.

Example: George, a freshman at our university, came home to the Father this past week. Read his full story.

Example: This month, I spoke to our students about the Sermon on the Mount. Watch the video.

5. Link the blurbs to your blog.

In step 4, “read more,” “read his full story,” and “watch the video” are the phrases you link to your blog from your email newsletter (by the way, are you using Mailchimp yet?). The people who want to read more will read more. The people who just want to skim, will skim. Everyone’s happy.

It’s already hard enough to break through the clutter of busy people’s inboxes and get your email read at all. Blurbs help you to honor your donor’s time, make your email newsletter as easy as possible for them to read, and share what’s happening in your ministry on campus.

If you have any follow up questions, comment below or message me on Twitter.

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