What to Include in a Mid-Year Fundraising Check-In

What should a mid-year fundraising check-in cover?

A mid-year fundraising check-in should tell you, clearly and quickly, whether your fundraising plan is on track and what needs attention before year-end. For a small nonprofit, that means looking at results, not just activity.

Start with the basics: how much you raised, how many gifts came in, which channels worked, and where you may need a course correction. If you use a platform like HeartBridge, this is also a good time to review donation forms, recurring giving, campaigns, peer-to-peer fundraising, ticketed events, volunteer management, sponsorships, your donor CRM, and AI-assisted tools like campaign builder, donor engagement suggestions, grant writer, thank-you notes, and impact reports.

If you are comparing systems or planning a change, you may also want to review platform features and pricing before the second half of the year begins.

What numbers should you review first?

Begin with the numbers that show whether your fundraising is healthy. Keep the list short enough that your team can actually discuss it.

Keep the review practical. If a number is down, ask what changed: the message, the audience, the timing, the form, or the follow-up.

Which donor trends matter most?

Your mid-year fundraising check-in should go beyond total revenue. A small nonprofit can learn a lot by looking at donor behavior.

Review new donors, repeat donors, recurring donors, and lapsed donors. If you can, compare first-time gifts with second gifts, because that is often where retention work starts. A useful follow-up read is How to Ask for a Second Gift After a Donor’s First Donation.

Also look at donor source. Did people come through a campaign page, an event, peer-to-peer fundraising, text-to-give, or a direct email appeal? That tells you where to invest your next round of effort.

If your CRM can store donor records and import CSV files, this is a good time to clean duplicates, update contact details, and flag major supporters for personal outreach.

How should you review campaigns and channels?

Not every fundraising channel deserves the same amount of attention. Your check-in should show which ones are doing real work for your organization.

• Donation forms: Are gifts completing smoothly, and are the forms easy to find?
• Recurring giving: Are you asking donors to set up ongoing support often enough?
• Campaigns: Which appeals brought in the most gifts or the strongest response?
• Peer-to-peer fundraising: Did participants actually share their pages?
• Ticketed events: Did the event raise money after costs and staff time?
• Text-to-give: Is it useful for your audience, or just another tool to manage?

If you want to expand one channel, make that decision based on evidence from the first half of the year. If you want to simplify, cut the channels that create work without producing results.

What should you check about fees and processing?

For small nonprofits, the net amount matters as much as the gift total. Your mid-year fundraising check-in should include a review of processing costs and how they affect your bottom line.

With HeartBridge, each nonprofit connects its own Stripe account, HeartBridge is never merchant of record, and there is no per-gift platform fee. Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30 applies to each transaction. That makes it easier to see what you actually keep from each donation.

If your board or treasurer is comparing options, review the fee structure carefully before making changes. If you are evaluating other platforms, ask vendors direct questions about processing, payout timing, and whether donors can cover fees.

For more context on payment setup and reconciliation, see What Merchant of Record Means, and Why It Matters and How to Reconcile Stripe Payouts for Your Nonprofit.

How do you turn the check-in into action?

A check-in is only useful if it leads to a decision. Choose a few changes you can actually complete before the next quarter ends.

1. Pick one fundraising goal to improve, such as recurring gifts or donor retention.
2. Choose one underperforming channel to revise or pause.
3. Assign one owner for donor follow-up and stewardship.
4. Refresh one campaign or donation page with clearer language and a stronger ask.
5. Set a date to review progress again.

If you need a simpler setup for the second half of the year, review your tools and consider whether a switch would help. A practical starting point is switching your fundraising platform only after you have mapped what data, pages, and workflows you need to keep.

Do this this week

• Pull year-to-date fundraising totals from your donation system and compare them with your goal.
• Review recurring gifts, new donors, repeat donors, and lapsed donors.
• Identify your top two fundraising channels and your weakest one.
• Check whether your donation forms, email follow-up, and thank-you process need updates.
• Schedule a 30-minute board or staff discussion to decide next steps.

What if your current system is getting in the way?

If your mid-year fundraising check-in shows missing donor data, confusing reports, or too much manual cleanup, the issue may be the system, not the strategy. In that case, document the pain points before you change anything.

Write down what you need to preserve, such as donor history, recurring gifts, campaign records, and exported files. If you are considering a move, a focused resource like How to Preserve Donor History During a Platform Migration can help you think through what to save before making a change.

For organizations evaluating alternatives, compare your current workflow against the tools you actually use. If you need donation forms, recurring giving, campaigns, peer-to-peer fundraising, ticketed events, volunteer management, sponsorships, a donor CRM with CSV import, an embeddable widget, hosted pages, text-to-give, smart emails, and AI features, it is worth checking whether your platform supports the day-to-day work you do.

What should the board hear?

Your board does not need every detail. It needs a short summary that answers three questions: Are we on track, what changed, and what do we need to do next?

Use plain language. For example, you might say that recurring gifts are steady, campaign response is uneven, and donor follow-up needs more attention. Then give the board one or two decisions to make, not a long report to read.

If you want a clean way to brief board members or volunteers, consider using your mid-year fundraising check-in as a single-page scorecard with goals, actual results, and next actions.

FAQ

How long should a mid-year fundraising check-in take?

For a small nonprofit, about 30 to 60 minutes is often enough if you prepare the numbers in advance. The goal is a useful decision, not a long meeting.

Who should be involved?

At minimum, include the executive director, the volunteer treasurer or finance lead, and whoever manages donor communication. If one person handles most fundraising, that person should still bring the data and a few recommendations.

What if we do not have perfect data?

Use the best numbers you have and note the gaps. A mid-year fundraising check-in is a good time to clean records, not a reason to wait for perfect reports.

Should we review every campaign?

No. Focus on the campaigns and channels that matter most to your organization. Too much detail can hide the few decisions you actually need to make.

How do we know whether to raise more money or improve retention?

If your donor base is shrinking, retention deserves attention first. If retention is stable but revenue is lagging, you may need stronger asks, better campaign timing, or a larger recurring giving base.

Can a small nonprofit use this check-in to decide on new software?

Yes. If your reporting, donor history, or payment setup is slowing you down, the check-in can reveal whether a system change would save time. If you are exploring HeartBridge, you can register to review the setup that fits your organization.

Key takeaways

• A mid-year fundraising check-in should focus on revenue, donor behavior, and channel performance.
• Review recurring giving, donor retention, and campaign results, not just total dollars.
• Track fees and net revenue so you know what you actually keep.
• Turn the review into a short list of actions with one owner and one follow-up date.
• If your system is slowing you down, document the problem before you change tools.

A good mid-year review does not just explain what happened. It tells your team what to do next.

For more guidance on fees and platform decisions, see the Stripe fees overview at pricing and the related discussion of platform alternatives if you are comparing options.

Sources

Use these references to support your internal review and board discussion:

• IRS Charities and Nonprofits
• Council of Nonprofits
• Candid