Sweet Potatoes and Pig Snouts: Timing Makes Difference for Two Holiday Appeals

I am grateful for all the nonprofit people who probably worked overtime to make these charitable appeals that appeared in my inbox just at the right moment.

On the day after Thanksgiving I got this email from Million MOMS Challenge with the subject line of "Hidden value in your leftovers":

Dear Joanne,

As you pull out those Thanksgiving leftovers, there is so much more to be thankful for than just the perfect turkey sandwich.

Let's start with sweet potatoes! Besides being delicious, the orange-fleshed sweet potatoes that were on most American tables this Thanksgiving are rich in vitamin A and play an important role in protecting our eyesight.

Sadly for the 127 million pre-school children and 7 million pregnant women who are vitamin A deficient, not everyone is so lucky. In Africa most sweet potatoes are the white variety lacking almost all beta-carotene that the orange sweet potatoes contain and therefore fail to be a source of vitamin A.

Watch this inspiring video of Helen Keller International encouraging local gardeners to plant and consume orange-fleshed sweet potatoes -- and improve their communities' health in the process...(embedded video)

In the U.S. it is easy to forget how serious vitamin A deficiency can be. Each year, it is estimated that 670,000 children will die from vitamin A deficiency and 350,000 will go blind. Almost all of these children are in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Approximately 60 children per hour go blind because of vitamin A deficiency. That means in the time it took to defrost and cook the average 15-pound turkey 4,560 children went blind from vitamin A deficiency.

Learn more about how we can protect the sight and health of children and pregnant women all around the world. Watch the video now....

All of us working with the Million Moms Challenge are so thankful that you have joined us in the fight to protect women and children around the world.

Thanks,

Teri Whitcraft
Coordinating Producer
Million Moms Challenge

P.S. For a donation of $25 to Helen Keller International you can supply enough sweet potato vines to feed 200 people for a month. Give generously now.

Well, they had me at "turkey sandwich"! I donated. By the way, my donation actually went to Helen Keller International's "Eating Orange for Better Health in Burkina Faso" project. It was processed through GlobalGiving. Such an example of the interconnections within the charitable world these days.

The second timely email was on Monday -- Cyber Monday. It is from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, an organization I regularly support. It is less serious than the one from Million MOMS, but has a sweet potato theme as well and features Metro the pig who loves those yellow yummies.

This one, with the subject line of "Sweet Deal, but only until midnight," caught my attention just as I was thinking about Christmas gifts for my "grand dogs" and my new "grand kitten."

The message offers free shipping of the organization's gift store products, and includes a photo of Metro, their piggish marketing consultant. You can see the whole message here. By the way, I always appreciate a way to view my email offer or newsletter on the web.

These nonprofits exhibit detailed planning, execution and timing. I bet they will have great results from their holiday mailings.

Have you seen equally well-timed appeals? Not just those timed to a general holiday theme, but that seem to hit you right between the eyes at just the right moment. Let me know. I love examples.

Related:

• Fundraising Letter Examples
• Thank You Letter Examples
• End-of-Year Fundraising Resources

Photos: 1. Helen Keller International 2. Metro, the Pig - Best Friends Animal Sanctuary