Crafting high-impact email & text outreach: Deliverability best practices

Email and text remain core tools for campaigns and organizations, even in a noisy digital world. While social media grabs attention, it’s your owned channels that give you control, credibility, and direct access to supporters.

In a recent session with NationBuilder experts Jesus and Erika, we explored proven strategies to boost email and SMS effectiveness. This post breaks down their advice into actionable tips you can use immediately to increase engagement, improve deliverability, and strengthen supporter relationships.

Why email and text still work

You might hear the question: Is email dead? The short answer: no. Email still reaches more than 4 billion active users worldwide, with people checking their inboxes an average of 20 times per day. Unlike social media, emails provide focused attention, but only if your message is clear and relevant.

Text messaging offers a growing opportunity, as well. With open rates over 90%, SMS ensures your reminders, updates, and urgent communications land in front of supporters. Together, email and SMS form the backbone of your engagement ladder, moving supporters from casual observers to committed leaders.

The ladder of engagement helps frame your approach:

• Observing: People casually watching your work
  
• Following: Subscribers who interact occasionally
  
• Contributing: Donors or volunteers taking small actions
  
• Leading: Advocates who organize others
  
• Owning: Core supporters fully invested in your mission

Email and SMS are gateways that move supporters up this ladder, making each message an opportunity to strengthen relationships.

Email fundamentals that boost deliverability

Deliverability isn’t just technical. It’s strategic. Here’s what to focus on:

• Authentication matters: Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to prove your emails are trustworthy. This prevents them from landing in spam or Gmail’s Promotions tab.
  
• Start slow: Don’t email your entire list at once. Build a strong sending reputation gradually.
  
• Target engaged audiences: Focus on people who want to hear from you. Segment by past opens, clicks, donations, or event RSVPs. This keeps bounce rates low and engagement high.
  
• Clean your content: Remove messy formatting when pasting from Word or other sources. You may do this by right-clicking and pasting without formatting, or first pasting into a basic text editor like Notepad. Accented characters won’t break your emails if you clear formatting first.

If you’re unsure how to filter your list, start by creating segments based on recent activity. Even simple rules like “opened an email in the last 90 days” can dramatically improve results.

Crafting compelling subject lines

Crafting compelling email body content

The message matters as much as technical setup.

• Headline method: Write 5–10 headline-style lines summarizing key points before drafting the full email. The headlines should be able to be read one after the other and make sense. Bold each headline and add supporting content beneath. This serves both scanners and detailed readers.
  
• Tone and clarity: Write with empathy and positivity. Avoid overly aggressive phrases like “Act now” or “Urgent” that will trigger spam email clients’ spam filters. Instead, use clear, action-oriented words: “Join us,” “Learn more,” “See how you can help.”
  
• Formatting tips: Bold key ideas, link action items, and use short, skimmable paragraphs. Don’t overdo styling. Strategic emphasis guides attention without overwhelming the reader. Hyperlinks and bold text are fine when used intentionally. They help readers navigate quickly, especially if your email includes multiple calls to action.
  
• Effective asks: Make your requests specific and contextual. Example: “Your $25 helps protect 50 turtles 🐢.” Use emojis sparingly to draw attention.

Want to try this yourself? Download Erika’s Headline Method guide for step-by-step instructions.

Benchmark email metrics

When tracking email performance, it’s important to measure against industry benchmarks. A healthy open rate is 25% or higher, showing your subject lines and sender reputation are resonating. Aim for a click rate of 2% or more, which reflects how compelling your content and calls to action are. Keep your bounce rate at 3% or less to protect deliverability, and watch that your spam complaints stay at or below the 0.08% industry standard. (Spam complaints are people actually reporting your emails as spam.) Together, these metrics provide a clear picture of whether your outreach is not just reaching inboxes, but actually moving supporters to engage.

Unlocking the power of text messaging

SMS is often underutilized, but it’s incredibly effective:

• High open rates: 90%+ of texts are read, often within minutes.
  
• Immediate impact: Perfect for event reminders, time-sensitive updates, and brief action prompts.
  
• Opt-in is essential: Only text supporters who’ve given consent.
  
• Future-proofing: iOS 26 (Sept 2025) will filter unknown senders. Encourage supporters to save your number or include a QR code or link to a downloadable vCard in your texts, making it easier for supporters to save your contact info and receive messages in their main text inbox.

Choosing the right channels for long-term engagement

When used correctly, email and SMS don’t compete; they complement each other. Relying solely on social media exposes your outreach to algorithm changes and content moderation. Owned channels like email and SMS give you control and help you build lasting relationships.

• Use email for layered storytelling: Move supporters up the engagement ladder gradually.
  
• Use SMS for reminders and quick nudges: Drive immediate actions while reinforcing email campaigns.
  
• Censorship and platform risk: Owned channels reduce exposure to unpredictable moderation or algorithm shifts, keeping your communications direct and reliable.

Strong, authentic communication drives action. Even small changes like implementing the Headline Method, setting up proper authentication, or adding SMS strategically can dramatically increase your impact.

Start by picking one tactic and applying it in your next outreach. NationBuilder’s tools make it easy to manage email, SMS, and supporter engagement, all in one place.

Your supporters are listening. Make every message count.

Looking for more help with email deliverability?

Check out the following resources for more.

🔒 DMARC and email authentication

📄 HOWTO doc on optimizing email deliverability

▶️ YouTube walkthrough: Email blast essentials

✉️ Personalization in email and texting