— KEY TAKEAWAYS
A new donor email welcome series is a crucial, automated sequence of messages that introduces first-time supporters to your nonprofit and sets the stage for long-term retention.
- A thoughtful welcome series addresses common reasons for donor churn, such as forgetting they gave or not understanding their impact.
- Building an automated workflow in your CRM saves time while allowing you to send targeted messages like thank-yous, impact stories, and non-financial engagement requests.
- Optimizing these emails with personalization and clear expectations prepares donors for a thoughtful second ask when the time is right.
Retention rates for new donors consistently hover somewhere around 19%. That’s not great! And one of the reasons it’s got so much (ahem) room for improvement is because nonprofits are waiting too long after a donor’s initial gift to start building a long-term relationship.
On the contrary, those first days and weeks after someone’s first gift are the best time to establish a relationship with them that will keep them engaged with your mission (and your nonprofit) for years to come.
A thoughtful, well-crafted new donor email welcome series is one of the most effective ways to ensure new supporters feel seen, valued, and inspired to stick around. Want to know the best part? You don’t have to send one manually to each new donor. You build it once, turn it on, and update it every once in a while. That’s it!
We created an entire (free!) guide to creating a new donor email series—complete with tips, templates, and worksheets to help you craft the perfect welcome. To download that guide, click here.
QUICK ANSWER
What is a new donor email welcome series?
A new donor email welcome series is an automated sequence of messages designed to introduce first-time supporters to your nonprofit. Going far beyond a standard donation receipt, a well-crafted welcome series strategically educates new supporters about your mission, demonstrates the real-world impact of their contribution, and highlights additional ways they can get involved in your community.
Over the course of a few targeted emails, this onboarding experience helps a new supporter deeply understand who you are, what you do, and how their specific financial support makes a tangible difference. By establishing this relationship in the critical days and weeks immediately following an initial gift, organizations can dramatically improve donor retention rates and inspire supporters to remain actively engaged with the cause for years to come.
Key distinction: A strategic welcome series is an intentional onboarding and relationship-building tool, completely distinct from the automated, transactional donation receipts sent by your CRM.
Why a New Donor Email Welcome Series is So Important
If donor retention is a challenge for you, you’re not alone! We alluded to it earlier, but only about 19% of new donors give again the following year. That means that, on average, one in five of your new supporters may only give once.
That feeling sucks! After all, you worked hard to acquire those donors! Keeping them actively involved in supporting your work, whether that’s by donating, volunteering, attending events, etc., is the key to building a solid donor base. So, how do you buck this trend?
The first step is to understand why people don’t give again. Some of the top reasons for donor churn include:
- Not being able to afford to give
- Feeling disconnected from the organization
- Not remembering that they gave in the first place
- Being asked to give when they don’t understand their impact
- Not being asked to give again
A good welcome email series will help you address most (maybe even all!) of those issues. With some thoughtful planning, you can:
Give new donors additional ways to get involved
Try spotlighting volunteer opportunities, community events, and other chances to support your work. If you include non-financial options, you can keep new donors engaged even if they can’t afford to make more monetary gifts.
Deepen the connection between your donors and your cause
Sharing impact updates, success stories, and interesting educational content will reinforce the emotional connection that inspired them to give in the first place. This also reiterates their desire to make a real-world impact and lets them know that future gifts will achieve similar outcomes.
Make new donors feel amazing about their generosity
People remember strong emotions. If you send new donor welcome emails that celebrate their generosity and share how it makes a difference, they’ll be more likely to remember your organization longer.
Set the stage for future gifts
When a donor understands that their contribution is recognized, appreciated, and used wisely, they’ll be more likely to make additional gifts later on.
Your email welcome series can do a lot of heavy lifting for you. It’s a valuable way to make a good impression on new donors and help you boost your donor retention rate!
BY THE NUMBERS
Why are automated welcome emails so effective at preventing churn?
45.70%
The average email open rate for small nonprofits, proving donors are eager to read your updates.
53.85%
The increase in funds raised by emails that utilize clear preview text to demonstrate impact.
129%
The increase in click-through rates when emails include imagery featuring human faces to build emotional connection.
Source: Neon One, Nonprofit Email Report.
How to Build a New Donor Email Welcome Series (Without Overthinking It)
This sounds like a lot, right?
Well, good news: creating a really effective new donor email welcome series doesn’t have to be complicated. If you’re using a good nonprofit CRM (we are, believe it or not, pretty fond of Neon CRM), you can create these emails and turn them into an automated workflow—no additional fussing required.
Here’s a basic framework to get you started:
STEP BY STEP
How do you build a new donor email welcome series?
- Confirm your CRM supports automated workflows Ensure your platform can create these emails and turn them into an automated workflow to save time and eliminate manual tracking.
- Start with a sincere thank-you Reiterate your gratitude to make the donor feel genuinely valued. Including a personalized salutation using the donor’s name can increase click-through rates by 26%.
- Set clear expectations Let your new donor know you’ll be in touch with a few updates and impact stories. Setting expectations early helps prevent future unsubscribes.
- Ask for a small favor Leverage the Ben Franklin effect by asking them to follow you on social media or fill out a quick survey. Using the word “Survey” in your subject line has a 200% positive impact on open rates.
- Share stories and impact Show them how their gift is making a tangible impact. Emails that include high-quality images of people connect emotionally and perform significantly better than text alone.
- Offer other ways to engage Give them non-financial options for staying involved, like volunteering or attending an event. Event registrants give well above benchmark amounts after year three of engagement.
- Make a thoughtful second ask Only after building trust should you ask them to make another gift. When you do, explicitly using the word “Donate” (+194% impact) or “Support” (+307% impact) in the subject line drives massive open rates.
Pro tip: As you draft the copy for each step, focus heavily on using “you” language rather than referring to your organization. The most engaged-with messages in the Nonprofit Email Report used the word “you” 10 times, proving that centering the donor’s identity naturally drives deeper connection without feeling forced.
A new donor welcome series will be most effective if you use your supporters’ data to personalize your emails. A one-time donor who gave $20 to a special campaign will likely appreciate a different message than an existing monthly donor who gave an additional gift to your annual fund.
Want to Build Your Own New Donor Email Welcome Series?
If you’re ready to build an email welcome series that strengthens your donor relationships and increases your retention rates, check out The Fundraiser’s Guide to Welcome Emails! It includes storytelling templates, planning worksheets, and real-world examples that can help you build an email series your supporters will love.
