Soapbox Engage Blog

In January, we proclaimed “We are the 99%!” and challenged our sector to do better at providing effective, affordable tools for non-profits - tools that integrate their website, constituent relationship management system, email marketing platform, and social media strategy. We took this challenge personally and sought to lead the fight to provide these effective, affordable tools.

That wasn’t empty 2012 campaign rhetoric that has infected us through watching too much CNN lately. We meant business. And we’re here to deliver.

We’re proud to announce Soapbox Mailer for Salesforce. Email your donors, members, supporters, advocates, ex-girlfriends, future boyfriends, foreign dignitaries, the entire state of Texas, people named Bob - whomever you want - directly within Salesforce for less.

How much less? Try 10¢ for every 1,000 emails with a $19 monthly subscription fee. Already a Non-Profit Soapbox or Soapbox Engage client? We’ll waive the $19 monthly subscription. Yep, that’s “waive” as in not charge you - zip, nada, zilch on the subscription fee.

You’re not looking to just send 1,000 emails per month, though, right? Let’s make this a bit more interesting. Say you’ve got a mailing list of 10,000 that you email five times a month. That’s 50,000 emails - or $5 for the emails plus the $19 subscription fee for a grand total of $24 per month. Or, if you’re already using Non-Profit Soapbox or Soapbox Engage, that’s just $5.

As my grandmother would have said, you can’t beat that with a stick.

We’ll be launching Soapbox Mailer for Salesforce officially in a few weeks. You can sign up for first dibs now, though, and we’ll contact you when it’s out of the bubble wrap. Or, if you’re interested in more details, read on, my brethren and sistren!

Soapbox Mailer for Salesforce: Power with pricing your nonprofit can afford

Let’s be clear: We’ve got nothing against the good people at Vertical Response or MailChimp or Constant Contact or other providers of email marketing services. They have fine products. We just think a non-profit shouldn’t have to fundraise just to afford to send a fundraising email appeal.

Soapbox Mailer for Salesforce doesn’t do everything. It won’t make you shrimp and grits in the morning. It won’t mow your lawn. It won’t tuck you in at night. But it’s priced so that you can afford the shrimp for your grits, you can pay someone to mow your lawn, and, well, we won’t touch how you can find someone to tuck you in at night.

Key features of Soapbox Mailer for Salesforce

Enough about what Soapbox Mailer for Salesforce doesn’t do. Let’s get specific on what you can do with it:

Email from within Salesforce.com

1. Send emails from within Salesforce - no need to manage or import separate mailing lists between different systems
2. Use the Salesforce Campaign object to create and manage emails - works seamlessly with the Nonprofit Starter Pack and has no need for clunky integrations
3. Use smart Campaign Member management integration to add recipients to easily search for and add Campaign members as email recipients from either the Contacts or Leads objects
4. Easily review emails a given Contact has received in the Campaigns related list in the Contacts object

Easily create compelling, visually appealing emails

1. Choose the standard email template or customize your own to easily send emails with a consistent look and feel specific to your nonprofit
2. Use a handy WYSIWYG editor to create the HTML version of your email - no knowledge of HTML required
3. Create a plain text version of your email that will automatically display to recipients who have HTML emails disabled or are using Blackberrys or other text-only devices
4. Easily include data from Contact object fields within the email text to personalize your appeal for maximum impact

Flexiblity in sending and receiving emails

1. Resend the same email multiple times without creating a new Campaign - just in case you forgot to add some recipients initially or you need to update email addresses
2. Offer smart opt out options automatically in the email footer so recipients can elect to unsubscribe from only future email newsletter communications or all communications - keeping happy readership and complying with email marketing regulations

Robust performance metrics - in aggregate and by individual recipient

1. View at-a-glance key Campaign performance metrics including a) open rate; b) total number of opens; c) click rate; d) total number of clicks; e) bounce rate; f) total number of bounces; g) unsubscribe rate; and h) total unsubscribes.
2. Compare key Campaign performance metrics against average performance across all Campaigns to evaluate email performance against a historical baseline specific to your nonprofit
3. Track unique recipient opens and total number of email opens in aggregate for the Campaign and by individual recipient
4. View first open and latest open of your email per recipient to see when they viewed your email
5. Track unique clickers and total number of clicks by recipient to see what links you included in your email are being followed
6. View time and date of clicks per recipient - and compare with first open and latest open

Offer and and archive web versions

1. Provide “View the email on the web” option automatically for recipients that will track clicks and shares by that recipient
2. Retain “View the email on the web” versions to offer archives of earlier emails on your website

Social media integrations for Facebook and Twitter

1. Go viral by offering one-click social sharing to Facebook and Twitter by recipients to exponentially increase your readership and capture new donors and supporters
2. Track social sharing by recipient to determine your social media superstars - along with metrics showing who has created the most clicked social media postings

 The basics

1. Don’t overload your Salesforce instance with bloated data thanks to the optimized data handling methods of Soapbox Mailer
2. Share access with any Salesforce user you wish so the ability to send emails and view reports on email performance is available to more users than just the Campaign creator
3. Use a consistent FROM email address for all emails to ensure maximum deliverability
4. Rest easy with Amazon Simple Email Service - the engine under the Soapbox Mailer hood - for maintaining exceptional deliverability and scalability

You’ve been patient to read through all twenty-four items. You deserve something special for your efforts - like a powerful and affordable email marketing tool for your nonprofit!