Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Year end used to feel
like a marathon.
I didn't sign up for Directmail, email, social posts, maybe
even a radio spot, all runningat once because we had to stand
out in the noise.
And just when I thought I wasjuggling it, finance would come
sprinting over hair on fire,reminding me that every last
number and expense had to beentered before January 7th or
(00:22):
the books would be off.
And somewhere in there I'd getroped into planning the holiday
party too, because everybody whodoesn't work in fundraising
knows that all we do is plan andattend parties.
And then January didn't bringrelief.
It brought tax receipts, theannual report and the next
appeal to launch the work.
Never let up, it just shiftedshapes.
(00:44):
Maybe you've lived that too thepileup of campaigns and
deadlines that all matter andcome all at once, the frazzled
scramble to keep every piececonsistent and clear.
And when your brain and yourbandwidth are stretched thin and
here's what I've learned Yearend doesn't have to feel like
survival mode.
(01:05):
There's a rhythm that can carryyou through with steadiness,
even in the busiest weeks.
So let's talk fundraising.
What I remember most isn't themailing calendar or the appeal
drafts.
It's the exhaustion, the sensethat, no matter how well I
(01:27):
planned, the work keptmultiplying.
Every time I crossed somethingoff the list, three new tasks
popped up, and the truth is itwasn't just me.
That's the reality.
For most fundraisers.
Year-end is when everythingconverges Campaigns that bring
in the majority of yourunrestricted dollars, leadership
pressure to close the fiscalgap, finance deadlines,
(01:49):
stewardship expectations,holiday distractions all hitting
at the same time.
And if you've ever lived likeyou were in survival mode from
October through January, you'renot alone.
It's not because you'redisorganized, it's not because
you don't care.
It's because the load is biggerthan one person or even one
team can carry without a reallygreat structure.
(02:12):
And here's the quiet truth Ihad to learn the hard way.
Year end doesn't reward lastminute heroics.
It rewards steady rhythms.
Think about it If you waituntil December to write your
appeals, you're so far behind.
If you wait until the lastminute to map your donor
segments, you'll either skipsegmentation or send something
(02:34):
rushed.
And if you only start thinkingabout stewardship once gifts
start arriving, you'll drown inthank yous and feel guilty the
whole time.
Survival mode says I'll figureit out when I get there, but all
that does is guarantee franticweeks, late nights and work you
don't necessarily feel all thatproud of.
Steady rhythm says I'll buildthe foundation now.
(02:58):
So December feels calmer.
And here's the thing Buildingthat rhythm doesn't have to be
grand or complicated.
It's not about creating a40-page year-end playbook.
It's about simple, repeatablesteps that give you clarity and
consistency before the rush hits.
And that might look somethinglike blocking one hour a week in
(03:19):
September to review donor listsand decide which segments are
going to get what messages.
Drafting a basic calendar thatshows how mail and email and
social are going to line up soyou can see the flow before
you're buried in it.
And it might look like writingone evergreen stewardship
message now so you're notscrambling to thank donors in
(03:40):
the middle of your busiest week.
Those small rhythms don't takeaway the pressure completely
your end will always be full butthey give you a foundation to
stand on.
They make the differencebetween frazzled and focused.
And I'll be honest, I didn'talways get this right.
There were years when I toldmyself I'll pull it together in
(04:00):
December and what that reallymeant was nights at the office,
emails I wasn't proud of and aholiday season where my family
got the exhausted version of me.
But the years when I builtrhythms earlier, everything felt
different.
The appeals were ready beforethe crunch, the stewardship
flowed naturally.
(04:20):
I still worked hard, but Iwasn't brittle, I was steady,
and that steadiness carried intoJanuary when the receipts and
reports came due.
So here's the principle I wantyou to hold on to Year-end
success doesn't come fromworking harder in December.
It comes from building rhythmsnow that carry you through the
(04:42):
busiest season with steadinessand clarity.
And that's what sets us up totalk about AI.
Because, when used with care,ai doesn't add more noise to
your year-end.
It helps you hold the rhythm.
It becomes the assistant thatkeeps your voice consistent,
your messaging clear and yoursanity intact.
