Hey , 

Do you have a morning routine? 

About a year ago, this was a very hot topic among popular business people online. Everyone was posting about how they get up at 4am, drink a gallon of lemon water, run 18 miles, meditate for 3 hours, and speed-read 7 books before diving into work. I remember one person even said she gets up before dawn to take a "luxuriating bubble bath" every morning. 

Uh, ok. 

My routine, as of late, is a little less intense. What I really like to do is get up, pour a cup of coffee, and read through The Morning newsletter from the New York Times for a few quiet minutes before anyone else is up. I don't particularly like the news, but, The Morning helps me feel like I know what's going on in the world.

And, I often stumble upon ideas that apply to my work. Like this phrase that appeared a few weeks back: "...simultaneously urgent and a long game." Although the article was referring to something to do with the pandemic, I thought: that's exactly the way we should think about emailing for fundraising.

After all, if we want to be able to raise more money through our online giving campaigns later this year, the time to start sending great emails is now (urgency). And, we have to accept that the process requires commitment: to change audience behavior and increase participation over time (long game). 

Consider this:

• You want more people to make online donations in response to your campaign solicitations.

• Therefore you’ll need to simplify your donation page and make it more effective.

• Once your page is optimized, you will be able to increase your donation rate by getting more people to visit the page.

• If you want more people to visit your donation page, you’ll need more people to click the links in your email.

• In order to get more people to click, you’ll need to have more people open your email.

• To get more people to open your emails, you’ll need to have given them a reason to want to read them.

• And, in order to get more people to want to read your email, you’ll need to consistently show that you send interesting/useful/well-written messages.

So, however you like to start your day (bubble bath or not), I hope you'll take a few minutes this morning to think about the best ways to approach your work with the right amount of urgency and the patience it takes to play the long game. Both are required for the results you'll want to see during peak giving times. 

P.S. Would you like a free website review - live?! Click the image below to submit your URL for a "hot seat" interview on March 3rd.