Read b4 newYrs: "Made me open."
File under: Year-end-appeal subject lines
1st job of any .org's email?
Made Me Open
Above: Working slide from Jan. 29, 2026 mega-webby training with unlimited guest expert Q&A re: donor newsletters and other fundraising relationship investments
2017 was good-to-great, all things considered: everybody healthy far as we knew; playing house in our "new" old (1890) village home in France, with Simone thrilled to go native, talking as much as she could, long walks, French fashion; careers cooking busy busy > presented 31 times incl. Ireland and 'cross Canada, Simone just as much ...
... & I had a little donor-comms' research project going, as we trembled on the edge of a new year, staring in some mood at a door spray-painted "2018":
>> That New Year's Eve 👼 I collected EOY-appeal subject lines from nonprofits, to see which if any attempted message I felt COMPELLED to open.
Pls NOTE, dear reader: Most of these subject lines directed at my inbox & decision-making organ }≈yr brain≈{ were from charities I was currently GIVING TO and/or respected ...
... and so on New Year's Eve, 2017, doing a little celebrat🤡ry lifelong learning🥰, I did NOT ☠️ open the FOLLOWing subject lines:
Hours left: give a tax-deductible gift that matters
Donate Before Midnight!
If you open 1 email today, make it this one
Down to the wire!
Announcing: TRIPLE gifts, Tom
Deadline: December 31
MATCH EXTENDED: Only hours left to double your year-end gift, Tom
Don't miss out - only 6 hrs left!
It's now or never to have 3x the impact, Tom
Hours left in 2017
We are so close to reaching our goal
DOUBLE your gift, DOUBLE your impact
Youth resistance
Midnight Tonight!
Double your gift to NCLR -- Last Chance TODAY!!
6 hours left!
Your tax-deductible donation
Before midnight
Today is the day!
You Still Have Time to Partner with SSV!
Tom: Read this before midnight
Last chance to give clean water this year.
Less Than 24 Hours
They came all day, these year-end offers. When one raven flew away, another replaced it. Here's g-d's honest truth: The only EOY-appeal subject line that *DID* grab my interest enough to FORCE me to peek inside?
[🥁 roll pls]
• We Are Your Biggest Fan
If you'd like to know WHY that one worked best in fundraising comms, consider feasting on some Phil Psych training in 2026.
The article above contains ZERO AI contributions. A human wrote every word.
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