(05:03):
When I look back at thoseyear-end seasons, what I
remember most is the feeling ofbeing pulled in every direction
at once Appeals to finalizesocial posts, to schedule
finance, panicking aboutdeadlines, staff asking about
the holiday party, and thenJanuary waiting with tax
receipts, reports and the nextappeal already looming.
(05:25):
And for so long I thought theonly option was to muscle
through it.
Stay later, work faster, pushharder.
But here's the truth.
I wish I had known earlier.
Survival mode is not a strategy, and that's where AI has become
such a steady presence for me.
Not as a magic solution, andnot as a replacement for my
(05:46):
judgment, but as a co-creator, asecond set of eyes, an
assistant that doesn't ever gettired, and let me tell you what
that looks like.
When I was preparing for thisepisode, I went back to those
old memories of year-end prepand I thought about the sheer
number of moving parts thedirect mail, the emails, the
social posts, the partnerpublications.
(06:07):
Every piece had to beconsistent, every piece had to
sound like us and every piecehad to build on the one before
it.
But then, as a solo fundraiser,I didn't have anyone to review
everything with me.
There was no communicationsteam to double-check tone or
strategy partner to say thismessage fits here, but not
(06:29):
really there.
It was me late nights readingdrafts, hoping I hadn't
contradicted myself somewherealong the way.
Now I have ChatGPT and whatthat gives me is peace.
I can drop in a set of draftsand simply ask do these feel
consistent in tone?
Does the messaging flowlogically from one piece to the
(06:51):
next?
Did I accidentally change mycall to action halfway through?
And within minutes I havefeedback Not perfect and
certainly not final, but a clearreflection that helps me catch
the little cracks before theywiden.
And that's rhythm Not rushingfrom task to task, hoping I'll
remember everything, butreturning to a steady process.
(07:14):
That gives me confidence andclarity, and here's why that
matters.
Without rhythm, year-end prepbecomes chaos.
You jump from one piece toanother, you second-guess
yourself, you waste hoursrewriting instead of refining
and by the time December ends,you're so wrung out that you
can't even celebrate what reallywent right.
(07:36):
With rhythm, year-end prepbecomes steadier.
You know you have a co-creatorhelping you hold the through
line.
You know your messages align,you know you're not forgetting
key steps and, instead offrazzled, you feel focused.
That's the dual win I keepcoming back to.
The practical win, of course,is time saved, consistency
(07:58):
protected and clarity gained.
The emotional win is the peaceof mind, the confidence and the
steadiness.
Both of these matter becausethis isn't just about efficiency
.
It's about how you feel duringthe busiest weeks of the year.
And here's the key.
Ai doesn't need to do everything.
It doesn't need to write yourwhole appeal or run your whole
(08:20):
campaign.
What it does is hold the heavystarting points and keep
watching over the consistency soyou can do the human work that
only you can do.
It's like having an assistantwho never gets tired of
proofreading.
An intern who never rolls theireyes when you ask them to check
alignment.
A strategy partner who alwayshas time to talk through ideas.
(08:42):
That's what it feels like whenyou use AI with care.
And it doesn't stop withchecking drafts.
During year end, ai has becomemy strategy assistant.
I'll say here are the channelsI'm using mail, email and social
.
Here are the dates I need themto drop.
Can you map out a sequence sothat they build on each other?
(09:03):
And within moments I have adraft calendar.
Again, it's not perfect, it'snot finished, but it's a rhythm
I can refine instead of startingfrom scratch.
Or I'll take the raw copy of anappeal and I'll ask something
like can you suggest threesubject lines that still sound
like me?
Or show me what this would looklike condensed into a social
(09:25):
post?
Suddenly, instead of staring ata blank screen wondering how to
adapt one piece of writing intothree different formats, I have
options in front of me, optionsI can edit and trust and put
into play quickly.
That's the kind of support thatmakes a real difference,
because it frees me to focus onthe donor experience instead of
(09:46):
drowning in the logistic.
And here's another place AI hassteadied me, catching
contradictions During year end.
When I'm juggling so many pieces, it's easy to accidentally
shift tone.
