December is the biggest month for email marketers — from Cyber Monday to long Christmas campaigns, there’s a lot of work to do and revenue to generate. During such a busy season, it’s easy to forget some lesser-known shopping events like Panic Saturday or miss niche observances that would be perfect for your business.
To help you out, we compiled a list of December newsletter ideas with inspiring examples — be sure to add these to your marketing calendar!
December event calendar to inspire your newsletters
Every day is a day of something, big or small. So, for those looking for niche and alternative holidays, we made a calendar so you don’t miss a thing!
First week of December
Day Without Art
Day Without Art is an annual event that occurs on December 1. On this day, since 1988, art galleries, communities, and businesses have been mourning AIDS victims and spreading HIV awareness. Contributions include shutting down museums for one day, blank exhibitions like “A Space Without Art”, donating to AIDS-related charities, or even sending staff to volunteers.
If you’re making a newsletter for an art-related organization, it’s appropriate to send a special email. However, don’t send anything promotional unless you’re encouraging subscribers to donate — spreading awareness in your Day Without Art newsletter is a much better choice.
Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday occurs on the first Monday after Thanksgiving; in 2025, it falls on December 1. It’s a big shopping event similar to Black Friday but with a focus on online store sales. So, if you’re running an e-commerce business, be sure to send some tasty discounts to your subscribers!
Retrofuturist motifs and neon colors are common in the Cyber Monday email design — here’s a fun example we found on Really Good Emails. The pixel art, the green text on the black background that resembles coding software, what’s not to like about it?
Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday occurs on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving — in 2025, it’s December 2. It’s dedicated to generosity and charity. On this day, you can donate money, food, or other necessities to fund people in need, give blood, spread awareness on the causes that need contributions, and so on.
Last year we made a list of trustworthy charities for different causes — health-related, emergencies, LGBT+, animals, and so much more! Check out Selzy’s Giving Tuesday project.
Is this day even appropriate for emails? Absolutely. For example, you can send an email explaining that you’ll donate all or some of the proceeds to a charity. Or just encourage people to donate, like in this example from Patagonia.
Faux Fur Friday
In 2025, Faux Fur Friday occurs on December 5, the first Friday of the month. This holiday celebrates fake fur in all shapes and colors. If you’re running a fashion brand or a clothing store that sells faux fur coats, it’s your day. Offer a solid discount, provide tips on styling faux fur clothes, underline that your brand is free from animal cruelty (if it is, obviously), and so on.
Second week of December
Green Monday
Green Monday occurs on the second Monday of December (December 8 in 2025) and it’s another busy shopping event similar to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You can interpret green however you want: money, eco-friendliness, Christmas approaching, or just the color green.
Or green smoothies you’ll make with the blender you’ll buy with a discount, like in this email campaign from Blendjet:
National App Day
National App Day occurs on December 11, and, you guessed it, it’s all about mobile apps.
For mobile startup owners, it means everything from subscription discounts to in-app bonuses — the latter will work well in gaming email marketing. However, e-commerce business owners can take part too. For example, offer discounts specifically for purchases made in your store’s mobile app, if you have one.
National Cocoa Day
Every month has a wacky food-related holiday. In December, it’s National Cocoa Day — the 13th day of the month is dedicated to this hot and rich drink that’s perfect for the cold season.
By the way, your business doesn’t have to be food-related to take part in the celebration! For example, Outdoorsy, an RV rental service, shares cocoa recipes and also some rental vehicles, which is all you need for a solid winter road trip.
National Free Shipping Day
In 2024, Free Shipping Day falls on December 14, and it was created in 2008 to extend the online shopping season. So, if you want to order Christmas presents online and save on delivery, it’s your time to shine.
The holiday’s name is pretty self-explanatory: offer your subscribers free shipping in a short and sweet email campaign. National Free Shipping Day doesn’t have its own colors and symbols, so feel free to use Christmas and winter-themed graphics like snowflakes and gift boxes in your email design. This email from Craftsy is a nice example:
Third week of December
Ugly Sweater Day
December 15th is the day to celebrate kitschy red and green sweater designs with deer, Christmas trees, snowflakes, and other holiday-related things. If your store is selling one of these, give your subscribers a discount on all ugly sweaters.
You don’t have to go out of your way in terms of email design and creativity for such a small observance — however, we like this “knitted” email from Ragstock. An email about the Ugly Sweater Day which is itself an ugly sweater, what a concept.
National Regifting Day
Regifting Day is celebrated on the third Thursday of December — in 2025, it falls on December 18. This day is about giving the gifts you don’t need to others as a sustainable practice. So, if you want to take part, send a newsletter talking about sustainable gifting, promoting upcycled or recycled products, or offering an eco-friendly gift guide.
Panic Saturday
Panic Saturday, also known as Super Saturday, is the final busy shopping event that occurs the last Saturday before Christmas — in 2025, it’s December 20.
The name speaks for itself: it’s the last opportunity to buy Christmas gifts for your loved ones. For email marketers, it’s an opportunity to boost sales with last-chance offers. You can even add a countdown timer GIF to create the ultimate panic-inducing email!
