Looking Back to Look Forward
So there is this amazing thing about the end of the year.
We all get super reflective. We want to know, what happened this year. Did our goals get met? Did our resolutions get kept? Did we grow? Did we learn?
I love this. And I think it is super important that as nonprofit organizations wind down operations at year-end, they also reflect, track, and celebrate what was done.
Why?
Because we work so hard all year. And in order to move forward, in order to keep growing, in order to keep striving towards our mission, we have to know what we actually did. What worked well? What could have gone better? And what do we need to start doing more of (and less of)?
A lot of this work is done in the strategic planning process. A process done to prepare – strategically – for the future. To have a guide for what’s next. To help prioritize where your organization should spend its time, talent and treasure.
But a plan is worthless if it isn’t actionable and achievable. So to help you get there, I am sharing back what we did together in 2023 to help you make 2024 your most successful year yet.
January 2023
🧑🎤 We prioritized your “just right” donors/ your rockstars/ your “I wish I could do more” donors.
💞 We took some time to engage and steward our donors that had just contributed at the end of the year.
February 2023
📝 We planned out what a successful capital campaign looks like.
March 2023
🔎 We searched for new donors, as earlier tactics during the pandemic no longer worked.
🆕 We maximized our acquisition efforts by qualifying our prospects.
April 2023
🤷♀️ We remembered that donors are people and sometimes forget to donate.
📅 We considered how to activate our donors when our fiscal year was ending, but not the calendar year.
May 2023
🎉 We celebrated a milestone and focused on how this impacts our community, not us.
June 2023
🏋️ We reviewed the basics of fundraising with renewed efforts to build stronger relationships with our donors.
July 2023
🎬 We continued to review the basics and expressed the need to our donors by starting with the why.
August 2023
🧳 We unpacked the ugliest phrase in the nonprofit sector: overhead costs.
September 2023
🐝 We strived to be like Beyonce and increase our confidence.
🫶 We implemented planned giving into our fundraising operations and priorities.
October 2023
🔁 We unlocked sustainable support by encouraging our donors to give recurringly.
November 2023
💸 We expanded the opportunities for our donors to give through donor advised funds.
😘 We thanked our colleagues for their support.
December 2023
📣 We cheered each other on as the year came to an end.
🧗♀️ We ARE doing all we can to hit our goals.
📑 We ARE preparing for 2024.
What should we talk about in 2024? I have some ideas, but I’d love your feedback.
Need any more help to close out 2023 or ready to start planning for 2024?
P.S. – For my fundraisers out there, you might be thinking, wind down in December?? Are you kidding? You’ve been telling me for weeks how important this last month is. And you’re right. It is. So if you need some help, or just a cheerleader to boost your confidence, message me through the contact form.