Maximize the Last 60 Days: Turning a Busy Season into a Strategic One
The Myth of the Right Time
This time of year always seems to move at double speed. Calendars fill with holiday planning, Christmas gatherings and year-end to dos. You, like even the most disciplined of leaders, might find yourself saying…
‘Let’s wait until after the holidays’.
But as we’ve seen time and again, there’s rarely a ‘right time’ in the life of a school or nonprofit.
- Spring brings events and graduations
- Summer brings vacations and transitions
- Fall disappears in a blink
Leaders live in cycles of momentum and recovery, waiting for calm that never fully comes. And when planning continually starts later, it’s easy to find yourself in March still trying to regain January’s focus.
Waiting for calm feels practical, but it can easily (and quietly) become a habit that stalls progress. It conditions teams to wait for perfect alignment rather than create it.
But, what we’ve learned at Mission Advancement is progress creates calm, not the other way around. Forward momentum doesn’t begin with perfect conditions. It begins with clarity.
Leaders who consistently move their missions forward recognize momentum isn’t something you find when life slows down. Momentum is something you build, even in the busiest of seasons.
When organizations take one intentional step before the new year, they enter January with structure, confidence, and direction.
When they don’t, they spend January, and maybe February too, catching up.
Those moments of forward motion reflect a strong leadership mindset: action over pause, even as the holiday season kicks swiftly into gear. That forward action can take many forms from refining a message or re-engaging a donor to clarifying leadership priorities or launching a strategic assessment or study.
In this article, we’ll explore how to maximize the final 60 days as a strategic opportunity and provide practical ways to build alignment and clarity when others are slowing down. To highlight the opportunity, we’ll use the Planning Study as an example, because it so clearly illustrates what’s possible when leaders leverage the moment instead of hitting pause in an effort to wait for calm
Seize the Moment You Have
Nonprofit leaders, believing they’ll have more space and bandwidth in January, are often tempted to wait or hold on meaningful action during the holiday season. But the truth is, time rarely opens up; it only shifts shape.
The final 60 days are full of natural connection points like holiday events, donor thank-yous, Christmas programs, and board meetings. These moments create opportunities to listen, learn, and plant seeds for what’s next.
Maximize the opportunity the season brings and use it to:
- Reconnect personally with your most faithful supporters
- Reflect on the stories, events or moments that sparked connection this year
- Begin framing the next chapter of your organization’s vision
In practice: For leaders preparing for a capital campaign, this is the moment to move from intention to initiation. Getting started on a Planning Study now doesn’t mean more meetings. Starting now means one strategic conversation that allows our team to begin building the foundation: your case draft, interview list, and project timeline.
While you’re leading your organization through the holidays, we’re preparing the groundwork so that by January, your study’s foundation is set and conversations with donors can begin.
Align Leadership Before the Calendar Turns
Alignment is one of the most undervalued assets of leadership. It’s also one of the easiest to build as the calendar year winds down. Boards and leadership teams are already gathering to reflect on the year and discuss what’s next.
That makes now the ideal moment to clarify vision and direction. Ask questions that spark unity and clarity:
- What do we want to be true of our organization a year from now?
- How will we define success beyond dollars raised?
- Where do we feel energy, momentum, or opportunity among our donors?
When leaders take time to articulate these answers together, they do more than set goals, they build confidence and ownership.
In practice: A Planning Study gives structure to this alignment. Through facilitated preparation, our team helps your leadership articulate a shared vision, test assumptions, and make decisions with clarity and confidence.
You don’t need to pause your other responsibilities; we manage the early planning steps, including gathering information, organizing interviews, and refining your case. This allows you to focus on leading well and engaging meaningfully during the holiday season.
Use Small Steps to Build Big Momentum
Momentum doesn’t begin with sweeping initiatives. Momentum starts with small, smart steps that compound over time.
Think of the last 60 days as an investment window. Every hour you put toward focus now saves three in the spring, when calendars tighten and attention fragments.
Here are a few high-impact steps that build real traction:
- Leverage your upcoming holiday events as cultivation moments. A warm invitation, a reserved seat, or a simple thank-you during a holiday event can reignite connection
- Set a January planning session for your leadership team. Use it to align on fundraising priorities and engagement goals before the spring rush begins
- Send year-end gratitude notes. Personal, handwritten messages from leadership
- Reserve calendar space now for early 2026 donor conversations before spring events take over
- Draft a short list of stories to capture. Collect photos or impact quotes that can support your future cultivation and stewardship efforts
- Audit your donor database. Update key contact information and flag missing data to streamline communication next year
- Confirm key leadership roles. Invite two or three champions to help host, connect, or advocate in the coming months
Each action signals intent, and intent accelerates alignment.
In practice: Beginning a Planning Study before year-end is one of the most strategic ‘small steps’ you can take. With one or two short meetings, our team begins the early lift of drafting materials, preparing interviews, and structuring your study timeline.
By contrast, organizations that wait until January often discover that January becomes March. Event planning, budget cycles, and donor luncheons fill the calendar, and what was once a proactive plan becomes a reactive sprint.
Starting now ensures when spring events arrive, your campaign planning doesn’t have to compete with them. It’s already ahead of them.
Let Reflection Drive Readiness
December naturally invites reflection, both personal and organizational. Intentional reflection is a powerful tool for readiness.
Ask yourself and your team:
- Where did giving exceed expectations this year? Where did it stall?
- Which relationships deepened? Which need renewed attention?
- How clearly did our mission come through in the way we communicated, thanked, and invited others to give?
Reflection clarifies what’s working and where focus is needed next. And, that clarity is what transforms a season of busyness into one of strategic preparation.
In practice: A Planning Study channels reflective energy into a formal process. Through case development and donor interviews, you gain insight into how your community perceives your mission, priorities, and readiness for a capital campaign.
The work begins now, but the conversations begin after the holidays when your case is refined, your interview list is set, and your leadership is ready to listen.
Start Now to Enter Next Year Ahead
Every leader has a choice: wait for January to plan or use these final weeks to prepare.
Starting now doesn’t mean rushing; it means positioning your organization to begin strong. The 60 days between now and the new year are an untapped window for strategic progress.
By using them well, you reclaim time later. Instead of building alignment and materials in February and March, you can spend your time cultivating donor relationships and sharing your story with confidence. The organizations that move forward with clarity are those that begin before the calendar turns.
Whether that means launching a Planning Study for a capital campaign or initiating a Development Assessment to strengthen your fundraising foundation, the principle is the same. Progress doesn’t wait for calm.
When you choose to just get started, you discover our team carries the early lift of setting the stage, which leaves you ready to begin the new year leading with confidence, not catching up.
The final stretch of the year can serve as a waiting room or a launchpad. The difference lies in how you use it.
At Mission Advancement, we help organizations prepare for transformational campaigns and sustainable fundraising through people-centered fundraising consulting that builds clarity and confidence, making readiness simple and achievable.
Let’s talk about your needs and your timeline so your next chapter begins before the year does.
