WildEarth Guardians

A Force for Nature

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Anatomy of an Email

If you have questions about any of the sections discussed below, please reach out to the Communications team for help.

To view an image of a sample email layout, click here

1. Pre-header Text

This text appears in a client’s mailbox under the Sender and Subject. Please include this text in every one of your submissions. The goal is to give our supporters a brief preview of what the email is about before they open it and can be a great way to entice them to open our message.

2. Photo

If you are including a photo with your submission, please be sure to always include the photo credit and send us the highest resolution copy available per the following dimensions:

  • Action Alert images must be 1280×720 pixels minimum. We need this size for our Action Alert backgrounds on Capitol Canary.
  • All other images must be 600×400 pixels minimum.

If you are not including a photo, please give the Communications team suggestions or recommendations for the type of imagery you’d like for your message so that we can look for something appropriate.

3. Headline Block

When drafting your email introduction, try to keep the headline under 10 words for better readability on smaller screens. The subheadline is the better option to support longer snippets of text. Example:

Our Call to Action button is text-based and can be modified depending on your needs. Examples of CTAs include:

  • Take Action
  • Donate
  • Read More
  • Learn More
  • RSVP
  • Tweet Now
  • Register
  • Get Tickets
If none of these buttons apply to the CTA of your email, a custom button can be created for you. Please keep the custom CTA similar to the examples above.
4. Body of Email

As often as possible, the body of the email should stay focused on one call to action for our supporters, whether that’s signing an action, donating, reading a blog, or RSVPing for an event. Keep the content to the point, make it easy to read/understand, and be very clear about what you’re asking the recipient to do.

Additionally, if you are going to include links to PRs or other background information, try to link to Guardians’ pages as much as possible and minimize the number of outbound links. The goal is to keep potential new supporters interacting with our site(s) instead of losing them to outbound sites.

5. Signature Block

Any staff member who will be appearing in the signature of an email will need to provide the following items to the Digital Systems Specialist (if these materials have already been provided, they will remain in our photo library for future use):

  1. Staff person’s photo—image will be cropped into a square, so please keep that in mind when selecting a photo. Having the portrait centered will help with cropping. The minimum size should be 370×370 pixels.
  2. Image of the staff person’s signature—signature should be written in black ink on a white background and ideally sent as .png file. Comms will take care of cropping and optimizing the signature for the email.
  3. If the message is going out from the Executive Director, Deptuty Director, or select members of the Development team, an “Email Staff” link will be included in the signature. Please be sure to include a subject line for the email. Example:
  4. If the email is being sent by one of the Program Directors or other staff (Wildlife, Wild Places, Rivers, Climate and Energy, or Legal), we do not include and “Email Staff” link unless it is requested.