Answer 7 Mid-Year Questions to Reveal Mid-Year Opportunities

We are nearing the mid-year point for organizations whose fiscal year starts in July. Like most organizations, January can be oppressive with the number of goals and to-dos you have to think about. From quick evaluations of holiday giving trends, to requests for next year’s early budget projections, to ongoing pivots tied to the supply chain challenges, the idea of devoting even a few days to looking at Q2 campaigns can feel like the last thing you have time for — but it might be the most important thing you think about.

This is your moment to be opportunistic! We know funds and certain goals may not be movable, but what can you do within the budget framework that meets those goals and gets you results ahead of the next fiscal year? For those of you who remember using coins, it’s time to “shake the couch cushions!”

Questions to Answer to Get You Moving

Each year, work to answer questions about the prior year's performance to assess what's working and what areas there are for improvement.

Holiday Learnings

For most nonprofits, the holiday season represents a major giving season. Seeing how your organization performed during this time can be telling when it comes to how to plan the rest of the. year.

1. What did you learn from the first half strategies and the holiday giving season? Were there digital tactics used in the holidays that you want to employ in Q2?

Compare this year's metrics to last year's. What worked better? What could be improved upon?

Budget YTD Trends & Environmental Factors

Never wait until the end of the fiscal year to assess budget and financial related trends. Be sure to assess YTD information to be able to adjust strategies, if necessary.

2. Where do your core KPIs stand? Are you hitting your new donor goals?

If you're not hitting all of your goals, what could be improved to better reach them? In the middle of the year, you still have time to fix your trajectory so you don't come up short.

3. Where did you see the biggest increase in package costs this year?

Now that you have a chance (hopefully) to catch your breath, it might be time to itemize the impact by component and start looking at different ways to counteract cost increases.

4. For those strategies you couldn’t originally afford to fit into this year’s budget, can you find a way to fund them via creative evaluation?

Audience Audit

It's smart to periodically check on your audience. Has your audience changed? Has their situation changed? Knowing this will help you make the most data-informed decisions to reach them.

5. It’s time to evaluate your LYBUNT strategy. What was their giving status through the holidays?

Are there any surprises in who gave and who didn't'? Did they donate the amount you'd expect?

Creative Budgeting (Caveat: These Might Only Work for Some Organizations)

If you have some wiggle room in how your organization tracks initiatives, can you come up with some creative ways to make the most of your fundraising dollars?

6. Can you fund a June FY25 initiative as part of the FY26 budget?

June isn’t the best fundraising month, BUT there might be something you want to test in June that can impact fall results.

Lead Generation Strategies

Lead generation is an important aspect of fundraising, no matter how mature your organization's donor file is.

7. Have you explored talking with your marketing team about the shared investment value for funded lead generation strategies?

It’s a great time to focus on digital lead gen early in the year so you have those leads to leverage come the fall! Everyone can win and it can take the heat off of one area funding the efforts.

These ideas don’t have to fall squarely on your shoulders. Leverage your agency partner to help with some of these audits/analyses. In your discussions about early FY23 budget prep, integrate FY22 into the discussion. After all, strategies aren’t siloed by fiscal year, so how can you be equally fluid in how the current and future fiscal year budgets support one another?