Fundraising events guide: 25 email templates and tips

Email marketing remains one of the most powerful tools for nonprofit organisations, especially when preparing for fundraising events. When done well, it can engage your audience and help build stronger connections. This can lead to better results and help you reach your goals.

In its latest fundraising guide tailored specifically for charities, iRaiser provides the keys to successful email campaign strategies.

The guide offers 25 ready-to-use email templates plus tips and best practices for charity event communication. Charities can easily use these templates for your upcoming events to maximise their reach and impact.

Inside, you’ll find expert advice and pre-written templates designed for all types of fundraising events, including:

• Charity runs, walk a thons, or other sports challenges,

• Charity festivals and concerts,

• Online and gaming events,

• Peer-to-peer campaigns (such as in-memoriam or birthday fundraisers), and many more!

Download the guide now

In this article, we’ll share some of iRaiser’s best tips for engaging charity supporters and their network during fundraising events.  Learn how to capture their attention, boost participation in your Community Fundraising initiatives, and ensure their ongoing support.

Six best practices for mastering email marketing for your fundraising events

The success of a charity event relies on getting many people involved and motivating them to support your cause. A well-crafted email can make all the difference!

For effective fundraising emails—whether inviting supporters to a gala, recruiting for a charity run, or reminding donors of their impact—a structured approach and well-designed emails are essential.

Here are some tips charities can apply to emails for their charity events and peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, such as in-memoriam, birthdays, weddings, and more.

1. Master the basics of a great email

To create an effective email for your charity and fundraising events, it’s crucial to focus on the fundamentals. We recommend using : 

• Engaging subject lines: Grab your audience’s attention with subject lines that spark curiosity, convey urgency, or highlight the benefits of your cause. Engaging subject lines are key to improving open rates and clicks, ensuring your message reaches more people

• Impactful images that draw attention and evoke emotion, making your message visually appealing

• Clear calls to action that guide your audience toward taking the desired steps, whether it’s donating or registering for an event

• Concise messages that highlight the impact of your mission and motivate your readers to engage

Discover the keys to crafting clear, visually appealing emails that will capture your audience’s attention in iRaiser’s guide.

2. Know and segment your audience

We know that every donor has a unique relationship with your charity, with distinct expectations and motivations. Therefore, it’s essential to tailor your approach based on the audience you’re addressing, and your fundraising goals. Consider whether your supporters are:

• First-time donors from a peer-to-peer campaign,

• Fundraisers who actively engage and raise funds on your behalf,

• Major donors who have supported you for years,

• Potential donors, and so on.

To maximise your communications’ impact, segment your database by different criteria for more targeted messaging. The RFM segmentation method (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) is a must-know for your nonprofit organization.

Apply these segmentation criteria, then personalise your emails to meet the specific needs and interests of each segment. This will strengthen your audience’s engagement.

3. Plan the timing of your emails

Timing is crucial in email marketing, especially during significant campaigns like large-scale events or year-end appeals. That’s why we advise you to plan your emails well in advance, raising awareness among your audience and giving them time to prepare.

If you’re organising a peer-to-peer campaign, be sure to give your fundraisers enough time to understand the event. Supporters should have ample time to set up their online donation pages and spread the word with their network to collect donations.

Similarly, for a sporting challenge, ensure your participants have sufficient time to physically prepare.

As the event date approaches, don’t forget to send strategic reminders encouraging supporters. This helps maintain engagement and reduce the risk of no-shows on the day of your event.

In iRaiser’s fundraising guide, charities can find recommended timelines for sending emails for various fundraising events! Whether it’s sporting challenges, charity concerts, or peer-to-peer campaigns. The timelines will help you reach every goal. This will increase participation and help you raise more money and succeed in your mission.

Don’t forget to use targeted communications on other channels like social media, ads, newsletters, and phone calls. Download this free Content Plan template to easily plan your communications and promote your events and fundraising campaigns.

4. Optimise design and content for mobile 

Did you know that UK donors make 53% of their donations through mobile devices? Making emails mobile-friendly is essential. They must be easy to read and click through, especially your call-to-action buttons. For example, use buttons that are at least 44x44 pixels, which is a comfortable size for touchscreens. 

Finally, remember high-resolution images can slow down loading time on mobile devices, leading to a poor user experience. We advise you to compress images to reduce file size without compromising quality, and ensure that they are responsive, automatically resizing to fit different screen sizes.

Apply this practice to your campaign pages as well for a seamless user experience.

5. Conduct A/B testing

A/B testing is a powerful tool that allows you to compare different versions of your emails. Leverage it to help determine which elements resonate most with your audience. You can experiment with various variables to see what drives the most engagement, such as:

• subject lines, 

• email layouts, 

• send times, (hour, day,), etc.

By testing these elements, you will gain valuable insights into what works best for your supporters. This data will help you refine your email campaigns, improving open rates, click-through rates, and overall effectiveness.

6. Create a sense of urgency and impact

For donors or fundraisers, it’s crucial to feel that their support truly makes a difference. Emphasising the tangible impact of donations helps make the difference clearer to your supporters.

Use messages like “Only a few days left to reach our goal!” or “Every donation changes lives!” to encourage them. Show tangible examples of how their support makes an impact. This approach will encourage immediate action and help your supporters understand the real value of their help.

This strengthens their long-term connection to your mission and deepens their commitment to your charity.

7. Have a Follow-Up Plan

After your fundraising event, it’s essential to have a follow-up plan in place. Sending a thank-you email shows appreciation and keeps donors and participants engaged.

Be sure to follow up with those who couldn’t attend but showed interest, as this can reignite their connection and encourage future involvement. You can even include a link to your donation forms, and encourage other ways to participate.

Include a recap of the event’s success, share stories or highlights, and let everyone know how their contributions are making a difference. A well-timed follow-up can build stronger relationships and set the stage for continued support.

With iRaiser’s fundraising guide, learn how to craft a compelling email plan to strengthen your fundraising strategy. Explore how to structure your emails to maximise their impact. Learn to create catchy subject lines and strong calls to action that connect with your donors and engage your community.

Bonus! Learn how to use ChatGPT to transform your email writing

iRaiser’s guide includes a handy bonus section on using ChatGPT to write great charity emails. Download your copy below and discover how to effectively use this AI tool. Learn to input the correct text, or prompt, to generate engaging, audience-appropriate emails in just a few clicks.

Download the complete guide: 25 ready-to-use email templates for all your fundraising events.