--- title: Why the Best Year-End Fundraising Strategies Use Short To-Do Lists description: Struggling with an overwhelming Q4 task list? Learn how trimming non-donor tasks, streamlining your year-end appeal, and prioritizing top donors drives... image: https://info.amphil.com/hubfs/Social%20Visuals%20(1920%20x%201080%20px)%20(1140%20x%20570%20px).png --- [![AmPhil Logo](https://info.amphil.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/AmPhilizedTrendBiz/images/amphil-logo.png)](https://amphil.com) - [Services](https://amphil.com/services) - [Strategic Planning](https://amphil.com/services/strategic-development-planning/) - [Major Gifts](https://amphil.com/services/majorgifts-accelerator/) - [Direct Mail](https://amphil.com/services/direct-response/) - [Digital Fundraising](https://amphil.com/services/direct-response/) - [Capital Campaigns](https://amphil.com/services/capital-campaigns/) - [Data & Tech Support](https://amphil.com/services/data-technology/) - [Creative Studio](https://amphil.com/services/creative-studio/) - [Talent & Recruiting](https://amphil.com/services/talent-solutions/) - [Donor Advisory](https://amphil.com/services/donoradvisory-services/) - [Planned Giving](https://amphil.com/services/planned-giving/) - [Sectors](https://amphil.com/sectors) - [Faith](https://amphil.com/sectors/faith/) - [Education](https://amphil.com/sectors/education/) - [Policy & Advocacy](https://amphil.com/sectors/policy-advocacy-ideas/) - [Human Services](https://amphil.com/sectors/health-and-human-services/) - [Arts & Culture](https://amphil.com/sectors/arts-culture/) - [Careers](https://amphil.com/careers) - [Events](https://amphil.com/events) - [Master Class](https://centerforcivilsociety.org/master-classes/) - [Conference](https://conference.centerforcivilsociety.com/2024) - [Scotch Talks](https://amphil.com/events/category/scotch-talks/) - [About](https://amphil.com/about-us/) - [About Us](https://amphil.com/about-us/) - [Leadership](https://amphil.com/leadership/) - [Philosophy](https://amphil.com/our-philosophy/) - [Blog](https://info.amphil.com/blog) - [Contact](https://amphil.com/contact-us/) - [Subscribe](https://amphil.com/subscribe/) - [Contact Us](https://amphil.com/contact-us/) Year-End ## Why the Best Year-End Fundraising Strategies Use Short To-Do Lists ![A development team stands around a table discussing how to plan well for year-end fundraising](https://info.amphil.com/hubfs/Social%20Visuals%20(1920%20x%201080%20px)%20(1140%20x%20570%20px).png) Last October I sat down with a development director who had 41 items on her fourth-quarter task list. Only four of those tasks involved a donor touch. She was trying to do it all, straining for a completely clean slate before the new year. She wanted to start in January with a refreshed appeal template, an event, and a database cleanup that had been waiting since March. By Thanksgiving, she was worn out, and her major donor calls still lingered in the background. I’ve watched this pattern play out in many year-end seasons now. My conclusion is that the organizations that finish strong in December are most often the ones that walk into October with the shortest list. Luckily, you still have a few days to fix yours. So, before you jot down another item in your notebook, assess what's already there with the following question: Does this put a real person in front of a donor before December 31st? If the answer is “no,” it can almost certainly wait until January. Here is what that looks like in practice. ## Ditch the Year-End Database Cleanup Cleaning up your donor CRM feels like responsible stewardship in the fall. Duplicates and bad addresses that nobody has touched in years are nagging you, and fixing them would feel like measurable progress. However, a messy database in November is still a messy database in February. The two weeks (or more) you would inevitably spend untangling it are two weeks you did not spend in outreach to the 25 donors who will actually close out your fiscal year. Instead, fix the addresses that are blocking your December appeal mailing. Leave the rest for the new year, and make your database clean-up a spring or summer activity instead. ## Count Your Working Days Take that as a challenge, rather than a threat. Open your calendar and count the working days you have left between now and December 31st. Subtract the holidays, the week your board wants a report, and the stretch between Christmas and New Year’s when your development staff is out. You will land somewhere near 60 (or fewer, once your own calendar is thrown into the mix). The resulting number of days is your real operating budget, and every project you say “yes” to spends that limited resource. ## Stop Over-Editing