Ministries are enabled to serve others because of the generous gifts they receive. Most ministries receive the largest portion of their support in the last two quarters of the year, including 30% in December and as much as 10% on the last three days of the year! So it’s important to devote some attention to making the most of that period.
Having a solid roadmap for the final months of the year can determine a ministry’s financial health and provide strong momentum going into a new fiscal year, including finishing strong and preparing for what’s coming next.
While year-end planning can be stressful, it’s essential for the short- and long-term health of your ministry. This is not the time to leave tasks unassigned or opportunities overlooked, and hope all goes well.
In our experience, the most successful ministries make year-end planning a top priority. They’ve established clear timelines, deadlines, and processes that they can refine and repeat annually.
To help your organization make the most of this season, we’ve put together a calendar and checklist with some best practices to steer you through the process. We’ve arranged it with some key milestones to help you stay on task and on track.
Feel free to print out this poster, order a print copy from us (free of charge), or hang it on your wall and put sticky notes on the right side as you plan. You can also use it as an electronic file and add notes there. It’s meant to engage your team in the planning process and ensure you stay on track to reach your end-of-year goals.
Now let’s look at some of the key aspects of year-end planning: why it is so essential to ministries, what can happen when you fail to plan sufficiently, how to measure your progress, and even how to celebrate when you’ve crossed the finish line.
The Best Year-End Plans Start Here and Now
For many ministries, their board of governance is already asking for a Q4 plan as part of the ongoing development effort.
Whether a proven year-end planning session is already baked into your process or you have a piecemeal system that’s worked okay in the past, there’s always room for improvement. Failing to have a firm plan in place risks putting your ministry on unsure footing as the fiscal year ends and a new one begins.
The best time to start working on a plan was yesterday; the next best time is now. The end of the year will be here before you know it.
Using the milestones on our planning calendar as our framework, let’s look at how each step along the way can lead you to a successful year-end campaign:
Plan
Think about your goal and the roadmap you need to get there. What are the steps you need to take to fill that in?
This is the initial stage upon which the remaining steps are built. This is where you need to make a commitment and let the rest of your team know this is your plan. It’s not enough to have a strategy. You have to collectively decide you will follow it.
Review
Take time to collect data that will be relevant to what you’re trying to accomplish. For example, gather results from previous fundraising campaigns. And ensure you understand how donations varied in prior years.
This step also allows you to pressure-test your plan and see if it’s feasible. A review lets you spot pain points and determine if something is unreasonable and you have to pivot. If you raised $1.5 million last year, is it realistic to plan on raising $3 million this year?
Also, invite others to review what you’ve assembled and make recommendations. Their input will help contextualize the plan so it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. What needs refining? What will make the biggest impact? What will your users expect?
Prepare
This is where you get your ducks in a row. Get a handle on internal resources like head counts, departmental structures, and relevant finances.
Don’t forget about your outside vendors as well. Check with them to see if you’re on the same page. Is their pricing or product lineup going to change? Let them know if you have any major changes in store as well. Are you giving them enough lead time?
Will the budget you’re preparing be able to do what you’re trying to do, and will it get approved? Each of these elements must be considered to prepare a plan that can be properly executed.
Go
All the components that have been mapped out are ready to be put into operation.
This is where the rubber meets the road. Put the wheels in motion and act on your plan. It’s deployment time.
Manage
Nothing ever goes exactly to plan, so be prepared to manage your plan after kickoff. Left unmanaged, your plan will have a hard time staying on track.
To ensure a great end to your ministry’s year:
- Keep tabs on your progress.
- Check your campaign metrics.
- Encourage your team.
- Keep everyone posted on milestones hit or missed.
Tweak
As you manage your year-end plan, you may see areas that need to be tweaked. Look for elements you can refine. Be flexible.
If you’ve fallen behind, you might need to find a way to push harder. If something unexpected arises, you might need to re-evaluate.
Cheer
Whether or not you met your goals, finishing your year-end plan is cause for celebration. It’s been a grind. Recognize the hard work your team has done to reach this point.
Show your gratitude. Take an afternoon and go out to lunch. Throw a pizza party. Share your favorite story from the year-end push.
This sort of celebration also helps us mark God’s provision in our journey. We see throughout Scripture that God wants His people to mark occasions and celebrate them. Working through a process like this can build our faith in Him, as we plan, work hard, measure throughout, and ultimately leave the results to Him. All of the things we learn and accomplish remind us to celebrate His goodness.
Use Proper Planning to Finish Your Year Strong
We know the end of the year is a busy time for ministry. We hope this article and the planning guide will relieve some of that pressure and help you map out steps to make this the best possible conclusion to your year.
Having a reliable plan in place now also makes it easier for you to plan for next year, the year after that, and so on.
If you need a little help developing that year-end plan, Agathon can work with your ministry as part of our overall strategy offering. And if you would like to learn more about other ways Agathon can help your ministry, we’d love to hear from you.