Another (less evil) strategy is actually helping your subscribers reduce the pre-Christmas gifting panic by sending gift guides, life hacks — or, like Spiceology, instructions on where to buy your products.
Yule/Winter Solstice
Yule is a neopagan winter festival that coincides with the winter solstice (December 21) but, depending on the tradition, doesn’t have to be directly related to it. The celebrations are similar to Christmas and include signing, tree decorating, exchanging gifts. If your brand has to do anything with neopaganism, esotericism, or the occult, send an educational newsletter about the history of Yule and appropriate rituals.
If not, you can still use the longest night of the year as a hook for almost any campaign you’d like to send. There are many “solstice savings” newsletter examples online. However, we love this one sent by Rooted — it’s a great example of how you can combine promotional content with something your subscribers would actually find useful.
Fourth week of December
Christmas
December 25th, despite being the Catholic Christian holiday first and foremost, is the climax of the winter holiday season in many countries. Most people don’t associate it with the birth of Jesus Christ anymore — instead, they think of decorated trees, Santa Claus, ugly sweaters, gingerbread cookies, and the red and green color palette.
Team Selzy loves Christmas as much as you do — so we prepared a detailed guide on Christmas email ideas with awesome examples to inspire your campaigns this holiday season!
Boxing Day
Boxing Day has nothing to do with fighting — it’s a holiday celebrated the day after Christmas (December 26th) in many countries. The name is traced back to the tradition of donating to those in need, including putting money in church donation boxes. Common holiday pastimes include attending sporting events, shopping, charity, or just staying home with your family and treating yourself to Christmas leftovers.
A great idea for a Boxing Day email campaign is to promote the sale as the last sale of the year so you can use the sense of urgency for your own good — here’s an example:
New Year’s Eve
Compared to Christmas, New Year’s Eve may not seem like as big an observance, especially in the Western and English-speaking world. However, even Americans stay up past the Times Square Ball Drop. So, sending a digital postcard to your customers will be more than welcome.
To make your email marketing life easier, Selzy collected New Year newsletter ideas and tips in a separate guide that’s worth checking a few weeks before the holiday.
December newsletter templates for any holiday
We have a huge collection of hundreds of ready-made email templates, including those for Christmas, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, New Year’s and so on.
Browse by industry, goal or season, then customize the layout, colors, and blocks in the drag-and-drop editor so it matches your brand. Pick a message, tweak the copy, and your December newsletter is ready to go.
December newsletter topics for week-long events
Computer Science Education Week
From December 8 to December 12, 2025, celebrate Grace Hopper’s birthday and all things computer science. This week highlights the importance of learning coding and computer science and encourages young people to take part in Hour of Code.
Want to use this observance in your email marketing strategy? Share fun history facts about computer science, offer discounts and deals for coding online courses, invite your subscribers to Hour of Code, or just send some niche memes about programming.
Christmas Bird Count Week
The 126th Christmas Bird Count, hosted by the National Audubon Society, will occur from December 14, 2025, to January 5, 2026. It’s essentially a sight- and sound-based bird census across North America where everyone can take part. The collected population data will help ornithologists compare different regions, look for patterns, especially long-term.
It’s quite a niche observance but it’s a good choice for businesses that deal with anything related to birds or birdwatching. Discounts on binoculars, bird-themed merch, identification books, or even tours to birding hot spots — all of these deserve an email in December.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah, Chanukah, or “festival of lights”, is a Jewish winter holiday that is celebrated from December 14 to December 22 this year. It commemorates the recovery of Jerusalem, and observing it includes nightly candle lighting, singing songs, and preparing holiday foods like latkes.
If you want to cater to your Jewish subscribers, you can send a pretty standard promotional “30% off” holiday newsletter — you can’t go wrong with a good deal.
Kwanzaa
The name of this holiday comes from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza”, meaning “first fruits” and the holiday itself is rooted in ancient African ”first fruit” celebrations. Kwanzaa was created in 1966 as a response to the racist Watts Riots, and it honors African American and pan-African communities and their cultural heritage. It’s celebrated from December 26 to January 1.
This holiday is especially relevant for Black-owned businesses, so everyone is invited to the party. The best strategy for a Kwanzaa newsletter is sending something educational. Here’s a great example:
December newsletter topics for month-long events
Month of Giving
We already mentioned Giving Tuesday but what about other days of the week? In fact, the entire December is dedicated to donations, volunteering, and other kinds of charity. So, if you missed the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, feel free to run non-profit email marketing campaigns right until New Year’s Eve!
Seasonal Affective Disorder Awareness Month
December is a hard month for those struggling with SAD, also known as seasonal depression or winter blues. It affects 7.1% of the US population — some of them may be your subscribers!
If you want to contribute to the cause, send an informational newsletter with lifehacks on alleviating the blues or general facts about the disorder. And, if your business deals with health supplements or gadgets, offering help with your products is also a great choice.
