Well I’m actually writing this newsletter in early November because I am about to head out on an epic 3 week much needed vacation and won’t return to work until the day this newsletter comes out- apologies in advance to those of you who will be haunted with my beach pics for the next 3 weeks!
This month we’re going to talk a little about some of the thing we should be doing in December to get ready for the new year that’s sure to be as wild as we’ve ever seen.
Digital Audit
Now is a great time to look at your analytics from this year and glean any insights you can use as you plan for next year. Here’s an example of an audit template that I created for a training a few years ago. Make a list of all the platforms and tools you are using and ask if yourself if you should continue to use them, replace them with something else or just sunset them completely.
Revisit Your 2025 Strategy Documents and Update them for 2026
I use this grid spreadsheet to outline strategy- look back at what you set as your goals for this year- did you meet them? If so, great now set goals for next year. Did you not meet them? Why not? Make sure to take this into account when setting new goals for next year.
Prepare a Content Calendar Plan for Next Year
There’s no better time to start planning content for Q1 of next year than now. As always, all content calendaring is done in “pencil” to allow flexibility for rapid response moments and campaign pivots, but better to have a plan to start with than to operate in complete chaos. Into Action Lab has a great calendar they make available to everyone that can help you plan for key moments next year.
Schedule Some Content for Holiday Week
Most orgs are closed the week between Christmas and New Years, this is a good thing and for some it’s totally ok to go dark on social and email for the week. For others, you’ll want to have some content scheduled and ready to go so you can enjoy your week off. I will often use this week to replay some of our greatest hits from the year on social. For email I’ve seen many successful fundraising mini series that highlight some of the big wins from the past year and asking folks to ante up for another successful year.
With that, I’m off to my vacation adventure. I hope you get to enjoy some downtime this holiday season! See you in 2026!