It's the first week of October, and Dana at Riverbend Community Food Pantry has last year's $210,000 total on one side of her screen and a blank year-end calendar on the other. In this first episode of Finish Strong, a seven-part series on your year-end campaign, we help her answer the question every executive director asks: "What's our number this year?"

Your year-end goal is a math problem before it's a writing problem. In this episode you'll learn how to:

• Break last year's October–December giving into donor segments and find three numbers for each: how many, what share gave, and how much.
• Build a goal from the ground up (donors × response rate × average gift) so you can show your board where every dollar comes from.
• Find the money already in your file: lapsed donors who said yes once, and monthly donors who are glad to be invited into something important.
• Test your plan against your real capacity using three anchor dates: the letter in mailboxes by mid-November, Giving Tuesday on December 1, and the final days of December.
• Use AI to do the segment math and stress-test your goal, with donor contact information removed first.

Riverbend is a fictional organization, but if you've worked at a small nonprofit, you'll recognize it. Your donors are ready to be generous this season. A clear plan helps you give them the chance.

Resources mentioned

• Finish Strong Full Course
• Free 12 Days to Build a Great Year-End Fundraising Plan