Year-End Appeal Series Playbook (5-Touch Sequence)
A ready-to-adapt 5-touch year-end series (soft-launch, main ask, impact story, Giving Tuesday, Dec 31 last-call) built for the seasonal spike human-services orgs depend on.
Draft: pending review
This starter document is signed off by a CFRE reviewer before it ships. The guardrails below define that review.
What’s inside
- Five drafted letter/email templates with merge fields (name, prior gift, local stat)
- Segmentation matrix: LYBUNT/SYBUNT, first-time, mid-level, sustainer-suppress
- Ask-string guidance with meal-equivalent framing
- Reply-device copy and gift-designation checkboxes
Legal & ethical guardrails
The sector-specific compliance points this document must honor.
- Meal-equivalent ('X meals per dollar') claims must be defensible and tied to the org's documented cost-per-meal — cite source and date
- Gift-designation checkboxes create donor-restricted funds that must be honored and tracked separately
- Acknowledgments must include IRS Pub. 1771 'no goods or services' language when true; Dec 31 postmark governs the deduction year
- Suppress do-not-solicit and deceased flags; honor state solicitation and CAN-SPAM requirements
Held for professional review.
The native DOCX and full working text ship only after sign-off by a CFRE reviewer on this exact version. The summary and review requirements remain visible in the meantime.
Not legal advice. Not legal, tax, or accounting advice. The Fundraising Co. provides educational fundraising materials and is not a law firm; nothing here creates an attorney–client relationship or substitutes for advice from professionals licensed in your jurisdiction. Laws and IRS rules vary by state and change over time. Review every document with qualified counsel before use.