Detecting donor passions through email behavior

Airlines and travel websites are a good example of why we need to send ongoing email newsletters.

Most of the time, you're not looking for an airline ticket or a hotel. But when you are, there are probably one or two options that pop into your mind first. Expedia and Alaska Airlines are the ones I think of first.

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They never stop sending me messages. And I guarantee they’ve noted whether I happened to click on a specific topic, location, or deal. That helps them understand my connection to their brand. So once you’re looking for a ticket, they already have a good idea of where you’re headed and what you’ll need.

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You can do the same to begin to understand someone's connection to your mission. One way is to use your own first-party data from email. (Quick refresher: Zero-party data is information people give you directly, for instance when they fill out a form with their address or other info. First-party data is derived from how people interact with you in a trackable way -  such as clicking links in emails.)

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So it's possible to deduce people's interests and their connection to your mission by tracking the content they engage with in your emails, and using that data to refine your segments. What this really does is increase relevance. You stop guessing what people care about and start responding to what they’ve already shown you. That usually means better engagement, fewer blanket appeals, and less donor fatigue.

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Here’s an example of how you might set up this type of strategy.

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You start by identifying your top two or three content interests and then holding your newsletters specifically to those topics. Examples might be:

   
• Content tag 1: a news topic that is relevant to your nonprofit
   
• Content tag 2: a specific project you’re working on
   
• Content tag 3: anything written by a personality or leader in your organization
 

Then each time someone clicks Topic 1, 2, or 3, the system automatically marks that topic (or tag) on their profile. (Every email platform handles this process slightly differently, so it may take a bit of back and forth to set up. But it’s achievable on most platforms. Some platforms like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Mailchimp make it easy. Constant Contact, less so, but still achievable.)

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After 90 to 180 days, you’ll have a solid idea of a person’s content interests. You can segment accordingly or simply use it as business intelligence. And when someone consistently clicks on one program area, that’s a signal. Not definitive, but meaningful. It can shape a more focused appeal, a targeted event invite, or even a mid-level donor qualification conversation. You could also apply a similar content-tagging strategy to a welcome series or onboarding stream to learn more about a prospect.

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The same process is probably already happening in your one-to-one conversations with major donors. For instance, if you know a donor is interested in a specific topic, you’ve probably logged it in your CRM or donor database. Here, we’re just doing it at scale through an email platform. In a way, you’re building lightweight passion profiles automatically. Not to manipulate. Just to listen better.

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You can keep it simple, too. Even if you just do this with one topic or meaningful tag, it might help identify a high-value group. You might even decide that after someone clicks the same topic three times, they get a version of your next appeal that leans into that specific work. Or an invite to a webinar tied to that issue. Nothing complicated. Just responsive. It shifts your email program from broadcasting to listening. Understandably, people are complex. You won’t know every motivation that leads them to donate, but it’s a great start.

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