Stand Out During Year-End Fundraising With Stewardship

If your inbox is anything like mine, it’s currently 50% fundraising emails from non-profits. Giving Tuesday emails. Year-end asks. Matching campaigns. The list goes on!

Getting a warm and fuzzy stewardship email this time of year is a rare gem and one that I always take notice of. Today I thought I’d share one from the UNICEF Foundation.

Subject Line: You + UNICEF = Amazing Things Happen

What’s Great About This Email

#1 – It is all about tangible impact! This email is jam-packed with tons of example and stories about how donors have had a big impact by donating to UNICEF. I love that there are short snippets of each and an option to click through to read more.

#2 – It’s donor-centered.  This email does a good job using the word “you” and talking directly to donors. That really is the key to great donor stewardship! Be direct, be sincere and be thankful.

#3 – Use of photos of the work in action. Words are great. I certainly love them. But it’s always nice to show the work in action. This email incorporated 3 images to really humanize the work and show the people who are impacted by gifts.

#4 – There’s an ask at the end. Yes, technically this is a fundraising email in disguise! The strategy here is to remind donors what they make possible when they give to UNICEF and in doing so, making them feel great about giving in order to get a repeat gift. While I don’t have the stats on how this email performed, I think it’s a great strategy.

There’s still time to send your donors a great stewardship email!

There are 23 days left in the year and plenty of time to incorporate an email like this into your strategy. If you have some space in your email calendar, consider testing an email like this to see how your donors respond.