NPTech for Good’s 2026 Email Marketing Statistics for Nonprofits pulls together current numbers on how charities are using email and how supporters respond. One headline: nonprofits sent an average of 50 messages per subscriber in 2025, with almost a third of those being fundraising asks.
2026 Email Marketing Statistics for Nonprofits (NPTech for Good)What stood out to us
Email remains almost universal – and busy. The vast majority of nonprofits still use email as a core communication channel, and the volume is high.
Fundraising is a big slice of the inbox. Around a third of messages are explicitly fundraising, with the rest spread across updates, advocacy and other content.
Performance varies widely. Open and click-through rates differ significantly depending on list quality, relevance and cadence.
Why this matters for leaders
An average of 50 messages a year means that, for many supporters, hearing from your organisation has become a weekly experience. The question is no longer “are we emailing enough?” – it’s “what is it like to be on the receiving end of our email programme?”
From a leadership perspective, email is not just a channel; it’s one of the main ways people experience your story. If most of what you send is transactional, urgent or internally driven, that experience will feel very different to a programme that consistently offers clarity, encouragement and genuine value between asks.
Sometimes the bravest strategic decision is to send fewer, better emails.
This doesn’t mean sending less as a reflex. It means being honest about what each message is for, who it’s really serving, and whether your current cadence reflects your audience’s attention or your internal anxiety. Sometimes, the bravest strategic decision is to send fewer, better emails – and to back your team when they recommend it.
