Introduction

The purpose of this guide, Associations & Organizations: Empowering Your Membership through Email Marketing, is to aid the vast number of associations and organizations in improving the efficiency and productiveness of their email campaigns in reaching their membership. This requires:

Associations and organizations located in the United States and Canada were asked to provide statistical information on an anonymous basis, but were informed that they could be identified in the study if they so desired. The data provided by the management of these entities has formed the basis for the Associations & Organizations Email Marketing Survey section.

This report was compiled to delineate a thorough set of questions that the managers and directors of any association or organization should be asking about the current state of their email marketing strategies, and to propose an overall formula of effective solutions that can improve metrics and member satisfaction. Since many associations and organizations are set up as non-profit entities, they generally have to operate to an even higher ethical standard than most conventional businesses: therefore the onus of this guide will be on how to achieve the desired email marketing campaign results while strictly adhering to both the letter and the spirit of all applicable federal, state, and regional legislation pertaining to electronic communications.

The term "associations and organizations" encompasses a wide range of varied boards and alliances that break down into two general categories: Those that concern themselves with primarily charitable activities, and the ones that provide services to members while engaging in general advocacy. Many associations and organizations are involved in both categories of activities, making it difficult to establish a firm categorical delineation. Furthermore, not all of the entities who fall within the spectrum of associations and organizations are set up on a non-profit basis. For example, the Better Business Bureau and a number of agricultural trade associations seem indistinguishable from non-profit organizations, but are actually incorporated as any other for-profit company.

Here is a purely random list of some prominent charity based and membership & service based organizations.

Charity Based

Membership & Service Based

American Bird Conservancy American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research American Liver Foundation Brookings Institution Center for Biological Diversity Child Welfare League of America Common Cause Education Fund Ducks Unlimited Earth Island Institute Environmental Defense Fund Freedom from Hunger Friends of the Earth Global Hunger Project Greenpeace Fund Hispanic Scholarship Fund Huntington's Disease Society of America Izaak Walton League of America Jane Goodall Institute Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International Marine Mammal Center Mercy Corps Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research National Arbor Day Foundation   National Council on Aging National Federation of the Blind Operation USA Oxfam America Partners in Health Pearl S. Buck International Physicians for Social Responsibility Prevent Cancer Foundation Project Concern International Rainforest Action Network Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Salk Institute for Biological Studies Save the Children Sierra Club Foundation William J. Clinton Foundation

Agribusiness Freedom Foundation Agrichemical Warehousing Standards Association American Chemistry Council Associated Builders and Contractors Association for Accounting Administration Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Association of Exhibition Organizers Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting Biotechnology Industry Organization Black Owned Beauty Supply Association Book Industry Study Group Commercial Development and Marketing Association Construction Financial Management Association Electric Power Supply Association Farmers' Legal Action Group Food Marketing Institute Grocery Manufacturers Association Insulation Contractors Association of America International Personnel Management Association International Textile and Apparel Association International Union of Property Owners Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America Legal Marketing Association Metal Building Manufacturers Association National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals National Association of Regulatory Commissioners National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries National Mining Association Publishers Marketing Association Rural Advancement Foundation International The Computing Technology Industry Association The World Association of Cooks Societies Toy Industry Association Women's Council of Realtors World Technology Network