It’s Not Too Early to Prepare for Prime Fundraising Season!

Fall fundraising season may feel far away, but the organizations that thrive at year-end are usually planning long before September arrives.

That’s because strong fundraising results rarely happen by accident. They come from:

• Clarity about priorities,
• Disciplined use of time, and
• Realistic understanding of resources needed to grow contributed income.

Too many nonprofit professionals operate in perpetual reaction mode — juggling appeals, grants, events, donor calls, reporting, meetings, marketing requests, and administrative tasks — without a clear proactive system for deciding what matters most.

The result? Work begins to feel like drinking from a firehose.

When everything feels urgent, it becomes difficult to distinguish between activity and impact. You may stay incredibly busy, while still leaving meaningful donor opportunities untapped.

Now is the time to step back, reassess, and put a manageable written plan in place so you’re prepared for the busy fundraising months ahead.

Start With Prioritization — Not Panic

If you’re unclear about what deserves the most attention, your calendar will quickly get filled by whatever feels most immediate.

Instead, begin by identifying the activities most likely to generate meaningful long-term revenue and donor engagement.

ACTION STEPS

1. Make a list of your core responsibilities and fundraising activities.

For each one, estimate the intended return or outcome. For example:

• Acquire new monthly donors
• Renew lapsed donors
• Upgrade existing donors
• Increase donor retention
• Convert volunteers, subscribers, or members into donors
• Secure legacy gift commitments
• Increase major donor engagement
• Attached an anticipated outcome ROI to each strategy.

For example:

• acquire X new monthly donors
• acquire X new one-time donors
• upgrade X current donors to major gift level
• upgrade X current major gift donors to larger gifts
• renew X lapsed donors
• convert X [volunteers; subscribers; members; clients to donors
• acquire 20 new legacy gift commitments
• increase donor retention 10%

3. Attach a rough monetary value to each strategy.

For example:

• 100 new monthly donors at an average of $8/month = $9,600 annually
• Upgrading 10 current donors at $1,500 level to $2,500 level = $10,000 this year
• Increasing donor retention by 10% doubles lifetime value of existing donor base

4. Once you’ve mapped this out, review it with your executive director or supervisor. Discuss where priorities align — and where they may need refinement.

This exercise – making and refining a list of priorities based on desired outcomes — helps shift decision-making away from urgency and toward impact.

Because fundraising isn’t just about raising money today. It’s also about priming the pump for tomorrow.

Remember the 80/20 Rule

The Pareto Principle applies powerfully to fundraising.

In many organizations, roughly 80% of contributed income comes from 20% of donors or prospects. [Your ratio may be 70/30; 90/10 or something else, but it’s highly likely the rule will essentially apply.]

That doesn’t mean smaller donors don’t matter. They absolutely do. But it does mean your time should reflect the revenue realities of your organization.

Too often, development professionals spend enormous amounts of time on low-return activities while high-potential donors receive too little personalized attention.

The key question becomes:

Are you spending your time where it will make the greatest difference?

Conduct a Time Audit

Many nonprofit professionals have never actually tracked how their work hours are spent.

Without that information, it’s almost impossible to know whether your schedule reflects your priorities.

You may discover that tasks with relatively little fundraising return consume a disproportionate amount of time and energy.

ACTION STEPS

1. For one or two weeks, track how you spend your time.

Include categories such as:

• Planning and budgeting
• Meetings and administrative work
• Donor cultivation and stewardship
• Prospect research
• Major donor outreach
• Grant writing and reporting
• Appeal writing and editing
• Finding stories and photos
• Communications content design and review
• Other marketing and communications tasks
• Event planning, project management and implementation
• Data entry and reporting
• Thank-you calls and acknowledgments

2. Be honest about the nitty-gritty; break tasks down into component parts.

For example:

• For major donor work, how much time goes into making donor check-in/”getting to know you” calls? Or qualifying donors to add to your personal portfolio? Or assigning donors to other members of your team’s portfolios? Or making your own direct asks? Or researching prospects? Or inputting data?
• For donor communications work, how much time goes into research, writing, editing, design, review, print check, coordination with mail house or IT staff… and so much more?
• What else is on your plate, and how much time do those things take?

