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Supporter newsletter survey template

Send the emails supporters want to open

Three questions linked from your newsletter footer: what supporters most want to read, how often they want to hear from you and how they feel about the number of donation asks. Add an open question at the end, and Usertick reads every written answer for you.

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What this supporter newsletter survey tells you

A supporter newsletter survey asks the people on your list what they want from your emails. This template takes about 40 seconds: a ranking of five kinds of content, a choice of how often to write and one question on how often you ask for donations. None of the questions needs typing, so supporters can answer on a phone in a few taps.

It is written for a link in the footer of your newsletter, where readers who scroll to the end can answer. Usertick can also send it as an email of its own to your supporter list, and on your website it can sit at the end of the newsletter's web version or a blog post.

Results shows the average place of each kind of content, the share for each email frequency and the share who feel donation asks come too often, about right or not often enough, against the period before. Add an optional open question, and Usertick reads each written answer, files it under a category from your list, such as communication or impact and updates, and marks its type and sentiment.

As a linkIn an emailOn your websiteAs a conversation
Questions
3
Time to answer
Under a minute
Written for
From the newsletter footer, as a link supporters tap
Plans
Every plan, the free plan included

See it on every channel

The same template on your website, behind a link, in an email and as a conversation.

The 3 questions, one by one

What each question asks, why it is there, what it shows you and what to change.

Question 1 of 3 · Ranking · Optional

Rank what you'd like to see in our emails

Why ask it
Asked one at a time, supporters would say yes to every kind of content. A ranking makes them choose, so the order tells you what to lead each issue with.
What you learn
Results shows the average place of each item, so Stories from our work at the top and News from the sector at the bottom reads as a plan for the next issue. Over time, the average places show whether a new section is climbing the list.
Make it yours
Swap in the sections your newsletter really has, such as volunteer spotlights or a word from the director, and keep the list to five.
Question 2 of 3 · Dropdown · Optional

How often should we email you?

Why ask it
How often to write is easier to fix than what to write, and a dropdown keeps the answer to one tap. Only for big news gives supporters who are close to unsubscribing a way to stay on the list.
What you learn
A donut shows the share and count of each frequency, and over time the stacked shares show whether a change in your schedule moved the answers.
Make it yours
Move it first when Usertick sends the survey, so supporters can choose a frequency inside the email.
Question 3 of 3 · Multiple choice

How do you feel about how often we ask for donations?

Why ask it
Donation asks are where a supporter list grows tired first, and this question lets supporters say so plainly before they unsubscribe.
What you learn
A donut shows the share of Too often, About right and Not often enough. Choose Too often to see what those supporters ranked first and how often they want to hear from you. Over time, the stacked shares show whether cutting an appeal moved the answer.
Make it yours
When Too often leads, cut one appeal a month and ask again in a few months with the same survey.

What the answers show

Results turns each question into numbers you can follow week by week.

How often should we email you?

The share of each answer with its count. Select an answer to narrow the whole page to those people and read what else they said.

How do you feel about how often we ask for donations?

The share of each answer with its count. Select an answer to narrow the whole page to those people and read what else they said.

Use this template in four steps

From the template to the first answers.

  1. 1

    Open the template

    Sign up free and pick Supporter newsletter in the template gallery. It opens in a matching style, ready to change.

  2. 2

    Make the questions yours

    Reword any question, change the options, and add logic or more questions.

  3. 3

    Choose where it runs

    Show it on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.

  4. 4

    Publish and read the answers

    Answers arrive in Results and the inbox as people send them, each written one read and filed by Usertick.

Tips for this survey

Small choices that keep people answering and the answers useful.

  1. 01

    Put the link above the unsubscribe

    Place the survey link at the end of the newsletter with a plain line, such as Help shape this newsletter, so readers find it before the unsubscribe link.

  2. 02

    Add one open question

    Add an optional text question such as What would make you read every issue?, and Usertick reads each answer for its category, theme and sentiment.

  3. 03

    Change the next issue

    Lead the next newsletter with the section ranked first, and say that the change came from readers' answers.

  4. 04

    Tag the footer link

    Add ?utm_source=newsletter to the footer link and ?utm_source=website to the web version, so each answer keeps where it came from for your sheet, webhook or the API.

Churn surveysNonprofit surveysLink and QR code surveysGifts in a will questions

More retention templates and questions

Templates like this one, and single questions from the library to add to it.

Templates

Browse all templates
RetentionDonor feedbackLearn how easy giving was, what moved donors to give and how they want to hear about impact. Send it with the thank-you email after a donation.
RetentionCorporate partnerLearn how corporate partners rate your partnership, from employee engagement to impact reporting, and whether they'll renew. Send it before the renewal conversation.
RetentionAfter an advocacy actionAfter supporters sign, write or call, learn how easy it was and what they'd do next. Show it on the thank-you page after the action.
RetentionBoard member check-inAsk board members how well meetings, materials and their own role are working. Send it once a year, before the annual retreat.

Questions from the library

Browse the question library
  1. Have you thought about leaving a gift in your will?Yes / No · Gifts in a will
  2. What would help you decide?Multiple choice · Gifts in a will
  3. How comfortable do you feel talking about wills?Big scale · Gifts in a will
  4. Did you sign the petition?Yes / No · Advocacy and petitions
  5. What stopped you from signing?Multiple choice · Advocacy and petitions
  6. How easy was the petition form?Customer effort · Advocacy and petitions

Frequently asked questions

In the newsletter footer as a link, or in a short email of its own that Usertick sends to your list. A footer link keeps collecting answers issue after issue.

Only when the first question is one that sits in the email, such as a dropdown or a multiple choice. Move How often should we email you? to the top, and a tap opens the rest of the survey with that answer kept.

Leave the footer link in place all year and read the results each quarter. Results compares each period with the one before.

Cut back on appeals first, and keep the stories and the impact numbers supporters ranked highest. Then check the share again a few months later.

Yes, on every plan: a workflow updates the supporter's merge fields and tags in Mailchimp when the answer is tied to their email, as it is for a Usertick email send. A Zapier step or a webhook reaches other tools.

Yes. Every template comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.

Yes. The template becomes your own survey, so reword any question, add or remove questions, and change the options and the logic. The gallery stays as it is.

Yes, from Starter. The template is written in US English. Add languages by hand or with AI translation, and each person sees the survey in their browser's language.

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