A polished email says more about your organization than you might think. When an email reads well, has no errors, and looks professional, supporters see an organization they can trust with their gift.

You’ve written the appeal, picked the photo, and the deadline is here. It’s tempting to hit send and move on. But a donate button that goes nowhere, a photo that never loads, or a “Dear [First Name]” greeting can cost you gifts and a little bit of trust.

The good news is that just 10 minutes of testing catches most of these mistakes, as long as you know where to look. Here’s the checklist we recommend running through before every campaign.

The checklist

1. Send a test to a real inbox

Don’t trust the preview window in your email editor. A preview shows how your editor displays the email, not how Gmail, Outlook, or an iPhone will. Always send a test to yourself and open it the way a donor would.

2. Click every link

Every single one: buttons, linked images, text links, social icons, and the footer. Make sure each link goes to the right page, not last year’s appeal or a page that no longer exists. Pay extra attention to your donate button. It’s the most important link in the email and the easiest one to forget to fill in.

3. Check that your images load

Some email programs, including many versions of Outlook, block images until the reader clicks to show them. Imagine your email without images in your test and ask: does this email still make sense? Add alt text to every image, and never put key information (like the event date or the donate link) only inside a picture.

4. Test in more than one email program

Your email can look perfect in Gmail and fall apart in Outlook. If you can, check it in Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, and Yahoo. Ask a few coworkers or board members who use different email programs to open your test and tell you what they see.

5. Look at it on your phone

A large share of your supporters will read your email on a phone. Open your test on mobile and check that the text is readable without zooming, the layout fits the screen, and buttons are big enough to tap with a thumb.

6. Check your personalization

If you greet donors by name, test what happens when a record has no first name. “Dear ,” or “Dear [First Name]” looks careless. Set a friendly fallback like “Dear Friend” before you send.

7. Read your subject line and preview text

Your subject line and the short preview line beside it are what decide whether someone opens. If you don’t set preview text, many email programs grab the first words of your email instead, which is often something like “View this email in your browser.” Write both on purpose.

8. Proofread one more time

Read the email out loud. Double-check dates, times, locations, dollar amounts, and names. A wrong event date means a follow-up email, and a misspelled sponsor name means an apology call.

9. Confirm who it’s going to

Make sure you picked the right list. Should donors who already gave to this campaign be left out? Should board members get a different version? Sending the right message to the right people matters as much as the message itself.

With DonorSnap’s DataMiner Platinum tool you can easily segment your donors for targeted campaigns. 

10. Check your footer

Every marketing email needs a working unsubscribe link and your organization’s mailing address. It’s required by law in the U.S., and email providers watch for it when deciding what lands in the inbox.

The quick version

Print this or keep it next to your desk:

• Sent a test to a real inbox
• Clicked every link and button
• Checked the email with images turned off
• Opened it in more than one email program
• Looked at it on a phone
• Tested the name fallback
• Wrote the subject line and preview text
• Proofread dates, times, amounts, and names
• Confirmed the right list
• Checked the unsubscribe link and mailing address