January is when year-end donors make a subconscious decision that can make or break your annual fundraising program: Is this a nonprofit I want to stay connected to or was my December gift a one-off?

One of the fastest ways nonprofits undermine repeat giving is by assuming a single thank-you is sufficient.

Please hear me: it isn’t.

Strong stewardship requires multiple prompt, warm acknowledgments within the first 1-2 weeks following a year-end gift.

Most organizations send nothing beyond an automated receipt. Some send nothing at all—joining the 34% of nonprofits that fail to send any acknowledgment (doi: 10.1111/ajt.17051).

I share several practical fixes for this in Part 1 of the series.

One of the most common places this breakdown shows up is in the January newsletter.

Problem #1: The Hidden Problem With Most Nonprofit Newsletters

Most are written as organizational updates, not donor communications.

Too often, newsletters read like a child proudly showing their parents a crayon drawing... created with supplies the parents bought, at a school the parents pay for, on a day the parents made possible. (Yikes.)

Your newsletter likely answers board-facing questions like:

  • What did we do this month?
  • What programs are we running?
  • What events are we excited about?
  • What does our organization need next?

But that’s not how donors read. It is not what donors care about. The answers to these questions are not why your donor gives you their hard-earned money.

Your donors are asking different questions entirely:

  • Did my gift actually matter?
  • Am I part of something meaningful?
  • Do you see me as a human... or just an ATM?
  • Do you know who I am, truly?

When newsletters center the organization instead of the donor, they cheapen the relationship. They may satisfy board expectations... but they undermine board-determined goals like revenue and retention.

Making donor newsletters about your organization might make your board happy—but it costs you significant revenue.

The problem? An organization-centered newsletter suppress giving and retention. It also shows up in lapsed donors and less total revenue.

Why This Mistake Is Especially Costly in January

January is not a slow fundraising month. It’s a decision month.

According to the 2025 Fundraising Effectiveness Project, fewer than 20% of first-time donors give again. That attrition doesn’t happen because donors suddenly stop caring. It happens because organizations fail to meaningfully reinforce the donor’s role after the gift.

Early stewardship matters.

Multiple donor behavior studies show that strong follow-up within the first 30–90 days significantly increases the likelihood of a second gift.

More specifically, research from NextAfter has found that the 45 days following a first gift represent the highest likelihood of securing a second gift. And the 45 days following any gift are when donor engagement is at its peak.

When a donor’s first post–year-end touchpoint is a newsletter that reads like an annual report recap, the message is simple: We received your gift. We did great things with it. Here’s how impressive we are.

A “newsletter” does not automatically translate into relationship-building or stewardship. Operating under that assumption is a presumptive, ego-centric mistake.

Problem #2: Digital-Only Newsletters Are a Recipe for Being Ignored

And now we need to address the cost-saving channel most nonprofits default to for newsletters: digital.

Even when open rates hover around the sector's average of 25–30%, actual read rates for digital newsletters are far lower. Conversion rates routinely land around 0.5% or less, according to research done by Hubspot.

Practically, this reveals that donors aren’t engaging with your newsletter, when the email is technically “opened.”

Open rates don’t equal loyalty. Clicks don’t equal commitment.

What High-Performing Newsletters Do Differently

High-performing newsletters don’t look dramatically different on the surface. But they’re built on a different strategy.

They consistently do three things:

A. Instead of opening with organizational activity, they acknowledge the donor’s role first.

A simple, concrete, donor-centric headline can shift everything...

  • Your generosity provided Susan with a warm meal.
  • Your kindness gave a young mother and her baby a safe night.
  • Your compassion helped ease a family's pain.

Notice the “you” language. Notice the impact-driven framing. Notice where the focus sits.

At GrowBetter, this approach has driven 30%–300% lifts in revenue for our clients... and it’s exactly what the broader body of donor behavior research shows works best for retention and long-term revenue growth.

B. Frame the Donor as the Hero Who Solved Real Problems in Your Newsletter

Rather than summarizing programs and boals, effective newsletters highlight 3-4 specific outcomes (several stories of impact) and explicitly connect the "happy ending/solution" to the donor’s gift.

Instead of:

Our organization served 2,000 families this month.

Reframe it, placing your donor at the center of the impact as a hero:

Because of you, 2,000 families didn’t have to choose between heat and food this month.

The data doesn’t change. The ownership does.

C. Invite the Donor into Greater Impact Instead of "Asking" for Another Gift

High-performing newsletters don’t announce what’s next. They invite the donor into the next chapter:

  • Continue the journey by responding to the newsletter with a personal note for a beneficiary
  • Deepen their impact with a second gift
  • See their impact up close through a visit or firsthand experience

This builds momentum and strengthens the relationship without pressure. And it leads to stronger repeat giving without increasing ask volume.

D. Use Both Digital and Print to Maximize Newsletter Impact

Research from NextAfter, among others, has consistently shown 300%–400% lifts in response rates when multiple channels are combined. Print reinforces attention, memory, and perceived value in ways digital alone simply does not.

Be done with the email-only newsletter.

Want Help Pressure-Testing Your Donor Newsletter?

Most organizations don’t intend to center themselves. They simply haven’t pressure-tested their donor communications through a retention lens.

If you want help evaluating:

  • Whether your newsletters are reinforcing loyalty or eroding it
  • How your January communications compare to high-performing benchmarks
  • Where simple framing shifts could unlock stronger repeat giving

You can book a short discovery call on the GrowBetter home page.

We’ll look at one campaign, one audience, or one newsletter and identify the fastest path to stronger donor retention and repeat giving!

PS: If this was helpful, join my email list. I’d love to meet you... I personally read and respond to every signup. And you’ll get whatever data-backed nonprofit goodness comes out next. 🙂

Video: The Top Three January Fundraising Mistakes That Cost Nonprofits Revenue

January isn’t slow... it’s decisive! This short 4-minute video explains why post-year-end stewardship determines whether donors stay or disappear.