End of year recap email
Sharing the triumphs of the past year with your members in a dedicated email is a great opportunity to celebrate the year’s achievements, inspire future membership commitment and thank your members and supporters for being part of what makes the organisation so great.
In this article
📝 Ideas for content
At the end of the year, it’s hard to remember all the good stuff that has happened! Here are some prompts to help you work out what to include in an email recap.
🏆 Achievements of the year:
- Trail projects completed or improved
- Events and programs
- Funding and partnerships
- Membership growth or community engagement
👍 Plans for next year - looking ahead:
Use language that is determined and hopeful. E.g., “we’re excited to…”, “we look forward to…”, “with your help, we will…”. This motivates readers and ends the email on an aspirational note.
- Trail development plans: e.g. “Complete Phase 2 of the new trail network,” “open a new pump track by mid-year,” or “begin construction on the alpine trail loop.”
- Events and programs
- Other
✅ Impressive stats or milestones:
Presenting these as a brief list or in bold can help them stand out. Our template features a “By the Numbers” section to showcase key figures. These stats validate the club’s hard work and give members a sense of scale of what their collective effort achieved.
⚒️ Volunteer time
- XXX hours of volunteer time. I.e: “our community donated more than 1,250 trail work hours—equivalent to $42,000 in value”
- XXX meters of trail built
🥇Events and participation
- Number of trail work days held
- Races or rides hosted, and participants or attendees. You could say, for instance, “Organised 12 volunteer dig days with 100+ total participants, and hosted 3 races with over 200 racers in total.”
- Social events or notable happenings
🙌 Membership numbers
- Note total current members or new members joined during the year.
- Highlight any specific groups - have more women joined the organisation? Or more families or children?
💰 Fundraising and grants
- How much money raised or grants received for trail projects
❤️ Thank you to volunteers or supporters:
Always include a section to thank the people who made the year possible – this sets a grateful tone and strengthens community spirit. Acknowledge the volunteers, trail builders, committee members, event organisers, sponsors, and anyone else who contributed.
For example, highlight the volunteer crews who dug the trails and the organisers behind events. You can say something like, “Our volunteer trail crew poured in hundreds of hours to keep our trails in great shape – their dedication pays off. We extend a huge thank-you to every volunteer who picked up a shovel or helped at an event.”
If your club has board members or a core committee, thank them for their behind-the-scenes work as well (one club noted that its Board “went above and beyond, contributing an estimated 2,800 hours” of their time.
🙏 Acknowledge partners and sponsors: “Local businesses [insert names] stepped up to support our events and trail projects, and we’re grateful for their community spirit”
💡This thank you section can be brief but heartfelt. The goal is to make your supporters feel appreciated and proud to be involved.
🎗️“We need your support!" Include a direct ask. For example:
Our template includes a Join Now button at the top and a Renew or Upgrade button at the end of the email. You can edit the wording of these buttons if you wish,
Join or renew membership: e.g. “Please renew your membership for 2026 (or invite your friends to join). Your membership dues will enable us to build more trails and host great events next year.”
- Donate or volunteer: if applicable, mention year-end donations (“If you’re able, consider a tax-deductible donation…”) or invite people to the first volunteer trail day of the new year.
👋 Finally, consider a warm sign-off from a club leader (President or Chair) including a general thank-you. Many newsletters end with a line like, “Thank you for being part of our community!” to reinforce that the members and volunteers are the core of the club’s success.
⚙️ Editing the template
The year end recap template is a simplified version of the regular newsletter template and is simple and easy to edit;
- Go to Communications>Email Campaign
- Click on the new email campaign button and select the 'End of year recap template'
- The template is pre-filled with some basic prompts and ideas of what to include
