There is no single right answer to this question. The right cadence depends on how engaged your list is, what is on your calendar, and how your supporters respond once you start sending. This article explains how to read the signals Raise More gives you so you can settle on a cadence that fits your list instead of guessing.
There's no fixed number (and why)
A cadence that works for one campaign will hurt another. A list of people who recently donated and opted in will tolerate frequent email. A list that has not heard from you in months will react badly to the same volume.
What matters is not the raw count of emails per week. It is whether the people receiving them still want to hear from you. Raise More measures that directly through unsubscribes and spam complaints, and those two numbers should drive your decision more than any general rule of thumb.
The other reason there is no fixed number: political fundraising is deadline-driven. End-of-quarter and FEC reporting deadlines pull volume up sharply, and that is normal. The goal is not to send a constant amount. It is to send more when there is a real reason and to keep your list healthy enough to absorb it.
Let the data decide
Every email campaign in Raise More shows you per-campaign results: how many recipients the email was delivered to, how many opened it, how many clicked a link, how many bounced, how many unsubscribed, and how many marked the message as spam. The unsubscribed and spam counts each link to a report listing the specific recipients. These numbers come back automatically from the email provider after each send. Watch unsubscribes and spam complaints as your primary feedback signal.
Two things to understand about how Raise More handles these signals:
When someone unsubscribes, that address is suppressed across your organization. Raise More will not email it again. This is required by law, and the suppression is permanent.
When someone marks your email as spam (a spam complaint), or when an address hard-bounces or repeatedly soft-bounces, that address is also suppressed automatically. You do not have to do anything, and you cannot send to it again.
So unsubscribes and complaints are not just metrics. Each one is a contact you can no longer reach. If those numbers climb after you increase frequency, you are not just annoying people, you are permanently shrinking your reachable list. That is the cost to weigh against the extra sends.
A rising complaint rate is the more serious of the two. Spam complaints damage your sending reputation with inbox providers, which means future emails are more likely to land in spam for everyone on your list, not just the person who complained. Watch complaints closely and treat a sustained increase as a reason to slow down.
Segmenting by engagement
The single most useful thing you can do is stop sending the same volume to everyone. Use lists and filters to separate your most-engaged supporters from your least-engaged ones, then send accordingly.
Your most-engaged people, recent donors and people who open and click, can hear from you more often without complaining. Your least-engaged people should hear from you less. Sending hard to a disengaged segment is where unsubscribes and complaints come from, and it drags down deliverability for everyone.
Build these segments in Raise More using the people filters you already use for any list. Useful filters here are tag, last donation date, Email was opened, and Link inside email was clicked. Save each segment as a list, then schedule different campaigns to different segments rather than sending to your whole database every time.
Ramping up around deadlines safely
It is fine, and expected, to increase volume heading into a quarter-end or FEC deadline. The risk is doing it suddenly to a list that has been quiet.
A few practical guidelines:
Increase gradually rather than jumping from one email a week to one a day overnight. Inbox providers watch for sudden spikes, and a sharp jump in volume can get more of your mail filtered.
Never run a large send to a cold list, meaning a list you have not emailed in a long time. Re-engage it with smaller sends first, watch the complaint and bounce numbers, and build back up.
Lean on your engaged segments for the high-volume push. They are the ones most likely to give and least likely to complain.
Verify your sending domain is set up before a big push. A campaign sent from an unverified or misconfigured domain is far more likely to land in spam regardless of frequency.
Signs you're emailing too much
Watch for these across recent campaigns:
Unsubscribe counts rising campaign over campaign.
Spam complaints increasing, especially as a share of recipients.
A growing number of suppressed addresses, meaning your reachable list is shrinking.
Open and click counts dropping relative to how many you send.
Any of these means your current cadence is costing you contacts faster than it is raising money. Slow down, tighten your segments, and let the numbers recover before pushing volume again.
FAQ
Is there a recommended number of emails per week?
No. The right number depends on your list and your calendar. Use unsubscribe and complaint counts to find your ceiling rather than starting from a fixed number.
If someone unsubscribes, can I email them again later?
No. Unsubscribes suppress the address permanently and across your whole organization. This is a legal requirement.
What happens to people who mark my email as spam?
Their address is suppressed automatically, and you cannot email it again. Spam complaints also hurt deliverability for your whole list, so treat a rising complaint rate as a signal to slow down.
Can I send more often around an FEC deadline?
Yes. Higher volume around deadlines is normal. Ramp up gradually instead of spiking, and concentrate the heavy sends on your most-engaged supporters.
How do I see these numbers?
Open the email campaign after it sends. The campaign and the email campaigns list show delivered, opened, clicked, bounced, unsubscribed, and spam-complaint counts. The unsubscribe and spam counts link to a report of which recipients are in each.