The open count on your email campaign is a useful signal, but it is not an exact measurement. It tends to run higher than the number of people who actually read your email. This article explains how opens are measured, why that measurement is imprecise, and which numbers to lean on instead.
How opens are measured
Email opens are tracked with a tracking pixel. A tracking pixel is a tiny, invisible image embedded in the email. When someone opens the email and their email program loads images, the pixel loads from our sender's servers, and that load is recorded as an open.
This is how every email platform measures opens. There is no other way to know whether an email was opened, because the recipient's inbox does not report back to the sender on its own. The pixel is the only mechanism, and it only fires when images load.
That dependency on image loading is the root of the imprecision.
Why that makes opens an estimate
Several things cause the pixel to fire when no human read the email, or to never fire even though someone did. Both directions throw off the count, and in practice opens are pushed upward.
Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP). Apple Mail Privacy Protection is a feature in Apple's Mail app, turned on by default for most Apple users, that pre-loads all images in an email before the person ever sees it. That includes the tracking pixel. So for a large share of recipients, the pixel fires automatically whether or not they read anything. Apple users make up a big portion of most lists, so this alone inflates open counts substantially.
Security scanners and spam filters. Many corporate email systems and security tools open and scan incoming messages automatically to check for threats. That scan loads images, including the pixel, and registers as an open even though no person was involved.
Image blocking. Some people and some email programs block images by default. When images are blocked, the pixel never loads, so a real open goes uncounted. This pushes the number in the other direction, but it does not cancel out the inflation from MPP and scanners.
The net effect is that your open count usually overstates how many people actually engaged with the email. Treat it as a rough, directional signal, not a precise headcount.
What to trust instead
Some signals are more reliable than opens because they require a deliberate action or are reported directly by the sending system.
Clicks. A click happens when a person actually clicks a link in your email. Automated scanners and MPP do not click links, so clicks are a much stronger indicator of real engagement. If you want to know whether your email resonated, look at clicks before opens.
Delivered. This counts the emails that were accepted by the recipient's mail server. It tells you your message reached inboxes rather than bouncing, which is a foundation for everything else.
Bounces. A bounce means the email could not be delivered. A rising bounce count points to list-quality or deliverability problems worth addressing.
Unsubscribes and spam complaints. These reflect direct recipient choices. They are accurate because the person took an explicit action, and they are important to watch for list health and compliance.
Use opens to spot broad trends across campaigns, but anchor your read of how a specific email performed on clicks and on the delivery numbers.
What Raise More shows you
For each email campaign, Raise More displays raw counts: sent, delivered, opened, clicked, bounced, unsubscribed, and spam complained. These are counts of people, not calculated rates. For most of these counts you can click the number to open a report listing the specific recipients behind it, so you can see the people who opened, clicked, bounced, unsubscribed, or reported spam. The sent count is shown as a send-progress indicator rather than a clickable recipient report.
Raise More does not compute conversion or revenue metrics for email campaigns. It does not tie a donation back to an email send or report a dollar return on a campaign. The stats describe who received and engaged with the message, not what they did afterward in your donation data.
FAQ
My open rate is over 100% or looks impossibly high. Is that a bug?
Almost always no. MPP and automated scanners can record multiple opens per recipient and can fire opens for people who never read the message. An inflated number is consistent with how pixel tracking behaves across modern email clients.
Why is my open count high but my click count low?
This is the most common pattern and it usually reflects the inflation described above. The opens include automated loads from MPP and scanners; the clicks reflect real people taking action. The gap is expected, not necessarily a sign your content underperformed.
Should I resend to people who did not open?
You can, and Raise More offers a way to build a follow-up to non-openers. Keep in mind that the "opened" group is overstated by automated loads, so the "did not open" group may include some people who genuinely read your email but whose open never registered. Use it as an approximate audience, not an exact one.
Does this affect SMS or call stats?
No. This article is about email opens specifically. SMS and call tracking work differently and are not subject to image pixel issues.
Is there a more accurate way to track opens?
Not really. The tracking pixel is the only available mechanism, and it is affected by privacy features and scanners industry-wide. This is a limitation of email itself, not of Raise More. The practical answer is to weight clicks and delivery more heavily than opens.
For guidance on what counts as a healthy open rate for fundraising email, see the article on good open rates.