Your NGO Year-End Checklist: 3 Things Every Organization Should Do

Yes, it's the year end again, and It’s the time of the year where NGOs needs to plan, evaluate and be on top, which means the donors are feeling generous, the appeals have been sent out and the donations are (hopefully) flowing in!

But, as every seasoned nonprofiteer should know, the work is far from over. Now is the time to wrap-up any loose ends and set a solid foundation for next year. A successful year-end wrap-up will help you:

1. Evaluate the year’s performance

2. Engage your constituents

3. Balance your org’s checkbook

All things that should make for a smooth transition in the new year!

We’ve boiled down our best advice into a simple nonprofit year-end checklist that every organization can accomplish before the end of the year.

COMMUNICATIONS: THANK YOUR DONORS

This is pretty common sense and should already be on your nonprofit year-end checklist, but it’s worth repeating because — yes — it’s that important.

You’ll probably be thanking a lot of donors for contributing to your organization. But you should also find time to thank other donors who have contributed throughout the year, even if they haven’t donated in a while.

The message doesn't have to be elaborate — something as simple as a postcard or email expressing your thanks for their support this past year will get the message across. It’s just another opportunity to engage with your supporters and remind them why they contributed to your cause in the first place.

Here are some ideas: Send a postcard Invite them to something (that isn’t a donation!) Use a personalized, creative opening. Record a video message. Send the “thank you” from someone new

Make sure your nonprofit year-end checklist also includes major donors. The end of the year is a great time to thank them for their support, and individual gifts may be especially effective (depending on the donor). Consider creating a list of any donors who have contributed over a certain amount and doing something special to make them feel appreciated.

REPORTING: EVALUATE YOUR PERFORMANCE

There’s a whole year’s worth of data in your system, with all sorts of info about donations, members and donors. Make time in your nonprofit year-end checklist to create, save and export reports that will help you make sense of your performance over the past year — and help you improve next year!

Doing reports now will help you understand your nonprofit’s performance and get a sense of what’s working and what could use some tweaking to achieve maximum impact. This data will be great to have in mind and reference while planning your annual fund and overarching strategy for the year.

You also may want to use information from these reports in your organization’s annual report and other materials to illustrate your impact to constituents and board members. But remember not to get caught up in the visualization of your data. Compelling data visualization can be very effective, but make sure you’re focusing on the story the raw data is telling you before making it look pretty.

TRANSACTIONS: PROCESS ANY MISCELLANEOUS DONATIONS

The end of the year is a great time to process (and follow up on!) any miscellaneous donation and other pending transactions that have yet to be entered into your system. For whatever reason, there are some transactions that fall through the cracks — either because they have to be imported or manually entered, or because you’re not sure how to best process them.

If you’re unsure how to enter certain transactions or confused about the import/manual entry process, there are several resources you can use:

Make it a priority on your nonprofit year-end checklist to deal with these transactions and follow up before the end of the year. It’s important for your fiscal records, and it’s nice to have a clean slate for the new year!

CREATE A NONPROFIT YEAR-END CHECKLIST THAT’S RIGHT FOR YOUR ORG

Every nonprofit is different, and that means your checklist might have some other unique needs on it. But we’re confident that everyone can benefit from these three things, and that they’ll put you on the track to success in the new year.

What else is on your nonprofit year-end checklist? Let us know in the comments!

Brought to you by ABSNET PAMPANGA CLUSTER Capacity Building Committee and SOCIAL SERVICE LEARNING INSTITUTE.

1st Social Service Conference

THE first Social Services Conference and Expo (SocSeCon) was held over the weekend to mark the 12th anniversary of the Philippines’ first and only regional free TV station, Central Luzon TV36 (CLTV36).

CLTV36 partnered with Area-Based Standards Network (ABSNet), the Widus Foundation, and Robinsons Starmills to organize the SocSeCon 2019, which was described as the first of its kind as it brought together non-government organizations, charity groups, foundations, and other stakeholders in the social services sector.

Billy San Juan, CLTV36 vice president and deputy general manager, said the network’s hosting of the first SocSeCon is its way of giving back to the community that has supported them in their journey of providing quality news and entertainment to the region for the past 12 years.

“Our objective is to celebrate our 12th anniversary more meaningfully than our past celebrations. For the past years, we focused on entertainment and reality competitions but for this year, we wanted to be more attuned to the needs of the social sector,” San Juan said.

Various sector leaders and practitioners presented some of the implemented and integrated social services models on topics spanning children’s health, information, entrepreneurship, disaster resiliency, environment, and many more.

Several talks and forums about climate change and environmental preservation, social entrepreneurship, women and children protection and fake news were held to raise awareness among the constituents.

Partner-organizations also put up booths and shops during the whole-day SocSeCon held at the Robinsons Starmills, wherein proceeds from the merchandise sold will go directly to their respective foundations’ beneficiaries.

“There have been many conferences and expos that enjoin different sectors, but none on the social services sector so CLTV36 organized this SocSeCon so concerned organizations and groups can come together and learn from each other,” San Juan said.

CLTV36 and its partners also aim to improve interconnectivity within the sector as well as inspire young participants to become the new generation of social workers and innovators.

CLTV36 may be viewed through free-to-air TV on channel 36, Cignal channel 115, and through its streaming apps on iOS and Android.

March 27, 2019 APC Officers Meeting

The meeting was held at La Rose Noire Foundation Inc. Our APC President Gerald Legaspi gave the 2019 White T-Shirt for APC.