Here’s a decent example from Karmacist. In their email, the brand offers nutritional tips for fighting seasonal depression, appropriate supplements, and even a discount.
National Learn a Foreign Language Month
Here’s a cheerier (pun intended) observance for your December email marketing plan. National Learn a Foreign Language Month has been celebrated since the noughties, and it’s all about appreciating other cultures, highlighting the benefits of speaking other languages, and everything related.
Celebrate the cause with your subscribers if your business is related to education. You can promote discounts on books in foreign languages or language courses, share stories about getting lost in translation, provide learning tips, invite your customers to talk about their cultural backgrounds, and so on.
Subject line ideas to use in your campaign
You may craft a perfect email but it won’t get opened if your subject line is boring and drowns in the inbox. Here’s what to try:
- Use humor, especially if your brand’s ToV allows you to — check out Selzy’s guide on funny subject lines for inspiring examples and valuable advice. Even something deliberately stupid like “We love you a latke” for a Hanukkah email can help you a lot with open rates.
- Use urgency — words like “Hurry up” and “Expires tonight” in your subject lines are a pretty effective part of FOMO email marketing, which may work particularly well on Millennials and Gen Z.
- Describe your offer right away — not every email subject has to be a creative writing exercise, and simple solutions like “10% off all Christmas sweaters” work just as well. At least you’re being honest, and it’s up to a subscriber to decide if they want yet another ugly sweater in their wardrobe.
Tips to make your December newsletter even more effective
Every holiday, federal or obscure, is a thing on its own, and it’s hard to give one-size-fits-all tips on all the campaigns you’d love to send in December. And if you’re an experienced email marketer, basic advice like “use clear CTAs” won’t cut it. However, we can’t leave you without any recommendations, so here are some less obvious things to do while working on your December newsletter:
- Use holiday-appropriate designs. Just because “the big one” in December is Christmas doesn’t mean all your emails have to be red and green and doused with snowflakes. If you consider adding a holiday to your email calendar, research the holiday-related symbols beforehand. Also, incorporating some of the holiday symbols into your brand book-appropriate designs is a great way to celebrate but stay true to your business.
- Experiment with CTAs. A standard “Buy now” exists for a reason, but why not test out something more interesting? For example, how about something more specific like “Buy gifts for my loved ones” or “Shop on Christmas sale”? Another way is using dialog-like CTAs like “Take me to the store” or “I want a Christmas sweater”. If you’re in doubt, set up an A/B test to see if it works on your audience.
- Pick and choose. Firstly, no one needs a weird niche holiday discount in their inbox every day — you’ll end up annoying your subscribers and seeing the unsubscribe rate grow. Secondly, aside from actual big observances, choose the holidays for your campaigns based on your business niche, your brand’s values, your subscribers’ most locations. Otherwise, you’ll end up celebrating a mostly British holiday with your American audience that will look at your emails like this: 🤔
FAQs about December newsletters
What can I actually send in a December newsletter (besides Christmas promos)?
December is packed with options: big shopping events (Cyber Monday, Green Monday, Panic Saturday, Boxing Day), awareness days (Day Without Art, Seasonal Affective Disorder Awareness Month), charity-focused dates (Giving Tuesday, Month of Giving), and cultural or religious holidays (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule/Winter Solstice).
Do I need to send a newsletter for every December holiday or observance?
No — and you definitely shouldn’t. Nobody wants a weird niche holiday discount email every single day. Use the calendar as a menu, not a to-do list. Focus on:
- The big observances relevant to most of your audience (Christmas, New Year’s, major sale days).
- A handful of niche days that match your niche, brand values, and subscribers’ locations.
How do I choose which December holidays are right for my business?
Your niche:
- Fashion? Try Faux Fur Friday, Ugly Sweater Day, Boxing Day sales.
- E-commerce? Cyber Monday, Green Monday, Panic Saturday, Free Shipping Day.
- Nonprofit or cause-based? Giving Tuesday, Month of Giving, Kwanzaa, SAD Awareness Month.
Your brand values:
- If you talk a lot about sustainability, Regifting Day or eco-friendly gifting angles fit naturally.
- If you’re big on inclusivity, consider Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and educational content around them.
Subscribers’ locations:
- Some holidays (like Boxing Day or Day of Goodwill) are region-specific. Choose observances your main audience will actually recognize.
Can December newsletters be non-promotional, or do they always have to sell something?
They absolutely can be non-promotional, and sometimes should be:
- Sharing charity lists and encouraging donations (Giving Tuesday, Month of Giving).
- Explaining the meaning and traditions of holidays like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule.
- Giving mental health tips for Seasonal Affective Disorder.
- Sharing cocoa recipes, language learning stories, birdwatching ideas, or plant care guides.
How do I write subject lines for December newsletters so people actually open them?
Try three simple approaches:
- Use humor (if it fits your tone of voice).
- Use urgency and FOMO.
- Say exactly what you offer.
What can I do to make my December newsletters more effective?
- Use holiday-appropriate design.
- Experiment with CTAs.
- Be selective and intentional.
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