If you want to contact supporters in your area, the simplest way is to send out an email. Our email editor lets you embed event details, images, videos, buttons and attachments.
To start a new email, click on Create Email in the top-right of the screen in the Emails section of Organise.
You have the option to write it first and send it later, your email should auto-save or you can click “Save and Exit” at any point. The email will be saved to the Your Drafts tab in the Emails table and you can return to it at any time.
Set up your email
The first step to sending an email is deciding on the general details – who it comes from and how it will look in your supporter’s inbox.
- Email Name - this is an internal-only name that you and other Organise users can use to reference this email
- Subject Line - this is the email subject which will appear in your supporter’s inbox. [Tip: Make it catchy and put the most important information first. Think of a newspaper headline]
- Preview Text (optional) - this is the preview of your message which will appear in your supporter’s inbox. If you don’t fill this in, it will use the beginning of your email.
- Sender/Reply To - this is the name of the person or organisation that the email will come from, and also defines where any replies will be sent. You have to pick an existing Sender Identity or set up a new one. Read more at How to set up a Sender Identity
- Attachments - you can include any relevant files to send with your email. The maximum file size is 5MB.
On this setup page you also need to choose the recipients of the email.
There are three audiences types you can send an email to:
- Preset or Saved Search - these are automatic audiences that will always remain up to date as new supporters come and go. There are a number of preset searches (e.g. “All Members”), but you can also define and save your own searches to use (e.g. “All volunteers in Castle ward under 27”). Since all searches stay up to date, it is best to use this instead of lists wherever possible to ensure your emails will continue to go to the right people. Read more at How to search and create audiences
- Lists - lists are manual audiences that you have to update and maintain yourself. You can add an individual to a list from their individual profile or the people table. You can also upload a spreadsheet of people to add to a list using the Import tool.
- Private Contacts - if you want to send an email to a group of people that aren’t in Organise and it isn’t suitable to import them to the shared database of supporters (e.g. local voters who signed a petition), you can upload a spreadsheet so only you can send emails to them. These audiences are managed in your [Account] rather than in the People section. Read more at How to manage Lists and Private Contacts
Finally, you can indicate special settings for this email:
- Private emails are hidden from other Organise users. It’s usually valuable for Organise users to see other activity that’s happening in their area, but there may be occasions where an email is sensitive and should be hidden.
- Constitutional emails are where the Labour Party Rulebook requires you to try and contact all members regardless of their normal communication preferences, for instance providing notice of selection meetings. Misusing this option breaks our legal obligation to respect people’s communication preferences and will lead to your Organise access being revoked and a further investigation. If you are unsure whether an email counts as constitutional, please get in touch with the Organise team or your regional office.
Finally, review the estimated audience size to make sure it seems correct, and take note of the people who won’t receive the email because they have unsubscribed or have a missing or broken email address.
Design your email
To start writing your email, pick a preset or saved template. Read more about Templates.
You can then design your email by dragging and dropping different sections into the page in our email builder. When editing a specific section you will see various options for that section appear in the right-hand side panel. You will need to close this panel or click off that section to leave editing mode and drag in a new section.
- Text is the standard text of your email, and includes basic formatting options. You can also insert "Merge Tags" into your text like the recipient’s name to personalise your email for every individual it goes to.
- Heading offers some standard title formats for different sections of your email. You can pick the size and prominence of your heading for different levels, from H1 for a main title, to H4 for a small sub-section.
- Image lets you insert an image by either uploading a new file or picking an image you’ve used before. You can also apply effects to this image such as cropping, changing the colours, or adding text or shapes.
- Video lets you link to videos hosted on YouTube or Vimeo and inserts a preview of it into your email.
- Button lets you insert a button in your email, which can link to a website, an email address, or a phone number to call. [Tip: try and have one specific action you are asking from your supporters in your email, and make it clear how to do it by creating one button or embedding an event invitation]
- Divider puts a horizontal line in your email to separate out sections
- Event lets you insert an interactive invitation to an event that has been set up on Organise, letting your supporters RSVP with one click. [Read more about Events]
Review and Send
Before sending your email, you can review the details of your email and double-check the audience is the size expected.
Take this chance to Preview how your final email looks. You also have the option of sending yourself a copy to see how it will arrive and look in your inbox.
Once you are ready, click Send and select Send Now or Schedule Send to pick a specific date to send the email.