The fundraising activity at most nonprofits runs in cycles, or seasons. Some organizations do the majority of their fundraising in the summer, others in the winter, still others in fall and spring. If you don’t know which season you are, you really should try and figure it out. Especially if the reason you’ve focused your fundraising on year-end campaigns is because “that’s when donors are looking for places for last-minute tax deductions”.
How do you figure out what season your organization is? First, look at your fiscal calendar. Does your fiscal year match the calendar year, or is it something different? If your fiscal year runs July 1 – June 30, you’ll want to make sure at least one big fundraising push happens in the spring, so you’ll make your annual budget.
Over the next few days, we’ll look at other ways to determine your best fundraising season, and what you can do to turn it into your season of fundraising success.
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