662. Working Session: Make Your Year-End Emails Stand Out with Caroline Griffin
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Overview
If you want your year-end emails to stand out in the noisiest inbox season of the year, this Working Session is your new playbook. We brought in marketer and dynamic-content expert Caroline Griffin to break down the simple personalization shifts that make every donor feel seen—so your emails land, resonate, and inspire action.
Top 3 Takeaways:
Make Personalization Actually Personal — Go beyond “Hi {{ first_name }}.” Use giving history, donor status, or meaningful milestones to help supporters recognize their own impact—and feel connected to your mission.
Segment Smarter, Not Harder — Data not perfect? No problem. Segmentation by donor behavior (last gift, last year, lapsed, monthly) allows you to tailor messages without relying on risky merge fields.
Honor Donors by Adjusting Your Messaging — Once someone gives, they shouldn’t keep receiving asks during year-end. Excluding recent donors, or swapping in a gratitude version, strengthens trust and donor love.
This episode digs into practical, approachable ways to bring more humanity and relevance to your year-end email strategy—no fancy tech required.
Welcome back to Working Sessions: hands-on, clarity-filled conversations designed to help you move real work forward inside your organization.
Let’s get to work.
“Thank donors for making things possible instead of always asking for more.”
Episode Transcript
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Episode Highlights
Why Dynamic Content Is the Nonprofit Email Superpower No One’s Using (01:11)
Beyond Merge Tags: Getting Creative With Donor Personalization (02:23)
Using Giving History and Impact Data to Deepen Donor Relationships (03:13)
Re-engaging Lapsed Donors Through Smart Dynamic Content (04:33)
Data Accuracy Tips: What to Do When Merge Tags Go Wrong (05:10)
Segmenting Donors Based on Recent Giving Activity (06:21)
The Donor-Respect Rule: Excluding Recent Givers From Appeal Emails (07:39)
Automating Segmentation and Exclusions in Your Email List (08:52)
Seeing Year-End Emails Through the Donor’s Eyes (09:59)
Powerful Quotes
"Very few email are using email as dynamic content, especially in the nonprofit world.'“ - Caroline Griffin
“You can wow your donors by pulling dynamic fields right into your emails.”- Caroline Griffin
“First name merge tags are tired- try pulling in more interesting information.” - Caroline Griffin
“Push donor data back out to them; it truly amazes people.” - Caroline Griffin
“If you love somebody - leave them alone. Exclude them from ask emails after they’ve given.”- Caroline Griffin
“Automate excluding recent donors from appeal emails.” - Caroline Griffin
“Thank donors for making things possible instead of always asking for more.” - Caroline Griffin
“Even a tiny touch of personalization goes a long way.” - Caroline Griffin
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