The Year End Goal Plan For Fundraisers

how nonprofits set goals that actually move revenue, relationships, and results. They start with the metric many teams avoid because it can be a rude awakening: donor retention. Tony walks through a simple way to calculate it, then connects the number to what leaders feel every day, time and budget pressure. His reminder lands like a CFO truth bomb: “The data doesn’t lie.” If your team assumes things are fine because a few familiar names show up at events, this episode brings you back to reality and gives you a starting point for a better plan.

From there, the conversation turns to relationship depth. The point is not endless list building. It is quality over quantity, supported by segmentation and donor tiers, and backed by a pipeline you can actually manage. Julia frames it in plain business language: your pipeline is not a vague hope, it is a set of lanes that deserve goals, tracking, and steady motion all year, not a December scramble driven by board pressure and gala season.

They also press into revenue diversification, especially when grant and government dollars can shift quickly. Multiple lanes are not just safer, they keep fundraising work more sustainable for the humans doing it. Then they move to data and tools: a robust CRM, mobile access, timely notes after donor meetings, and capacity building funding that can help pay for the systems and training.

Finally, they tie it all together with culture. A culture of philanthropy means everyone owns the donor experience, including customer service, and teams can celebrate other organizations’ wins without losing confidence.

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