Patrick Ruffini has great analysis of the length of fundraising emails between McCain, Obama, and Hillary. I always stress that “short and sweet” emails can be more effective. A blast email is similar to the front page of a newspaper. The headline (subject line) has to be attention grabbing. The most important part of the email must be “above the fold,” and links must be at the top. Also, the content must be interesting and relevant to the reader.

A few good practices are below:

1) Know your list. Monitor the open rates and know what message is working and why. Also track subject lines, and From names.

2) Use countdowns, deadlines, and ranking. Reader love to read a top 10 list.

3) Always have an action. Ask your readers to perform an action. Whether it is to donate, read an article, sign a petition or vote in an online poll, ask the reader to click through your email. This way you know what to expect when it counts.