Your Year-End Appeal Letter Your year-end appeal letter is probably sitting in a review cycle right now. I once watched a two-page letter go through six rounds of board edits and reach donors' mailboxes on weeks late. The organization had given up the early December window to get it, and the version they finally mailed was no stronger than the one from round two. With every pass, the reviewers sanded a little personality off the edges. Set a firm mail date first and then work backward from it. Give your reviewers one or two rounds, a deadline, and a polite but clear message that the send date is non-negotiable. A good letter sent on November 3rd will beat a perfect one sent on December 11th. ## Reinvest Your Recovered Hours into Donor Relationships When you eliminate operational busywork, the time does not automatically land somewhere useful. Decide in advance to allocate those recovered hours toward high-impact donor stewardship: These are the places worth putting your recently retrieved time: - [Contact your top 25 donors](https://info.amphil.com/blog/major-gift-fundraising-an-insiders-guide-to-major-donor-strategy-launching-engaging-and-improving), by phone or in person, with a specific story about what their last gift paid for. - Contact your lapsed donors from last year. This group (LYBUNTs) is the least expensive and most consequential gift you'll open this December. The best part is that neither option requires a committee, a new tool, or a complicated series of commitments.  Plan Your Strongest Fourth Quarter Replacing your wishlist with the practical, unglamorous work of contacting donors may feel uncomfortable, because saying no, even to small things, can feel like failing. But remember, every project you take off the list in September is time you hand back to the people who fund your mission. If you want to talk through your fourth quarter and what belongs on your to-do list, [connect with the AmPhil team](https://amphil.com/contact-us-nonprofit-consulting/) to review your year-end fundraising roadmap and focus your staff on high-yield donor outreach.  It usually takes less time than you would think to get a list down to something you can finish. --- ### About the Author ![Matt Gerken partner of the best nonprofit consulting firm AmPhil Matt Gerken profile photo](https://info.amphil.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Matt%20Gerken.png?width=291&height=294&name=Matt%20Gerken.png)As a partner at AmPhil, [Matt Gerken](https://amphil.com/matthew-gerken/) focuses on overall [development](https://amphil.com/services/strategic-development-planning/) strategy, audits and assessments, and fundraising services. He has a particular interest in [donor advisory services](https://amphil.com/services/donor-advisory-services/), mid-level giving strategies, [planned giving](https://amphil.com/services/planned-giving/), and leveraging and interpreting data to maximize the efficiency and intelligence of his client’s operations. Matt began his career with Teach for America, teaching world history to sophomores in south Texas—still the hardest job he ever had. He also worked as a program director at the [Intercollegiate Studies Institute](https://isi.org/). Matt studied intellectual history at Yale and resides in the Chicago area with his wife, three sons, and one daughter. He enjoys dodging angry Chicago drivers as he bikes to work, reading history and poetry, and amateur astronomy. Connect with Matt on [LinkedIn here](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgerkenamphil/) or contact him anytime at [mgerken@amphil.com](mailto:mgerken@amphil.com).   [![AmPhil\_EOY Fundraising Campaign\_AD 1\_1080x1080](https://info.amphil.com/hubfs/AmPhil_EOY%20Fundraising%20Campaign_AD%201_1080x1080.png)](https://amphil-beyond-the-panic-ebook.webflow.io/) [Download the ebook](https://amphil-beyond-the-panic-ebook.webflow.io/) ###### Tags: [Year-End](https://info.amphil.com/blog/tag/year-end) [End-of-Year Fundraising](https://info.amphil.com/blog/tag/end-of-year-fundraising) [Appeals](https://info.amphil.com/blog/tag/appeals) [Fundraising Strategies](https://info.amphil.com/blog/tag/fundraising-strategies) [Fundraising Tips](https://info.amphil.com/blog/tag/fundraising-tips) ### Previous Post [![Woman in suit smiling at someone out of frame at an corporate event](https://info.amphil.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_215703713.jpg)](https://info.amphil.com/blog/is-your-direct-mail-vendor-actually-working-for-you) [Is Your Direct Mail Vendor Actually Working for You?](https://info.amphil.com/blog/is-your-direct-mail-vendor-actually-working-for-you) ### Interested in our services? 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