If your organisation supports a charity, subscribers may appreciate hearing what that support has achieved. They do not need a victory parade because the office raised some money on a Friday.
A useful cause marketing email explains the partnership, the contribution and what happens next. It gives readers enough detail to understand the work without turning the people who benefit into props for a sales campaign.
The starting point is not a claim that customers love generous brands. It is a contribution you can substantiate and a story your charity partner is comfortable sharing.
Decide what the email is actually announcing
There is a difference between reporting a completed donation, announcing a commitment and offering to donate when someone buys a product. The wording needs to make that difference obvious.
‘We donated’ describes something that has happened. ‘We have committed to donate’ describes a promise. ‘We will donate when you buy’ links the contribution to the customer’s action. Do not slide between them because one sounds more impressive.
Choose one main purpose for the email. A partnership update can invite readers to learn about the work. A purchase-linked campaign needs to explain its donation mechanism as well as the offer. Trying to do both, plus announce a sale and recruit volunteers, gives the reader too many jobs.
Collect the evidence before writing the headline
Ask the person responsible for the partnership to confirm the facts. For a completed donation, that could include the amount, the recipient and the period covered. For volunteering, it might be the activity undertaken and an outcome the charity can verify.
Separate what your organisation contributed from what the charity achieved. Funding a project does not automatically mean you can attribute every result from that project to your own donation.
For example, a logistics company might report that it provided warehouse space for a charity’s winter supplies. That is a clear contribution. A claim that the company ‘kept thousands of families warm’ needs much more evidence and agreement about attribution.
Use the strongest accurate detail available. If the outcome is not yet known, explain the contribution now and leave the outcome for a later update. There is no need to borrow certainty from the future.
Agree one version with your charity partner
Give the charity a chance to review how its name, work and people will be represented. Confirm permission for logos, photographs, quotations and personal stories rather than assuming a partnership agreement covers every use.
Let the partner guide decisions about sensitive stories. A technically available photograph may still be unsuitable for a promotional email. Readers do not need intimate details of someone’s difficulties to understand why a project matters.
In a larger organisation, nominate one owner to collect the charity, finance, marketing and any legal approvals needed. Keep the confirmed figures and approved wording in one campaign record. Regional teams can adapt language and context without quietly changing the promise.
Keep that wording aligned with the landing page and other channels too. A consistent brand voice helps, but consistency of facts matters even more when money and charitable benefit are involved.
Make the contribution clear before making the company look good.
Be specific about purchase-linked donations
If the email promotes a purchase that benefits a charity or good cause, check the current UK advertising rules before launch. A vague promise to donate ‘a portion of proceeds’ is not enough where part of the price will be given.
The CAP Code requires the actual amount or percentage of the price going to the charity or cause to be stated. The promotion also needs to identify who benefits, explain the basis of the contribution and avoid exaggerating what an individual purchase achieves.
Other charity-linked arrangements have their own requirements, including stating the total or a reasonable estimate of what the charity or cause will receive. Do not assume one donation formula fits every campaign.
There is an important caution about limits: where you promise a specified amount per purchase, CAP guidance says not to impose a cut-off point for contributions by consumers. A target is not permission to keep additional contributions once it is reached.
These details belong in the promotional message where required, not only on a page the reader may never visit. Have the full promotion checked against the applicable rules. For international campaigns, obtain advice for the markets involved rather than treating a UK review as worldwide clearance.
Give the reader a clear, proportionate next step
Lead with the contribution and explain why it matters in plain language. Then choose a call to action that fits the email’s purpose.
- For a completed activity, link to a short account of what happened.
- For a partnership announcement, explain the planned work and when an update is expected.
- For a purchase-linked promotion, take readers to the eligible offer and clear campaign details.
Keep the charity’s role visible. Avoid making a modest contribution sound like a solution to an entire social problem, or suggesting that customers who do not buy are failing to help.
Make the contribution clear before making the company look good.
Plan the follow-up while the facts are close at hand
Agree who will confirm the final contribution, who will approve any outcome claims and when you can reasonably report back. If figures are provisional, label them rather than presenting an estimate as a settled result.
Review relevant responses and actions, but do not treat clicks as a measure of charitable impact. Campaign performance and the benefit delivered are different things.
Before drafting your next update, ask the partnership owner for one verified contribution and the charity’s preferred way to describe it. Build the email around that. A clear account of useful work is worth more than a grand claim nobody can quite support.
The WizEmail Team
