Emma 25 is here! Meet some past honorees

Every year, we give away a lifetime of free email marketing service to 25 deserving non-profits from all around the world. It’s called Emma 25, and it’s one of our favorite company initiatives. We’re kicking off our seventh year of Emma 25 by looking back at three past honorees and how they’re using Emma to strengthen and share their organization’s message.

Pearl Alliance

Pearl Alliance, located in Palmer Lake, Colorado, is an outreach program of Messenger International, which was created to fight against human trafficking.

They were awarded an account in 2009 and use Emma’s signup forms to capture new subscribers. Hannah Cusack works in Pearl Alliance’s online marketing department and says, “We’ve seen our list steadily grow, in part thanks to the painless sign-up process.”

Sending regularly and providing timely content — including video clips, goal-tracking visuals and personal stories — results in consistently higher-than-average opens and click-through rates. Their June/July update, for example, saw a 32% open rate and 35% click-through rate. Their Aug/Sept update drew a 25% open rate and another 35% click-through rate. (For some context, average click-through rate is about 5% across all industries, according to the Email Stat Center. For non-profits, average click-throughs vary by organization size but hover around 3% to 5%).

One of the most rewarding parts of Hannah’s work is forging connections between Pearl Alliance’s subscribers and the girls the organization serves. Hannah shares one of her favorite Emma moments: “In May 2009, we sent out an email asking our email friends to submit video messages full of hope for girls who were rescued out of trafficking and were now being sheltered in a safe house in Cambodia. It was an amazing moment to use our Emma updates to connect the rescued girls with the allies who help to fight for them.”

At Emma, we can’t think of a better way to make the email experience personal, meaningful and memorable.

Find out more about Pearl Alliance:

• Visit their website
• Follow them on Twitter
• Check out their Facebook page

High Hopes, Inc.

High Hopes, Inc., is an innovative preschool and pediatric therapy clinic based in Brentwood, Tennessee. The group helps kids with special needs by combining speech, occupational and physical therapy in their preschool classroom. They also offer outpatient therapy to patients up to 21 years old, and they teach kids without special needs as well, creating an inclusive, supportive environment for everyone.

And they rely on Emma for their email marketing. Holly Beth Roach, High Hopes’ Fund Development Coordinator, says, “I love that we have an idea of how many individuals are opening the emails, which helps us know when another form of communication may need to be sent and to know what may be of interest. Through Emma, we can now reach more people because of the forwarding features to email a campaign or post it to social networking sites, developing new friends for our organization.”

High Hopes’ fans are certainly involved. The summer newsletter to 751 folks had an impressive 37% open rate and an incredible amount of traffic from Social Sharing: Just eight people shared on social networks, but the traffic from these shares reached 136 visits, fairly remarkable for a mailing of this size. The announcement of their new website launch in September elicited a 34% open rate and 40% click-through rate. (Check out the new website here.)

Holly Beth says, “Previously to Emma, our primary form of communication was paper. We still use paper but have reduced it significantly because of Emma. This transition has saved [us] both money and time. The immediacy of it allows a parent to get an email and respond right away instead of getting a flyer at the end of the day and having to remember to go back and address it. We have a more informed parent population, and have increased the number of parent volunteers through using Emma.”

Find out more about High Hopes:

• Visit their website
• Sign up for their newsletters
• Check out their Facebook page

Children’s Trust Foundation

Children’s Trust Foundation works to prevent child abuse and neglect in Washington state by providing support and child development resources to families. Located in Seattle, they send out monthly newsletters, event announcements and invitations. (Check out their lovely 25th anniversary celebration announcement.)

Johanna Wender, Marketing and Development Coordinator, says, “Emma is so user-friendly and simple to use. We’ve had an easy and enjoyable time managing our numerous email campaigns.”

And they’re doing it in a smart way, by sending consistent monthly newsletters and unique email campaigns during holidays or events. For example, take a look at the Mother’s Day campaign they sent in May, created on a custom stationery by Emma’s Jennifer Kasdorf. This mailing saw a 20% open rate and whopping 50% click-through rate.

As a nonprofit, they depend on the support and donations of their subscribers and fans, and in each newsletter, they have fun with their donation buttons. Check out the clean, blue button in June’s newsletter and the cheery flower in September’s.

Find out more about Children’s Trust Foundation:

• Visit their website
• Sign up for their newsletters
• Follow them on Twitter
• Check them out on Facebook

Feeling inspired yet?
Head over to our seventh-annual Emma 25 page to learn more.