Enable Fancy (HTML) Email and Whitelist

Fancy vs. Plain

VolunteerStudio provides 2 types of emails you can choose from to send to your volunteers.

Fancy Email

Fancy or HTML is what you traditionally see used when companies send promotional newsletters because it generally looks nicer than plain text email.

The only drawback is that many email providers will separate promotional emails, like Gmail, and put them in a folder. This will lead to significantly lower open rates than emails that go straight to the inbox.

Plain Text Email

VolunteerStudio allows you to disable Fancy Email and switch to "plain text." Choosing plain text email is a good choice if you want to ensure as many volunteers will see your emails in a timely fashion.

Images

Fancy Email

Plain Email

Whitelist Feature

Our plain text email will contain some HTML styling and incorporate some features to reduce the chance that it ends up in the promotions folder, such as limiting the number of links in the email.

Is there any way I can use Fancy Email and keep it out of the promotions folder?

Yes! You can choose to enable our Whitelist feature. When your volunteers signup for the VolunteerStudio platform, they will be asked if they want to change some settings in their email client and then present with the instructions on how to do so.

Is there anything else I can do?

Volunteer Studio also allows you to send group announcements and updates through text messages. Your volunteers can enable promotional text messaging when they signup or later in their profile.