Hi there!

My name is Emily and I'm Senator Jeff Merkley's digital director. You've actually already gotten emails from me before—I'm one of the many people that make up Team Merkley.

But I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, because in the past couple months, a lot has changed in the world—and that means, a lot is going to have to change about how campaigns are run.

~~~I'm going to ask you to reply to this email, but first let me tell you why ~~~

Email fundraising is incredibly important to grassroots campaigns like ours. You probably already know that. It's the reason that every campaign sends so many emails.

But what you might not know is how these email programs actually work.

For instance...

• Did you know that simply by opening emails from Jeff and Team Merkley, you're helping to positively influence the algorithms used by Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft, and other email providers that decide whether our emails go to people's inboxes or spam folders?
  (This is called the "open rate")
   
• Did you know that by replying to our emails, it flags our emails as authentic conversations and helps us reach more people, quickly?
   
• And finally, did you know that by clicking our links and making a small dollar donation (even $1), you're telling email providers that you're interested in what we're sending you, and that Team Merkley is running a responsible email program?
  (This is called the "conversion rate")

Sometimes I hate that my job involves staring at spreadsheets, studying algorithms, and analyzing open rates and conversion rates — that's not why I got into this.

But, when Jeff has to send an urgent email about the coronavirus, or children in cages, or the climate crisis, or attacks on your voting rights, those open rates and conversion rates dictate how many people actually see Jeff sounding the alarm — and that IS why I got into this.

So... as our campaign moves more and more online, I'm going to need help keeping our engagement numbers high, so that our email program keeps getting a greenlight from email providers. Would you please help me?

This kind of intentional engagement is a really meaningful way to support this campaign, even at times when you may not be able to chip in personally. Jeff is always so touched by the dedication of our grassroots team. You show up and turn out every time, and we appreciate you being a part of this more than I can ever tell you.

In the coming weeks and months, I'll be reaching out to this new list of Digital Campaigners for more ways to get involved online — so if you're interested in helping out, reply to this email!

For now, thank you SO MUCH for reading this and for being a part of this fight.

All the best,

-Emily