It’s November, which means we’re already in the 4th quarter, which means we have just a few months left in 2020. That might be good news to some! It might be alarming if you haven’t started wrapping up the year.
Don’t panic! You have plenty of time to clean up old business and get started on planning for 2021. These are bite size items that you can work into your day for the next 6-8 weeks. As a bonus, I made this into a downloadable checklist for you. Print it out, make notes and watch the productivity fly!
- Schedule your review, the board self-evaluation and your staff reviews for fiscal 2020.
- Block time each day to write “giving thanks” notes to supporters of your organization.
- Get ready for Giving Tuesday on December 1! Follow this link for a primer, templates and more!
- Write your year-end appeal and get it in the mail prior to Thanksgiving. Don’t write off (ha ha) direct mail. It works!
Pro tip: schedule “thank you” messages via your website, social media email for December 29, 30 and 31.
- Pull a list of your organization’s volunteers. Share this information with the board and ask them to assist you in making phone calls to thank these volunteers for their service this year.
- Make time for a year-end celebration with both board and staff- socially distanced, via video conference. Get creative with virtual escape rooms, tours, quizzes and more.
- Approve your fiscal 2021 budget (if you’re working on a calendar fiscal year).
- Get your 2021 fund development plan out of your head and on to paper. Work with your Fund Development Committee to make progress and add it to the agenda this year for board approval.
- Reach out to your organization’s clients, participants and beneficiaries to get new stories of how you’ve made a difference. File these digitally with tags & keywords for use in social media, annual report, website and impact reporting in 2021.
- Commit to how you’d like to spend your time in 2021, and start making moves as to how to block your calendar to build new habits.
Need help wrapping up your 2020 and setting yourself up for success in 2021? Contact me we’ll work together to come up with a plan.
