The subject line is the place to start if you want your supporters to open your year-end emails and donate.

Why?

35% of email recipients open email based on the subject line alone.

Plus, our inboxes are getting fuller by the day, and nearly a third of all online fundraising happens in December. It’s safe to assume that at year-end, most donors’ inboxes will be flooded with worthy appeals—only some of which will ever get opened.

To make sure that your message gets the attention it deserves, we’re looking at the research to understand what makes a subject line clickable and inspires people to take action. We’re also sharing some of the best nonprofit examples to get you started.

The best subject line length, according to research

The folks at Marketo conducted their own study to find out how long is the ideal subject line is.

And they didn’t just look at the relationship between word count and open rates. They also factored in people’s behavior once they opened the emails to determine which subject line length was most effective.

While subject lines with 4 words had the highest open rates, they found that subject lines with 7 words inspired the highest click-through rates. So if you want more people to read your fundraising emails and land on your donate page, a 7-word subject line is a safe bet.

But which words should you use?

Include a number to increase open rates

Adding a number to your subject line can make a big difference.

YesWare recently conducted a study that looked a whopping 115 million emails and determined that email open and reply rates are higher when there’s a number in the subject line.

Get personal with your supporters

Research also shows that subject lines that include the recipient’s first name have higher click-through rates than those that don’t. Which makes sense because our brains are hard-wired to respond to our own names.

Tip: If you’re using email marketing software like Mailchimp, you can insert merge tags to add each supporter’s first name to your subject line.

Test your subject lines before sending

The research we’ve shared can help you write better subject lines, and it’s also been used to develop to a handful of free online tools that will help you double-check your work. For example, the Email Subject Line Grader by Net Atlantic lets you test the overall effectiveness, or clickability, of your subject lines. All you have to do is copy and paste what you’ve written, hit submit, and it will give you a score out of 100.

If you’d rather not reinvent the wheel, you can copy and paste from our shortlist of best email subject lines instead!

10 of the best subject lines to Borrow or make your own:

1. We cannot stop {problem} without you, {First Name}
2. 24 hours left to support {population served} in need
3. One simple way to make a difference
4. How you can be a hero, {First Name}
5. Donate by midnight to help transform lives
6. The best gift you can give today
7. Your last chance to give in 2018
8. We couldn’t do this without your support
9. Help us raise {$ amount} to support {population served}
10. {First Name}, will you help us reach our goal?

Of course, when it comes to email marketing and year-end fundraising, you’ll want to learn what your supporters respond to best. These resources are meant as a starting point; after you hit send, make sure to measure your results and refine your strategy.