Client: Grassroots Social Justice Nonprofit Project: Monthly Newsletter Strategy & Execution

Establish a consistent, strategic monthly newsletter to engage and grow a neglected email list of ~5,000 subscribers.

The organization—working at the intersection of grassroots organizing, documentary filmmaking, and social justice—had no formal email strategy. Communications were infrequent and reactive, leading to disengagement, outdated contact data, and zero audience segmentation. With new executive leadership on board, I was tasked with launching a robust, sustainable newsletter program aligned with the org’s evolving mission and programming.

I began with a re-engagement campaign designed to “reintroduce” the nonprofit to its list. This allowed us to identify active subscribers, clean out invalid contacts, and lay the groundwork for stronger deliverability. I built a modular newsletter template in Campaign Monitor, featuring a clear CTA or staff note, program updates, and community highlights.

I drafted all content monthly, collaborating with two department directors to fill in key details and align messaging. As engagement grew, I implemented list segmentation and dynamic content for donors vs. non-donors and refined the structure using engagement data.

Average open rate of 36%, with peaks up to 59%

Internal stakeholder satisfaction and stronger alignment on digital strategy

A strategic opt-in campaign can revive a stagnant list and improve deliverability fast

Dynamic content allows for deeper personalization without doubling the workload

If the team's capacity had not limited this project's scope, I would have also launched an evergreen, automated onboarding series to immediate engage new subscribers.