Way back in October, I shared the second-most-important thing you can do to encourage recipients to open your email newsletter. After a long hiatus, I’m ready to reveal the best way.

I say “reveal,” but in fact you already know the answer.

Hint 1: It’s not the subject line.

Hint 2: It’s not the day or time of sending.

Hint 3: It’s the same thing that encourages you to open any email, newsletter or not.

Got it?

It’s the sender.

We always open emails from our boss, our client, or our beloved.

After that, we open emails from people we know and trust. We may eventually open emails from people we’ve never heard of or have heard of but don’t trust — or maybe not.

For most nonprofits, therefore, the organization name should appear in the From field. Recipients signed up for emails from the organization, not (usually) from an individual.

The deeper answer is put the most recognizable name in the From field. One don’t and three do’s:

• Don’t use the name of the person who’s actually sending the email. No one knows — much less trusts — the marketing assistant.
• Do use the name of the founder if that person is at least as well known as the organization itself. For example, Children’s Defense Fund can use Marian Wright Edelman.
• Do use the full name of the organization (Children’s Defense Fund, not CDF) unless the world knows you by your acronym (like my client The REACH Institute).
• Do put the recognizable name first. You have room to add more information, but you don’t control how much is displayed on recipients’ mobile devices. You want people to see Children’s Defense Fund, D…. , not Donor Relations, Children’…

I usually close with an offer to help. But honestly, with this reminder to focus on recipients’ expectations, I think you can manage the From field. Is there anything else about your email newsletter I can help with?