Key highlights

• Experience-led redesign of a donor email journey

• Reframed giving through everyday trade-offs rather than urgency

• Treated email as a connected system, not one-off messages

The challenge

The Salvation Army’s holiday email communications needed to encourage giving during a crowded, emotionally charged season—without relying on guilt, pressure, or shock. The challenge was finding a way to make the impact of a donation feel tangible and human at a time when people are already overwhelmed with asks.

The work needed to connect emotionally while still respecting the audience’s attention and values.

My role

• Helped shape the overall email journey and creative approach

• Worked across teams to align messaging, imagery, and cadence

• Contributed to defining structure, hierarchy, and tone across emails

How it came together

The campaign reframed giving through familiar, everyday choices. Instead of focusing on abstract need, the emails showed what a donation could go toward at The Salvation Army—positioned as a thoughtful alternative to seasonal purchases like a fruitcake, an ugly sweater, or one more forgettable gift.

Imagery and messaging focused on outcomes rather than asks, helping donors visualize the real-world impact of their contribution in a way that felt grounded and relatable. The tone stayed respectful and calm, allowing people to make the connection themselves rather than being pushed toward it.

By treating email as a connected journey, each message built on the last—reinforcing the idea that choosing to give could be a simple, meaningful trade-off rather than a sacrifice. The result was a clearer, more human experience that aligned the organization’s mission with how people actually make decisions during the holidays.