My husband Patrick and I got married 13 years ago, just after Thanksgiving. That first year, I started the annual Christmas newsletter tradition. For each month, it’s a simple picture and a few lines of what my husband, his two boys and I did, and I mail it to friends and family. Nothing professional looking, created in good ol’ Publisher.
That first year, I worried that people might think it was too much of a “bragging” letter, but then they told us how much they enjoyed seeing the pictures and the notes, and how much they looked forward to our next “adventures,” the boys’ activities and travels.
So, every year late November, early December, we sit down and look back over the past year and write down just a few lines of highlights. Now, we often find ourselves looking for our newsletters to remember what we did when! It’s easy because we have a permanent record of it. My 13th newsletter went this past week.
So, as your mailings are out the door, #GivingTuesday is behind you and your year-end emails are scheduled, take just a few minutes to reflect.
Write down what you did this year that you think worked well. What jumped out at you? What was the most fun and exciting event, donor call or visit you made? What was the biggest gift you received and what do you think sparked that?
Do include your monthly donors. How many new monthly gifts did you generate? How does this compare to your goals? What do you think worked well and what didn’t work so well? What have you learned from it?
Just take a few minutes to create your own little Christmas “bragging” newsletter. Write down those anecdotes and donor comments that made most sense to you and share that newsletter with your colleagues, boss and board and whomever you think might be interested in it. You may be pleasantly surprised about their feedback.
Trust me, it will make your life so much easier next year! Be proud of what you’ve accomplished. You’ve earned it! So it’s totally okay to brag a little.
And if you’re curious to see a copy of our Christmas newsletter, just email me.
Note: To give you those extra minutes, you’ll not see my blog the next few weeks. I’ll be back in January. I wish you and your loved ones the best holidays and a great, happy and, especially, healthy 2019!
