Nonprofit Uses Email Marketing to Share Breaking News

For 35 years, Women Employed has been making life better for working women. As the leading national advocate for women's economic advancement, the organization analyzes work place issues, educates policy makers, and strives to improve workplace opportunities for women.

In 2000, Women Employed started a nationwide online action network that provides important news, legislative updates and policies, and encourages advocacy among its constituents.

Challenge: Taking Action—Fast

When Women Employed launched their network, they needed a quick and effective tool to communicate their message. The organization first used Outlook, but they could only send emails to 20 of their 100 members at a time. As their list grew to include thousands of individuals nationwide, sending emails to recipients in small batches became tedious and time-consuming. That's when they knew they needed a more efficient system and selected Constant Contact for their email action campaigns.

Solution: Constant Contact Offers Flexibility and Features

Jessica Murnane, Women Employed's current program coordinator, is thrilled to have "inherited" Constant Contact from her predecessor. "I can't imagine using Outlook for a list of this size. It would take me all day," she says.

Constant Contact has filled a wide range of Jessica's communication needs. "When I first started here, we were using Constant Contact as just an e-advocacy tool for our action network. Now we use it for a whole host of communications. It's phenomenal," she says.

Jessica uses Constant Contact for her monthly "Newsbyte," which includes articles of interest, post-event follow-up, and invitations. We were using Constant Contact as just an e-advocacy tool for our action network. Now we use it for a whole host of communications. It's phenomenal.Recently, Jessica sent "save the date" and e-invitations that reinforced the organization's paper mailings. She was able to customize her electronic template to match the print design. "I like that our emails can match our other communications. It reinforces our message and steps up our branding," Jessica says.

Jessica also appreciates Constant Contact's easy-to-read reports that help her tailor content to constituents' interests, track who is reading her messages, and manage her email list. She also likes the "forward to a friend" feature. "Our organization is all word of mouth. It's great that our constituents can spread our message by forwarding," she says, "and that we can see how many people forward emails."

Results: Saving Substantially and Standing Out

Jessica says Constant Contact has saved her countless work hours and thousands of dollars. As a tool she uses "almost every day," Constant Contact allows her to quickly and cost-effectively send newsletters, news flashes, and invitations to a large mailing list. "For example, for our 35th anniversary, we sent our ‘save the date’ to 3000 people. At 42 cents a stamp, that would be over $1,000 worth of postage for just one mailing," she says.

Constant Contact's superior technology and customizable features have also helped Women Employed get noticed in the world of flooded inboxes. "Many organizations are moving into email. We are certainly not the only ones sending out action alerts," Jessica says. "As an advocacy organization, Women Employed must stay in front of our constituents. Constant Contact helps us do that because it is really up to date and on par, if not ahead of, what's out there. It's helping us stay at the front of the email race."

"We were using Constant Contact as just an e-advocacy tool for our action network. Now we use it for a whole host of communications. It's phenomenal."