Email tools

Email your friends, family and work colleagues and ask for their support. Don’t forget that you are doing something extraordinary and they’ll want to get behind you! Be sure to download one of our banners and include the link to your Teamspace in your email so people can go straight there and check out your team.

Approach your contacts personally and they will be more likely to respond. Don’t email your whole address book at once – target and mail merge so your friends and colleagues receive individually addressed emails.

What should I say in the email?

Asking for donations can seem daunting at first, so we’ve provided some templates to help you get started. But remember, the more you personalise your appeal,  the more success you’re likely to have.

• Template 1: Talk about a challenge!
• Template 2: Help! Believe it or not I have somehow committed myself to…
• Template 3: I’m on a mission: to help you pay less tax this financial year
• Template 4: I’m a support crew member – help support my team
  
• Template 5: Festive fundraising

Tips

Before you get started, check out the following email fundraising advice from Oxfam Trailwalker legend Alan Jones:

1. Make it first-person. Address the email to the reader, not the general public. Speak as yourself, not as a member of a team. Write, “Please donate now to my fundraising effort” instead of “I’m hoping everyone in our organisation will donate.” Don’t adopt a tone that isn’t natural for you. The email has to sound like it comes from you, so if you’re naturally humorous, be funny, but if you’re naturally serious, be serious.

2. Include the facts. Explain what Oxfam is, what Oxfam Trailwalker is, when the event takes place, and where the trail goes. Tell the reader about your prior experience (or lack of it) and who else is in your team if the reader is likely to know them.

3. Make it visual. Most of us are better at telling a story with pictures than with words. Include a photo or a video from a recent training walk. If you can, make sure there’s a photo of YOU in training, because people receiving this email will know you and what you look like, and for many, it will be surprising (and hence interesting) to see you in Trailwalker training gear and out of the office. Use the Trailwalker banners below to really make your email pop!

4. Make it emotional. We all get way too many emails every day, so how do you make yours stand out and ensure people react to it? Be emotional. Talk honestly about how you think you will go. Are you certain you’re going to do it easily? Say that, and it will elicit an “I bet you won’t!” reaction from some –  who will then donate just to see if you’re really as good as you think you are. Worried you might not finish? Talk honestly about your worries and friends will want to support your efforts against the odds.

5. Ask for interaction. Don’t make this just a reading experience for the recipient. Providing them with a photo or video takes them out of the passive mode of reading and into the active mode of engaging, and that stimulation is more likely to elicit a donation. You can also ask them to volunteer as your support crew or join you on a training walk or even ask them to email you back if they have any tips to ensure your success in the event!

6. Ask for the donation. Don’t get carried away! You must begin your email and end your email with a clear, straightforward and direct ‘call to action’ – “Please click to donate online now” or “Use your credit card to make a quick and secure donation now.”

7. Campaign it. Don’t make your first email your last. Subtract the friends who donate from the first email and send a second email to all the people who still haven’t replied. In your second email, update readers on your latest training walk and the progress on the fundraising front. Remind them of how much more you still have to raise, and best of all, feature the names and donation amounts of some of the generous friends who’ve already made a donation. “Can you beat this amount?” is a great tease for prompting action.

8.  Thank your donors. As you continue to fundraise, don’t forget to show appreciation to those who have already donated!  You can get a full list of team donors on your teamspace or you can ask the Oxfam Trailwalker staff for a team donor report.

Alan concludes: “I know from experience that you’ll be surprised by who donates and who doesn’t. But nobody will donate unless you ASK THEM TO. So ask EVERYBODY!”

Email banners

Click on the images below to download these email banners. Don’t forget to add  a link to your Teamspace. Paste it in your emails or add it to your email signature along with a call-out for people to support your team.