Checklist: Writing Church Emails that get Opened

• Writing

• The Subject line is attractive and has the reader in mind

• I have written with the goal of showing them "What\'s in it for them." What will be the benefit to them if they do what I want them to?

• It is less than 300-500 words (300 preferable)

• I have used storytelling to tell them the benefits of attending events instead the consequences like "don\'t miss it."

• I have written with the voice of the church

• Format

• I have properly divided it with h2 (or bold) headings that are easily scannable

• I have broken paragraphs into 2-3 sentences each, allowing for white space

• I have a clear Call to Action that is obvious what I want them to do after reading this email

• I have personalized it with Merge Tags or the equivalent

• I have not overloaded them with graphics

• I have prominently placed social media follow buttons

• I have provided links to our website for detailed information

• I have hyperlinked words or phrases with links, instead of leaving the long, ugly link in view within the email

• Finalizing

• I have checked for spelling errors

• I have sent a test email to myself and one other person to proofread

• I have checked that it is responsive and looks good on mobile (it adjusts fonts and photos to fit on mobile, since most will read your email on a mobile device)

• I have checked for broken links and tested that each link goes to the right place

• I have checked that the preview text is correct (that top left sentence in Mailchimp)

• I have approval from my boss to send it

• I have scheduled the email with the correct date and time

• Things I DIDN\'T Do

• I DIDN\'T Forget to break up large text sections into paragraphs of 2-3 sentences

• I DIDN\'T Overuse Bold, Italics, or Underline to make sections stand out

• I DIDN\'T Highlight any text

• I DIDN\'T Throw everyone\'s email in a visible cc: section instead of a bcc: (if I\'m not using a mail client like Mailchimp)

• I DIDN\'T Use colored text or multiple sections of different colored text

• I DIDN\'T Dump an image of my bulletin designed in Microsoft Publisher into the email and send it

• I DIDN\'T Design this email with Microsoft Publisher or use cheesy clip art that would make it seem that I did

• I DIDN\'T say "Don\'t Miss it!" anywhere.