For better or worse, the last two weeks of December are the worst possible time for fundraising activities. The problem is that your donors – individual, corporate, or foundation – are too busy during the holidays to worry about the needs of your charity. Nevertheless, you can make the best use of those last two weeks if you turn your attention to internal projects that otherwise might be neglected due to the business of the year. Completing the tasks listed below will create the foundation for a truly great 2024.
The first thing to do is to ask all your management-level staff to fill out the project innovator form. This is their chance to define a specific project they would like to see funded. It is a terrific exercise for this time of year. It allows your staff to dream about the future. More than that, it helps everyone make those dreams come true by committing them to paper.
The second thing you absolutely have to do is schedule your grant writing chores for the year ahead. This means noting the exact due dates for the funders that set due dates. It means setting due dates for rolling grant applications too. This gives you and chance to cover a lot of ground by pacing yourself. When I do this exercise on an Excel spreadsheet, I like to include the name of the funder, the name and phone number of the primary contact, the due date(s), and any useful comments including notes about past rejections or wins.
As a new grant writer, I always put this information into an Excel spreadsheet. Today, I record this information in Salesforce. You can always take advantage of the funder information storage features of your grant research funding software.
The third thing to do is to make sure that your grantsmanship library is up to date. As you may remember, your grantsmanship library should include the following items.
- Resumes for Staff
- How to Books
- IRS Non-Profit Determination Letter
- State-Level Non-Profit Determination Letter
- Photos
- Project Innovator Forms
- IRS 990 Tax Forms
- Annual Budget
- Program Budgets
- Audited Financial Statements
- Updated Board Member List
It is important to have all these items updated and ready to go so that you don’t have to slow down in 2024 trying to find them. As I like to say, if you can’t get hold of a document in 10 seconds, it is useless to you.
Finally, the last two weeks of the year are the ideal time to do your strategic planning. Although I operate a business and not a non-profit, I think non-profit leaders would benefit from doing the same things I do during the last two weeks of the year. It is then that I review the year’s results, and update my business plan. If I am going to make big changes in 2024, then it is safe to say that they will be based on the epiphanies I enjoy during my yearend strategic planning exercises.
