---
title: Super Subject Lines — 7 Tips to Get Your Fundraising Email Opened
description: The email inbox is a crowded place. To get to your donors, subject lines have to be sharp. Check out our 7 fundraising best practices.
---

[TrueSense Blog ](https://www.truesense.com/blog)

# [Super Subject Lines — 7 Tips to Get Your Fundraising Email Opened](https://www.truesense.com/blog/super-subject-lines-how-to-get-your-fundraising-email-opened)

 Written by [TrueSense Marketing](https://www.truesense.com/blog/author/truesense-marketing) | May 10, 2017 4:00:00 AM

The email inbox is a crowded place: To cut through the clutter, your subject line has to be sharp. A bad subject line leads to bad open rates, which will negatively affect your entire email campaign!

#### Start strong with these seven tips to get your fundraising email opened:*** ***

1. **Message it right.**  
   Often, a line that arouses curiosity will spur donors to click. Other times, a benefit-oriented statement will work, such as “Save a hungry child.” Still, other situations require a more direct approach. If you have a **[matching grant appeal](https://www.truesense.com/matchinggrants)**, a multiplier, or a specific offer, spell it out clearly. If you’re sending a year-end email, trumpet urgency and tax deductibility. Or if you’re doing **[disaster fundraising](https://www.truesense.com/blog/hurricane-harvey-lessons-fundraisers-can-learn-right-now)**, be straightforward: “Flooding in Africa — how you can help.” But however you craft your subject line, don’t promise something your email doesn’t deliver.
2. **Avoid tricks.**  
   Especially avoid blatantly misleading subject lines like, “Found your iPhone.”
3. **Put the main idea first.**  
   Front-load your ideas. For example, instead of “Spring e-newsletter reveals three lives changed,” try “3 lives changed — your spring e-newsletter.” 
4. **Use brief subject lines.**  
   Ideally, these should be under 50 characters. Anything more, and most recipients won’t even see the full subject line.
5. **Avoid the spam trap.**  
   Probably the most notorious spam trigger is “free.” But even words and phrases like “Act now,” “amazing,” and “click here” — as well as symbols like exclamation points and ampersands (&) — can set off spam filters. Know what to avoid. Spam-trigger lists and spam checkers are available online.
6. **Consider your “from” line.**  
   If your organization’s name is in the "from" line, there's no need to repeat it in your subject line.
7. **Test.**  
   A simple A/B test will speak volumes. For example, try pitting a curiosity-based line against a benefit-oriented line, or test with and without first name personalization.

[View full post](https://www.truesense.com/blog/super-subject-lines-how-to-get-your-fundraising-email-opened)

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