What I'd get off my plate before September
Hi Reader, As crazy as it seems, August is probably the last quiet-ish month you'll get (I say "quiet" knowing full well that yours isn't!). From September on it all lands at once - fall appeal, board meetings, events, year-end... Most advice will tell you to use August to get ahead. Here's what I'd do instead: use August to get lighter. 1. The report nobody reads. You know the one. You build it every month, you send it out, and nobody has ever asked you a single question about it. I'd ask the two people who receive it whether they actually use it. If they hesitate, that's your answer. Cut it to five lines or let it go. 2. The meeting that's really a status update. If the meeting exists so people can hear what happened, it's an email. Your calendar is about to get eaten alive, and this is the easiest thirty minutes you will ever get back. Now is the time to have that conversation, while it's still low stakes. 3. The donor segment you keep saying you'll get to. I get it. They've been on your list since February. But the reality is, if it hasn't happened by August it probably isn't happening this year. I'd move them to a lighter touch plan on purpose. Carrying the guilt into Q4 doesn't cultivate anybody. 4. The event that costs more than it raises. Run the real numbers, including your hours. If it nets less than a focused month of donor outreach would, this might be the year to say that out loud, while there's still time to change course. None of this is about doing less work. It's about walking into your busiest quarter without dragging four things behind you that you already knew weren't working. If you want a clean way to map what fall actually needs to look like, I have the Fundraising Work Plan that walks you through it. As a subscriber you get 25% off with code SUBSCRIBER at checkout. Pick one this week. Just one! And I'm curious: what's the thing you already know you should drop but haven't? Hit reply and tell me. I'll probably relate more than you'd think! Cheers,
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