3. Then compare your findings against your fundraising priorities.

Ask yourself:

• Which activities produce the greatest return?
• Which activities play to my strengths?
• Which responsibilities could be delegated, streamlined, or reduced?
• Where am I spending time simply because “we’ve always done it this way”?

Sometimes relatively small tasks consume enormous mental bandwidth without producing much meaningful return.

Protecting time for strategic fundraising work is not selfish. It’s necessary.

Use Systems That Reduce Mental Overload

A task management system can help — but only if people consistently use it.

Some organizations rely on project management platforms that allow teams to assign tasks, monitor progress, and send reminders for incomplete work. Others do just fine with carefully managed calendars and time blocking. There are numerous task management systems you can check out here.

The best system is the one your team will actually maintain.

For smaller shops, a thoughtfully organized calendar with blocked-out work periods may be more than enough.

The important thing is creating a structure that helps you focus intentionally, instead of reacting constantly.

And remember: even the best systems require adjustment. Fundraising work is dynamic, and projects often take longer than anticipated.

Development Is a Revenue Center, Not a Cost Center

During periods of financial uncertainty, nonprofit organizations often reduce fundraising and marketing investments first.

Unfortunately, that can create a dangerous downward spiral.

When fundraising capacity shrinks, donor communication weakens. Stewardship suffers. Appeals become inconsistent. Relationship-building declines. Revenue often follows.

Expenses tied to fundraising and marketing should be evaluated not simply as costs, but as investments intended to generate more mission-supporting revenue.

ACTION STEPS

1. Assess what resources would help you execute your highest-priority work more effectively.

For example:

• Do you need additional staff support? If so, where?
• Would better software improve donor follow-up and reporting?
• Are major donor opportunities going unmanaged due to lack of capacity?
• Have direct response efforts been scaled back because there’s insufficient support?
• Are foundation and/or corporate grant and sponsor opportunities being missed?

2. Determine whether your current structure is adequate, or list any strategic investments you’ve identified that could significantly increase fundraising results.

Either way, it’s worth examining intentionally now — before year-end pressure intensifies, and you fall back into firehose mode.

Viewing development staff and marketing as essential tools for growth allows for capacity building rather than just limiting costs – which tends to dig a deeper hole.

Clarify Expectations Before the Busy Season Begins

One of the most valuable conversations you can have before fall fundraising ramps up is a candid discussion about priorities and expectations.

Talk with leadership about questions such as:

• What fundraising outcomes matter most this year?
• How should success be measured?
• How should responsibilities evolve?
• Where should the development team focus its energy?
• What support is realistically available?

Clarity reduces burnout. It also creates stronger alignment between organizational goals and day-to-day work.

Step Back and Reassess

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is pause long enough to evaluate your work with fresh eyes.

Ask yourself: Why am I spending my time on this?

Don’t answer with a simple “because my boss told me to.” Dig down to the root of the matter. The underlying “why.” What is your boss, or board member, hoping will be the outcome from this thing you are doing?

If the answer clearly supports mission impact and fundraising success, continue.

If it doesn’t, consider whether the task can be minimized, delegated, automated, or eliminated.

The strongest fundraising programs aren’t built solely through hard work. They’re built through focused, strategic work.

And the best time to create that focused strategy is before fundraising season arrives — not in the middle of it.

Need Some Help Reassessing Your Strategy?

Worksheets and exercises to refresh your thinking and your plans.

Again, now is the time to step back, reassess, and put a manageable written plan in place so you’re prepared for the busy fundraising months ahead. My 7 Clairification Keys can help!

You’ll get a series of clairifying worksheets and individual and group exercises in this 42-page guide, all designed to give you fresh insights. Spend some time to bring your work to life with these 7 Clairification Keys. You’ll learn how to:

1. Clairify your Values and lead from passion, not need.
2. Clairify your Stories and share them; make your donors heroes.
3. Clairify your Brand and listen for offers; seize opportunities.
4. Clairify your Social Channels and meet folks where they are.
5. Clairify your Support Constituencies and be accountable.
6. Clarify your Engagement Objectives and measure.
7. Clairify your Resources/Systems for creating positive customer experiences.

I also offer a free 15-minute consultation. What are you waiting for?

Image courtesy of Ann H. on Pexels.