6 Steps to Prepare for Year-End Fundraising TODAY

It’s already the final weeks of August. Is your nonprofit ready for the year-end fundraising push? When I was a nonprofit development director, I used to dread Labor Day. Instead of enjoying the late summer weather, I’d be thinking about all the year-end fundraising work that needed to happen by December 31. Plus, I would need to get it done while supposedly taking time off for the holidays in November and December! It was a recipe for stress. To help you all actually enjoy the last days of summer, we’ve compiled six key steps you can take today—before heading out on a well-earned vacation.

1) Review Your Grant Reporting Deadlines Grant fundraising is all about relationships and deadlines. To keep your funding relationships strong—and lock in grant renewals for the coming year—you want to be sure you are hitting your funder deadlines. To get a head start, you can:

·??????? Review all upcoming grant reporting deadlines through January 15 of the next year.

·??????? Calendar out the time needed to complete each grant report and who will be responsible.

·??????? Identify who in your organization will need to provide updates and information about the funded activities for each grant. Because many folks take extended time off around the winter holidays, you want to be sure you know exactly what information you need to get before they sign off.

If you’re in a small development shop, having your grant reporting calendar fresh in your mind is essential as you start planning out the other vital year-end fundraising activities below.

2) Plan for Fall Grant Dockets Many foundations have a fall grantmaking docket. Sometimes, funders don’t give you much notice! To make meeting fall grant deadlines easier, you can:

·??????? Review which proposals you submitted between September 1 and January 15 in prior years.

·??????? Check which of your current grant terms will be ending by January 15—and start outreach to those funders for renewal conversations.

·??????? Create or update grant proposal templates for general support and key programs. If you’re new to template or boilerplate proposals, we recently developed a free guide for preparing grant templates .

3) Calendar Out Your Year-End Appeal The next priority is your year-end appeals. This includes closing major gifts and securing those small-dollar donations. Key steps to take:

·??????? Make sure you know who is making the year-end ask for all major donors and prospects—and that it becomes a priority on their fall to-do list!

·??????? Review year-to-date board giving and identify any board members who need to be followed up with.

·??????? Create a calendar for your year-end appeal. We recommend doing both direct mail and email appeals. Your calendar should account for drafting the appeal letter(s), internal approval processes, pulling and segmenting lists, printer and mail house coordination, and customizing appeals. To make it easier, check out our pro tips for successful direct mail campaigns and our trainings on direct mail campaigns 101 and customizing direct mail appeals .

·??????? Decide whether Giving Tuesday will be a part of your year-end fundraising strategy—and plan for how you will keep those donors engaged and giving .

4) Make a Donor Thank-You Plan Often, the last thing fundraisers think about at year-end is thanking donors. But once January rolls around, your donors will count on those gift acknowledgment letters for their taxes! Plus, thank you letters are a key part of the donor cultivation process. For major donors, longtime donors, and new donors alike, a customized thank you letter—that includes a handwritten note—can go a long way toward making them feel appreciated and connected. Since you will ideally have plenty of year-end gifts flowing in, you can plan to set aside the first week or two of January to prepare and customize these letters. If you’re a small shop and don’t have enough capacity, you can also enlist volunteers, board members, and staff members from other teams.

5) Start Preparing Year-End Impact Reports Now that you’re ready to ask donors for their year-end gifts, it’s time to start preparing to show them how their gifts are making a difference. Sharing an impact report in December or early January is an incredible way to remind donors of the impact they are helping you achieve. Unlike a more traditional annual report, this doesn’t have to be anything fancy—or even printed. A compelling email or 2-4 page written document can help donors grasp the full scope of your work. Bonus points if you can make your content easy to skim with bullets, headlines, pull quotes, and simple graphics. Note that it’s important to share this document with foundations where you’ve already submitted a grant report. ?

6) Develop Next Year’s Programming and Fundraising Strategy Amidst all this year-end fundraising, if your organization’s fiscal year is the same as your calendar year, you’ll also need to start planning for the year ahead. For fundraisers, that means you’ll want to review your fundraising pipeline and goals . But you also need to know the organization's overall strategy and key programs. This will help you prioritize your fundraising activities, including prospect research. It’s especially helpful if your organization has a strategic plan , which can then inform your annual planning.