Summer Guiding Principles
Happy summer!
And we are in it! Between the heat, the holiday, and hot dogs, if you’re not feeling summer vibes yet, I’m not sure what else it will take. Being from Miami and having a July birthday pretty much guarantees that I love the summer, so if you don’t have those things going for you, I hope you’ll still join me in leaning into some celebration, relaxation, reflection, and organization (I know - that last ones feels a bit random, but stay with me for a minute).
If you are like most arts nonprofits, you likely just closed out your fiscal year or ran a June fundraising campaign - and you are EXHAUSTED. You’ve been pushing for what seems like an eternity to achieve an unattainable goal, but you did it! You got past June 30th. In fact, me writing “JUNE 30” just gave you a minor anxiety attack because you have already put that ugly, mean date far, far behind you. You just want to forget that it ever existed, turn off your brain until November when you start cramming for your calendar year-end campaign, right? So, that you can go full throttle for another 8 weeks and then collapse after December 31st, right?
Is this all sounding a little too familiar?
Listen. Friends, I’m here to tell you that there is a better way. And I’m actually going to use my Summer Guiding Principles to show you how.
CELEBRATION
First and 100% foremost - Celebrate!!! Acknowledge the incredible work that you did as you were running towards June 30 - even if you didn’t meet your goal. I am positive you still did something amazing during the campaign. Did you get a nice note from a donor? Was your social media engagement higher than ever? Did you write an appeal letter that made your coworker’s eyes tear up? All things to celebrate. We are so used to checking the box and moving on, but it is so important to acknowledge the work you and your team put in, so that you can continue making change in this world. From me to you - here are some virtual high fives. Nicely done.
RELAXATION
Take some time to down shift. Look at your to do list and calendar and figure out the items that can be pushed down the line a bit (or canceled outright - my favorite!). We cannot function at 150% all the time. There are times for acceleration, but we must also acknowledge and make space for mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual rejuvenation. And July is the perfect time to do that. I may not be your boss, but often the person who needs to give us permission to take a break is ourselves - so while I’m also not you, I’m giving you permission to take the time you need to rest.
REFLECTION
There is nothing like sitting on a beach, staring off into the distance, with a drink in your hand and your laptop firmly shut to give you the time and space for reflection. By all means, do NOT reflect on work in these moments, but also once you’re back from your break, feeling rested and refreshed, try to channel that sense of peace to allow yourself the mental clarity to examine your past efforts to identify areas for improvement. Take time to review data from past campaigns to identify trends and tactics that worked or didn’t work. Meet with your team members to share thoughts on how future campaigns can integrate your observations and ideas.
ORGANIZATION
Ok - here’s the key point: PLAN. I know, I know. BOO. But now is the time to plan for the entire year. You heard me right - take those observations and ideas and make decisions for the next 12 months - NOW. Decide what your campaign themes are going to be, who you’re going to ask for a matching gift incentive, what donor swag you need to order, when you are going to host cultivation events, what technology you need to invest in to make your campaign successful, and everything else in between. The reason we get so burned out in the midst of a campaign is because we are figuring out how to run the campaign while we’re executing it. I also know I’m not telling you something you don’t already know. But the way to get ahead of that is to plan months in advance.
Are you shaking your head in agreement, but still unsure on how to actually create a successful work plan? Then, let’s get organized together!
STEP 1: Build a Campaign and Events Calendar
Write out the months of the year for the next 12 months (you can do 18 months, if you’re feeling ambitious!)
List the events that your organization is already planning to host (concerts, performances, one-off events, sessions, activities, etc) under each month
List the fundraising campaigns that you typically run (Giving Tuesday, Calendar Year End, Fiscal Year End) under each month
Look at the list, and ask yourself some questions - Which of your organization’s events can you leverage for fundraising purposes? Should you add in a cultivation or stewardship event anywhere? Should you run a short campaign at any point? Or, conversely, is there too much going on? Are the goals of one campaign conflicting with that of an event?
Make adjustments, as needed, and then call it done
STEP 2: Create a Task List
For each event and campaign, list out every single task that is required to complete the event or campaign at the most granular level
For a campaign, this can include:
Pulling the mailing list
Drafting the appeal letter
Doing the mailing
Following up with the recipients
Make sure that your task list fully encompasses all of the sub tasks that are required to complete the larger “to dos”. For example, the appeal letter usually requires several rounds of revisions and sometimes needs to be formatted and designed before it is considered final. So, make sure that all of those discrete tasks are worked into the larger task list. This is crucial in ensuring that you are including a comprehensive view of the work that needs to be completed
STEP 3: Put it on the Calendar
Once you have listed all of the tasks for every event and campaign (there are likely going to be A LOT), put them on the calendar!
Start with your campaign launch date or event date and then work backwards.
For example, if you want to launch your end-of-calendar-year campaign on December 1, you need to have the final draft of your eblast ready at least a day or two before, which means that the 1st and 2nd draft need to be completed a week before that (depending on your organization’s approval process). But remember - there’s Thanksgiving! So, you’ll need to take that holiday into consideration when planning out your due dates
STEP 4: Evaluate and Edit
Now that you have laid all of your tasks out on your calendar, take a step back and examine the whole year
Does it seem feasible? Did you overplan? Can you consolidate some of the events or campaigns?
Looking at things holistically, now, before you’ve started executing on anything allows you to be more realistic with your and your team’s bandwidth - and allows you to have conversations with leadership about what is possible for your organization in the coming year
STEP 5: Follow your Plan
You have planned out your entire year! Woohoo!
All you need to do is execute on it
The goal of this type of planning is to allow you to have ownership over your workflow at all times, manage overlapping campaigns and events, anticipate task crunch-time (and ideally empower you to ask for more help or say “no” to non-priorities), and the big one - avoid feeling like you have to function under a constant state of urgency. There are always going to be times when unanticipated obstacles come our way, but by having a thoughtful and thorough plan at your disposal, you’ll be able to tackle the curveballs and your planned activities with ease.
Personally, I’m in the celebration/relaxation phase of summer and will be easing into some reflection and organizing as we head into August. I hope you all have moments to wind down and turn up over the next few weeks, as well.
Stay cool!
Stacy
