6 Step Checklist for a Strong End of Year

We are almost at the end of the year, nonprofit superstars!  Today, let’s focus on what you can get done in the next month and a half that can make a HUGE DIFFERENCE!

Finishing up your grant reports; creating an end-of-year report; sending out your annual appeals – doesn’t it seem like there is a never-ending list of things to get done by December 31st?  It’s important that you finish up the year strong so that your nonprofit organization is not only compliant but well ahead of the game when the new year rolls around.  And if the rest of the year is anything like the past few months, it will fly right by so getting a jump on it now will put your mind at ease, allowing you to enjoy the holidays and a bit of well-deserved rest.

So do yourself a HUGE favor and set yourself and your nonprofit organization up for a strong year end finish.

Here’s how:

 1.  Financials

Sit with your bookkeeper, CFO or CPA and do an overview of your YTD financials. Some things to look out for:

• Ensure grants are classified accurately
• Verify that expenses are allocated properly
• Check that income/revenue is classified properly – individual gifts vs restricted grants vs corporate sponsor revenue and so on

2.  Donors

Make sure that your donor database is up to date with all notes and touch points.  Some of the donor related tasks that you should be thinking about:

• Run your End of Year Gift Reports or Summary Receipts for donors
• Your Donor Touch Plan should be completed for the upcoming year
• Holiday cards – will you be sending them this year?  Who should sign? And don’t forget to add these touches to your donor database
• End of Year Report or Annual Report – here are some samples of great reports from Nonprofit Marketing Guide

3.  Compliance

Staying on top of compliance tasks will really help you to feel in control and reduce the “survival mode” mentality that we can so easily fall into.  These are just a few of the things you can check on:

• Sunbiz Profile – ensure yours is accurate and that you have submitted amendments for new directors, officers, and any address or registered agent changes.
• Guidestar Profile – review and enhance any sections that might seem a bit weak. Your donors and funders are always checking up on your presence in databases such as Guidestar
• Schedule important deadlines – work backwards to ensure you have your annual 990, solicitation of contributions registration and annual report with state deadlines on your calendar
• Document Retention Plan – eliminate any documents you can discard/destroy but be sure to check your organization’s retention plan before doing so

4.  Fund Development

It’s never too soon to work on your fund development plan or annual development plan for the coming year.  In fact, the sooner you get your mind around the tasks you have coming up, the sooner you can get your board to help, delegate tasks to your team and schedule the tasks you are going to have to take on yourself.  Work on these fund related areas now:

• Development Plan  –  invest some time into building this out (we like this template for creating a fund development plan from Joyaux Associates)
• Current Strategic Plan – you may want to bring some highlights of the current plan to the attention of the board for the last board meeting of the year or the first of next year.
• Grants – Review grant report deadlines and schedule as needed

       – Schedule grant deadlines for next year

5.  Board Development

You may already held your final board meeting of the year but it’s still worth ensuring that you’ve taken care of these items in preparation for next year:

• Schedule board and committee meeting dates and send out invites
• Share the upcoming events calendar with the board as well as the advisory board
• Ensure that signing the Conflict of Interest Policy is on the board agenda for first meeting of the year
• Schedule meetings that will focus on board recruiting
• Ensure board has a copy of the approved budget for next year
• Ensure board members have all had an orientation

6.  HR, Marketing and Vendors

• Staff Reviews – check the due dates for staff reviews for the year and complete any that are outstanding.  Add any new review dates to the calendar.
• Marketing Plan – meet with your team to work on next year’s marketing goals
• Vendor Contracts – review pricing and where possible negotiate your existing contracts

SOME HELPFUL TIPS:

● Share this list with your board and team
● If your organization is small, committees and board members can help you complete some of the items on the list

and most importantly, take a breath and celebrate all of your accomplishments this year.  You are a NONPROFIT NINJA!!!

Feel free to download the PDF version of this checklist to share with your team and colleagues!

Kannico EOY Checklist