Maybe the first email ishopeful and confident, but the
second one drifts into panicbecause I wrote it at midnight.
Or maybe one letter asks donorsto join us, while the next says
(10:10):
stand with us.
And suddenly the call to actiondoesn't feel consistent.
Ai helps me spot those thingsbefore they go out the door.
I can ask do these soundaligned, or where might I be
repeating myself?
It's like holding a mirror upto my own writing, one that
reflects back the patterns Ican't see when I'm buried in the
(10:31):
deadlines.
That reflection gives me peace.
It reminds me that I don't haveto hold every thread in my head
all at once.
I can let the rhythm carry someof it for me.
And that peace it's priceless,because year-end isn't just
about hitting goals.
It's about how we show up forour donors, our teams and our
(10:52):
families in the middle of it all.
Imagine what it would feel likethis December to know that your
appeals were drafted weeks inadvance, to know your
stewardship notes were alreadymapped, to know your messaging
was consistent across mail andemail and social, and to walk
through the season not withpanic but with presence.
(11:13):
That's the steadiness that AImakes possible.
And that's exactly why I builtthe Fundraiser's AI Starter
Suite, not as a tech-heavycourse, not as another thing for
you to figure out, but as a setof rhythms designed to carry
you, to help you face year-endwith clarity instead of chaos,
to give you the kind of peacethat I had wished I had in those
(11:36):
years when survival mode wasall that I knew.
It's not hype and it's notmagic, it's just rhythm, and
it's a rhythm that carries youthrough.
And we've talked about howchaotic year-end can feel the
appeals, the social posts, thedeadlines from finance, the
receipts waiting in January, andwe've talked about how AI can
(11:57):
help hold the rhythm waiting inJanuary.
And we've talked about how AIcan help hold the rhythm, giving
you clarity and consistencyinstead of chaos.
But now I want to pause on themindset piece, because this is
where so many of us get stuck.
The limiting belief I see mostoften, and the one I carried
myself for years, sounds alittle something like this I'll
figure it out when I get therein December.
(12:18):
Have you ever told yourselfthat?
I know I have.
It's usually came with amixture of resignation and
denial.
I think, yes, the calendar isfilling up, but I'll find the
time.
I'll power through when I needto.
I always do.
But here's what really happenedwhen I leaned on that belief
(12:38):
December would arrive and,instead of calmly executing a
plan, I was scrambling.
I was staying late, rushingdrafts, second-guessing my
decisions.
My family got the brittle andexhausted version of me, and my
donors got hurried communicationinstead of thoughtful
stewardship, and my January wasspent digging out of the hole
(13:00):
that December left me in.
And maybe you've lived someversion of that too.
The pressure mounts.
You tell yourself you'll rallyat the last minute and then you
pay for it in exhaustion andguilt and relationships that
feel frayed.
And I want to say this clearlythat belief the belief of I'll
figure it out in December is atrap.
(13:20):
It keeps you stuck in survivalmode, and survival mode is not a
strategy.
So let's reframe that together.
Instead of I'll figure it outwhen I get there.
The new frame is I can buildsteady rhythms now that carry me
through December with focus andcalm.
Do you feel the differencethere?
(13:41):
One leaves you bracing for thestorm and the other leaves you
anchored before the storm evenarrives.
And this reframe isn't aboutbeing perfect or planning every
detail months in advance.
It's about simple and steadyrhythms that you can really
trust.
Here's what that looks like.
Imagine opening your Decembercalendar and seeing not a
(14:03):
mountain of unknowns but asequence of steps that you've
already mapped.
Your appeal drafts are finished, your donor segments are clear.
Your stewardship messages arequeued up.
When finance drops theirlast-minute request, you have
the bandwidth to respond calmlyinstead of frantically when the
holiday party planning somehowlands in your lap.
(14:23):
It's annoying, but it's notcrushing, because the essentials
are already handled.
That's the power of rhythm.
It gives you breathing space inthe busiest season.
And let me be honest hereBuilding rhythm early doesn't
mean you won't work hard.
