A few years ago, when I got really into environmental copywriting, I started to notice an industry-wide trend.

Just after the #GivingTuesday rush ended, I would get the same plea from every nonprofit across the country.

It’s the end of the year! Now’s your chance to save THIS program!

Looking for a gift for someone tricky? Give them the gift of a great environmental cause…

Blah blah blah, me, me, me…

Don’t get me wrong. I understand year-end contributions are a major fundraising time for nonprofits everywhere. Some even estimate it as the most important time of the year.

But this year, I’m busy.

Miraculously, I already have gifts for everyone on my list and your constant me-me-me, donate-donate-donate talk is only getting me frustrated.

Not to mention, I believe your donors are smarter than this particular tactic. They know that most nonprofits rely on donations.

But most environmental supporters give for other reasons. And meeting your year-end quota’s isn’t really the most inspirational reason.

Here’s my tip.

Get through the holiday season with acknowledgement and maybe some gratitude sprinkled among a few well-written emails. And then leave them alone.

In fact, leave 2017 behind you entirely.

Focus what’s left of your working year on next year.

Why?

Because the beginning of a new year is infinitely inspiring.

I get to reinvent a whole host of things around New Year’s, and my relationship with you (my environmental organization of choice) is one of those things that is easy to let slide. Why not invest in some extra inspiration?

Here’s a few easy ways to inspire me to put YOU on my Resolutions List.

I want to believe in a better tomorrow.

This should be a piece of cake for most green businesses and environmental organizations.

After all, isn’t “a better tomorrow” one of things you promise me the most? Show me, with details from last year and without going to the dark side, how donating my money to you in the upcoming year will give me a future I can aspire to.

This year, I want to be a better environmental steward.

At this time of year, I fervently believe that I will achieve everything I set out to do in the upcoming year.

And at this optimistic time of the year, it shouldn’t be too difficult for our goals to align.

Make me believe, through the power of your incredible environmental work, that aligning myself with you early in the new year will achieve this goal.

This year, I will spend my free time doing things that feed my soul.

This is an easy one to slip onto the Resolutions List without any real concrete action items. But you can achieve this for me.

As an environmental supporter, it’s pretty likely that some of your action items for the new year would feed my soul. That’s the kind of thing I enjoy.

So, show me how I can get in on some of that action. Tell me a story, entice me with social media images of other people feeding their environmental souls. By showing me different aspects of my deepest soul — the me that travels, the me that seeks out adventure, the me that volunteers on important missions — I’ll be that much more likely to join in.

But remember this…

I don’t want to compare what I could donate to you to want I definitely already spent on Christmas presents.

And also, remember that even as the holidays come to a close, I’m suuuuuuper busy this time of year. And so are the rest of your supporters

Entice me with visions of a new me in a new, better year, and I’ll be sure to keep my eye out for your next donation appeal. You know, the one that ticks all the boxes above.

The one that will help me achieve my 2018 resolutions.