Giving Compass' Take:

• This Education Next post takes a Mad Libs-like approach to end-of-year letters from education advocates; it may save time to just fill in the blanks.

• Does this letter seem a little too close to reality? Are we doing enough to personalize advocacy work, whether in education or other sectors?

• Here's more on what impactful education funding looks like.

Every year around this time, my inbox and mailbox overflow with a lot of similar holiday missives from a host of advocacy organizations. It has me thinking how much more advocacy these groups could do, if senior staff weren’t devoting time to penning, revising, and editing these letters. So, in the spirit of the holidays, I thought I’d offer up a time-saving alternative. Below is a cut-and-paste letter that’s just about ready to go. Fill in the missing nouns, and, voila, advocates can get back to their business at hand.

Dear XXXX,

We’re about to conclude another successful year for [INSERT CAUSE]. I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your support of [INSERT CAUSE] and share a few triumphs from a very successful 2018.

It goes without saying that we at [INSERT ORGANIZATION] are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together and grateful to have learned so much from visionary leaders and allies during this past year. We began 2018 by launching [NAME OF NEW STRATEGIC PLAN], with a focus on cultivating human capital in order to accomplish [GOAL OF STRATEGIC PLAN], and I’m proud to say we end the year on track to meet our enumerated metrics.

As our nation struggles with looming challenges surrounding [INSERT FAVORITE CRISIS] and lags international competitors like [INSERT NAME(S) OF FAVORITE HIGH-SCORING PISA NATION(S)], it’s critical that we give [INSERT CAUSE] the attention it deserves. Happily, I can report that our remarkable team — in concert with so many of you — is working to do just that.

Read the full article about the end-of-year form letter for school advocates by Frederick Hess at Education Next.