Year end is still full, thedeadlines are real but it does
(14:43):
mean you'll work from a place ofsteadiness instead of scarcity.
You'll move through the seasonswith confidence instead of
constant reactivity, and that'swhat your donors need from you.
They don't need perfect appealsor flawless emails.
They need your presence.
They need communication thatfeels thoughtful and consistent.
They need to feel like theymatter, not like they're one
(15:06):
more task on your endless list,and that's what your family and
your own soul need from you too.
They need you steady, not wrungout, present, not distracted,
able to enjoy the season insteadof enduring it.
Ai is one of the tools thatmakes that possible, because it
removes the bottlenecks thatused to keep me stuck in
(15:29):
December.
It gives me drafts to refineinstead of blank pages to dread.
It checks for consistency, so Idon't waste hours
second-guessing myself.
It checks for consistency, so Idon't waste hours
second-guessing myself.
It maps out flows so I can seethe whole campaign clearly
instead of piecing it togetherat midnight.
And here's the mindset shift.
Beneath all of this, Trustingrhythm doesn't make you less of
(15:52):
a fundraiser.
It makes you more present as ahuman being, because the truth
is, donors don't rememberwhether every word was
handcrafted at 2am.
They remember how you made themfeel and when you build rhythms
early and you support wisely,what they feel is steadiness,
presence and genuine gratitude.
(16:14):
So let this sink in.
You don't need to wait forDecember to figure it all out.
You don't need to scramblethrough another year end and
hope you survive.
You can build a rhythm now thatcarries you through with focus
and steadiness and peace, andthat's the reframe I want you to
hold on to From frazzledsurvival to focused rhythm, from
(16:38):
scarcity to steadiness, fromI'll figure it out later to.
I can breathe now, becauseyear-end doesn't have to be
something you dread.
It can be something you walkthrough with clarity and calm,
and that shift starts not inDecember, but right here and
right now.
(16:58):
Here's what I want you to carrywith you.
Year end doesn't have to besurvival mode.
It doesn't have to be theseason where you lose sleep,
rush your words and hope you'llmake it through.
It can be steady, it can befocused, it can even be the time
when you feel most grounded inyour role, not because the work
(17:23):
is smaller, but because you haverhythms that hold you.
And the truth is those rhythmsdon't build themselves in
December.
They're built now, in the weeksleading up, one small step at a
time, one rhythm layered onanother until you can breathe
again.
For me, that's what AI hasbecome Not a flashy trick, not a
replacement for my judgment,but a rhythm I can return to
(17:44):
when the calendar gets heavy, aco-creator that helps me stay
clear and consistent when I'mcarrying more than any one
person really should, and thepiece that gives me is worth
more than any shortcut or latenight push.
If you're ready for that samesteadiness, I would love to walk
with you inside theFundraiser's AI Starter Suite.
It's not a tech seminar.
(18:06):
It's a set of simple, saferhythms designed for fundraisers
who want to step into year endwith confidence instead of chaos
.
One short lesson is all ittakes to feel the shift by
Friday.
One short lesson is all ittakes to feel the shift by
Friday.
You can find the link in theshow notes or by visiting my
(18:27):
website atletstalkfundraisingcom.
Forward slash starter suite.
And if this episode offered youany relief today, would you take
a moment and leave a five-starrating and a thoughtful review?
Those reviews aren't justnumbers.
They help this podcast reachother fundraisers who are
carrying the same load you are.
And if you haven't subscribedyet, that's another quick step
that helps both of us.
It means you never miss anepisode and it signals to the
(18:50):
platforms that theseconversations are worth sharing
with more fundraisers.
So this week, as you look atyour year-end calendar, I hope
you'll hear this gentle reminder.
You're not behind.
You don't need to scramble yourway through December.
One steady rhythm at a time isenough.
Next Monday, we're going tozoom out to the bigger picture.
(19:12):
We'll talk about what it meansto build a foundation that
steadies you in every season offundraising, not just the
busiest ones.
It's about creating the kind ofclarity and confidence that you
can carry all year long.
Until then, take one small stepthat steadies you, let it give
you back your breath.
That's enough.
(19:32):
See you soon, my friend.