5 Smart Political & Advocacy Emails to Inspire Your Campaign

A strong email program can deepen the engagement of your supporters and raise the money that you need to fuel your campaign. But as our inboxes become exponentially more crowded, it takes more to stand out.

We’ve gathered five of our favorite campaign and advocacy emails to inspire your next send:

Clean and Simple Graphics

Simple infographics or gifs are a great way capture the attention of your audience and engage visual thinkers. This doesn’t mean that every email needs to include graphics, plain text emails can be super effective, too. Instead, think of graphics as part of a healthy, balanced email diet.

The trick with graphic emails is breaking up the images into sections. The images files are smaller and load more quickly than one large image. In this DNC fundraising email, notice how the first gif draws your eye into the message.

From: The DNC

Subject: Here’s the 2018 Game Plan, Friend

Date: May 14, 2018

Less is More

Sometimes the best way to capture the attention of your audience is to keep it simple. Clean emails are more user-friendly and ensure that your message will come through. Patagonia used negative space to make a shocking statement stand out.

From: Patagonia, an outdoor clothing company whose mission is to use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

Subject: The President Stole Your Land

Date: December 5, 2017

Some context: This email, coupled with a website takeover, came in response to the Trump administration’s decision to shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by more than 1.1 million acres and more than 800,000 acres, respectively.

Clear and Concise

Focus your email around one idea and be concise. Your subscribers don’t want to review your candidate’s entire policy platform at once, but they might be motivated to donate when they read your candidate’s plan to fight pollution in your state.

There should always be one idea and one call-to-action or ask per email. In this skimmable email from Gasp, the bolded text makes a clear and compelling argument, while the complete text provides more depth.

From: Gasp, an Alabama health-advocacy organization, focused on reducing air pollution.

Subject: Our Health & Environment Are Under Attack

Date: May 8, 2018

Speak to the Heart

You are driven by your values and so is your audience. Write each email like a personal letter to your supporter and share the emotions (positive and negative) that propel your campaign forward. This authenticity will build trust with your supporters.

Senator Kamala Harris’ Mother’s Day is powerful and authentic, building on a strong emotional narrative.

From: Senator Kamala Harris

Subject: A photo of my mother I cherish

Date: May 13, 2018

Build Contrast

Campaigns have to tell two compelling stories: what the future looks like if their candidate wins and what is at stake if their opponent wins.

Since Randy Bryce was running against an incumbent (Paul Ryan later announced he was not seeking re-election), his campaign seized the opportunity to tell both stories at once, building a strong contrast between the two candidates.

From: Randy Bryce, Candidate for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District

Subject: Friend, I’ll take a photo with you

Date: July 21, 2017

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