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The Enduring Power of The Gilbert Email Manifesto
A conversation between Michael Gilbert and Michael Stein
This article was first published August 8, 2005, by Michael Stein, at Word of Net.
Michael Stein: In 2001 you published an article entitled "The Gilbert Email Manifesto", which postulated that "email is more important than your website." You laid out "Three Rules of Email" to help nonprofit organizations develop a genuine Internet strategy. The rules are: (1) Resources spent on email strategies are more valuable than the same resources spent on web strategies, (2) A website built around an email strategy is more valuable than a website that is built around itself, and (3) Email-oriented thinking will yield better strategic thinking overall. At the time you originally wrote the piece, what you were saying was practically sacrilege. The year 2001 was a time of extreme hype about the emergence of the web, and you raised some provocative issues about the role of email. I consider this document to be one of the most important thought pieces to have influenced nonprofit use of the Internet. Why do you think "The Gilbert Email Manifesto" is still in circulation four years later, and what about it resonates with nonprofits?
Michael Gilbert: I would guess that it's still popular because: (1) Consultants and others are still having to persuade nonprofits to invest in email, and they need all the help they can get. (2) It's simple and easy to remember. (3) It's not too far ahead of the learning curve. And (4), the three rules have deep implications that have not yet been fully tapped out. That's the best part.
Michael Stein: Do you think that the three rules you laid out in 2001 are still applicable today?
Michael Gilbert: Yes. The Internet has not changed in any way that fundamentally undermines those rules. You still get a higher return on investment on money invested in email. You still get better websites when you design them around your email strategies. And the better you are at thinking about email, the better you become at thinking about relationship management strategies in general.
Michael Stein: What you're saying makes a lot of sense to me, too. Certainly the last few years have seen some important demonstrations of how "email is more important than your website". I'm thinking of groups like MoveOn.org, or the presidential campaigns in 2004, or even some national advocacy groups like NARAL ProChoice America, Planned Parenthood, or Earthjustice that are so good at sending well-crafted email messages to their constituents. Human Rights Campaign comes to mind for their work in 2004 on their "Stop the Federal Marriage Amendment" campaign. They excelled at choosing the right time to send email to their supporters, and timing their messages with events in Massachusetts and California.
Michael Gilbert: It's not just progressive organizations that have succeeded with email, and it's not just large organizations. The Parents Television Council is a tiny organization whose advocacy I abhor, but it has had truly amazing success with email. My own research indicates that it's been the medium-sized organizations that have been the pioneers and innovators of these techniques.
Michael Stein: Another trend that has evolved since 2001 is the emergence of new technologies and online vendors that are promoting "eCRM" or electronic Customer Relationship Management. These vendors have been able to offer online tools at a wide range of price points and features, thereby encouraging nonprofits to focus on email messaging as a primary part of their online strategy. Do you think this new focus on eCRM is a good trend?
Michael Gilbert: Yes, if it means people are actually thinking about online relationship management and not just about online relationship management software. But I fear that eCRM has become another buzzword in support of the traditional nonprofit habit of not developing solid communication requirements before investing in technology.
If a nonprofit wants to adopt a solid email strategy and has enough constituents, then they will want solutions that fit into the eCRM product category. For example, The Email Newsletter Marketing Model is a common strategy that I've described in an article by that same name. To implement such a strategy on a large scale, you need the right tools.
My advice is the same as it's always been: Develop requirements to keep the process focused on communication. Don't get locked in through contracts or high exit costs. Don't outsource your core competencies.
Michael Stein: I like your focus on putting strategy before tools. For a lot of nonprofits that I encounter, it's a question of investing enough staff time, budget, and management engagement to really make the Internet pay off. I also think it's about consistency of focus on the Internet as a communications, advocacy, and fundraising channel, rather than as an afterthought.
Michael Gilbert: While I agree with you that it must not be an afterthought, I am not convinced of the generalization that more resources devoted to Internet strategies are the key to success. Rather, I think success is the key to more resources. In other words, I think that careful change management, with an eye toward the right first steps, can be far more powerful than asking people to pour resources in and wait for results down the road.
Michael Stein: What role do email delivery vendors play in educating and mobilizing nonprofits in using email effectively as part of their organizational strategy?
Michael Gilbert: I have three specific recommendations in this area:
I want to see vendors support and publish a growing stream of solid research. I think that vendors are uniquely positioned to advance the field beyond the endless use of anecdotes and case studies.
My second recommendation is to document your processes. In other words, spread the knowledge that is being built into the workflow of your tools. Show people what the steps are in a particular learning cycle or outreach process.
Finally, encourage your clients to publish their RFPs and requirements documents. The more strategic documents we have available to foster discussion, the better those documents will become in the future.
Michael Stein: I'm aware of one large effort on the research front. The Advocacy Institute and M&R Strategic Services are developing a handbook called "eNonprofit Benchmarks" to improve three specific aspects of nonprofit online communications programs: online advocacy, online fundraising, and email messaging. GetActive is participating in the research project, along with a number of other online vendors.
What is the future of email for nonprofits?
Michael Gilbert: Nonprofits have got the outbound part of the relationship-building cycle in hand right now, possibly even to their detriment. They have done really well with the scaling up of how much they talk to their constituents. The challenge now is for them to scale up their listening.
Michael Stein: Well put. This talking-listening feedback loop needs to be the next frontier of how the Internet fits into the communications strategies of nonprofits.
Michael Gilbert is an internationally known consultant to foundations and nonprofits. He was the Founding President of the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network, and the CEO of Social Ecology, a nonprofit software company. He has served as Executive Director of three organizations, and as a board member or officer of more than thirty.
Michael Stein is a nationally renowned author and Internet strategist with 15 years of experience working with nonprofits, foundations, labor unions, technology providers and social enterprises.
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