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Email: A Primer

A how-to, and a how-not-to, by Donald J. Trump

One week of Trump emails
Where you can find some quality work, some industry best practices — and an insane mix of exaggeration, deception and every clickbaity trick known to man.
— 40 emails • 7 days —

The man who once sent 400 emails in 30 days maintains an email pace that's breathtaking in scope and volume.

Now there have been wacky email operations in politics for a long time — the DCCC comes to mind — and as elections draw near (or fundraising reporting deadlines approach) considerable email volume is not uncommon.

But there's never been anything like Trump.

Let's look at the good, the bad, and the very, very bad. Click any email to enlarge.

Let's Start With A Word...

... that's in the fundraising Hall of Fame

Mission is defined by Merriam-Webster as "a specific task with which a person or a group is charged." The second definition is a "calling or vocation."

Combining those two qualities is why mission is a gold star fundraising word. Missions have caring people and noble objectives. Missions are accomplished. Missions result in victories. Missions invite you to join others in a cause bigger than yourself. There are global charities that have built up mountains of goodwill over decades with their missions.

Some people see missions in a religious context, and that's completely fine. Religious readers will think you are speaking their language and like it. The people who think in terms of "mission accomplished" won't even notice, and that's a win-win.

And Trump is on a mission.

Subject Lines Are Vital...

... and Trump's are really good.

The No. 1 determinant in open rates is a subject line that motivates people to open your email. I suspect his open rates are lousy (think 17% or 20% for par) because he sends so often, but his minions know what they are doing. Even when it's laughably dishonest.

You're my FAVORITE PATRIOT
Only the BEST of the BEST have been invited
– He knows me so well!
Order Number: 45452022
– It's the old "But I didn't order anything" ploy. Take a careful look at the order number.
This link will expire any minute
– Actually, it won't. You can click it months later and it will still work.
We have a surprise for you
– Who can resist clicking that?
Shhh ... we are telling YOU this first
– Makes me feel special.

Urgency And A Match...

... are staples of fundraising

Unfortunately for Trump, what works for a non-proifit makes zero sense in political fundraising. Who is matching the donation? It's never clear. And while most charities use 2X and 3X matches, Trump being Trump, uses 7X and 11X.

It must be working or he wouldn't do it. Right?
It's generally assumed that you suffer diminishing returns if you hit up your donor base too often.
— 40 emails • 15 senders —

According to Bloomberg, in 3Q 2022 it cost Trump 91 cents for every $1 he raised.

In my world, that's the kind of number that gets you fired.

His fundraising reports include more than just email, but it's such a preposterous ratio there are only three possible theories. The first is narcissism, that he really believes people want to hear from him four times a day. Second is desperation. If he spent $22 million to raise $24 million, he's still $2 million ahead and he must really need the $2 million.

The third theory is that he's pocketing some of the money that's officially recorded as a cost. His financial structures are historically opaque, so his having a financial interest in some of these fundraising entities is not far-fetched.

Let's look at some specific email techniques and how they work in Trump World.

Vary The Sender Of The Emails

This one is from Don Jr.

There's a theory in email that changing up the sender increases open rates. This is particularly true when you're running a campaign and sending frequent email, but I have to say in my experience, I never saw much of a lift. People click because of the brand.

I received emails from Donald J. Trump, President Donald J. Trump, Team Trump, Office of the 45th President, Official 45 Alert, Official Save America Store, Official Trump Poll , Official Trump Video, Official Trump 100 Club, Official Trump Offer and Team Save America. Surrogates included Donald Trump Jr., Blake Masters, a GOP Senate candidate, Kimberly Guilfolyle and Ivanka Trump.

Did it matter? Sure seems like it's all from Trump in the end.

The Use of Premiums

The what's in it for me effect

What would a public broadcasting pledge drive be without a tote bag? The theory is you entice more people to give by offering a gift, and you get free exposure as donors use your gift in everyday life.

While premiums do indeed work — it's why St. Jude's offers blankets — the lift (and overall profitability) is often not as high as one might think. True story: I did a fundraising email once about how most people turned down our T-shirt offers because they wanted all the money to go where it was most needed. As a pitch, it worked.

I was invited to join the Official 45 Advisory Board and the Official Trump 100 Club. One came with a certificate and one with a card. I was offered a new T-shirt, a couple of books, a mug and a pint glass. I won a free gift and all I had to do was donate $12 for shipping. I never saw what the gift was.

Exclusive Access

Status as a fundraising tool

Trump has long been accused of running promotions like this and never following through. Dinner with him and Melania. Exclusive meet and greets that are hardly exclusive. Plenty of news stories on this topic.

On a broader point, it's common in non-profits to apply stratification to donors, to give higher-level supporters more access to insiders, to give mid-level donors exclusive types of content. It's an effective upsell tactic.

Status sells, and if nothing else, Trump knows how to sell. Well, at least how to sell himself.

Intentional ambiguity: When deception becomes a business practice.
A special note on Trump donation forms.
— $122 million in refunds—

At the end of 2020, 3 percent of all credit card refunds in America came from one source: Donald Trump fundraising. Donors were unwittingly signing up for recurring donations, or seeing their gifts double, because of intentionally confusing interface design.

The New York Times broke this story, and here's a non-paywalled recap from Forbes. In short, they were putting pre-checked recurring payment options in out-of-way places.

As Forbes wrote: "Unless donors inspected the fine print of an online disclaimer and manually unchecked an opt-out box, the donor's credit card would be charged weekly until Election Day arrived."

Trump does some things on his forms that are state-of-the-art, best practices. He lists suggested amounts in ascending order. He keeps copy short because when somebody is sold, stop selling. On some forms, he uses a widget to show what other people have recently donated. This is highly effective — it's known as social proof theory — and it leads to higher average gifts.

But as someone who has spent years optimizing donation forms, it's dead damn wrong to trick your donors. Add up the deceptive forms and all the other gimmicks and come-ons, and I agree with what one refunded customer told the Times:

It all feels like a scam.

 

G.L. Marshall Home Page
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