Summer Doesn’t Have to Kill Your Pipeline. Here are Five Ways to Make Summer Work.
It’s summer.
These are the things I hope for you right now:
That your calendar is full of PTO requests (including your own)
Half-day Fridays are shortening your week
An inbox that feels quieter than usual
But with mission-driven sales and fundraising, this can create anxiety, like you are in a holding pattern. Your prospects are on vacation. Colleagues are out. And if anything is going to get done, you probably feel like you have to do it alone.
Resist that urge, my Type A friends. You don’t have to go it alone.
Others among you may simply feel the heat and want to shut down.
Don’t go into hibernation in summer.
Summer is actually a great time to re-center your team, reset your pace, and get clear on the kind of support that sustains your work.
Busting Bootstraps: What It Really Means
You don’t need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. That "just push through" mentality is a lie. It leads to disconnection, burnout, resentment and inconsistent results. This work is a team sport, and summer is the perfect time to step back and ask:
“How do we support the people doing the asking?”
Here’s how to keep the momentum going and support your team while you do it:
1. Set Micro-Goals, Not Big Pushes
Look at your capacity. Instead of one big goal, create micro-goals with workable flows of activity to support them. Some of the favorites I’ve seen:
Focus on deepening relationships - One organization I work with is making ask plans for all of their leads so they know how to jump into action when August comes to a close.
Cleaning up CRM data - I kind of want to put this in all caps. I mean, USING YOUR CRM AS YOUR SOLE SOURCE OF TRUTH IS THE KEY TO GROWING YOUR REVENUE. I want everyone to spend one afternoon a week all summer doing this.
Testing new messaging in low-stakes ways - Another organization I work with is onboarding a new digital marketer and trying out new messaging on different platforms and with different groups. Nothing crazy, but good info as you move into fall campaigns.
2. Check In, Don’t Check Out
Meetings in summer are as unpleasant as warm beer at a ballgame. For the month of July and August, replace 75% of strategy meetings with 15-minute team check-ins. Ask only:
What’s working?
What’s slowing you down?
Who needs backup this week?
Then, change it up for the fall. I’m a big fan of time-limited meeting series to stay connected without overloading the calendar.
3. Make Relationship Work the Priority
For fundraisers especially, many people aren’t ready to give right now and that’s okay. Summer is a great time to invest in stewardship: handwritten notes, “thinking of you” emails, or low-key coffee check-ins. These small acts keep donors warm and connected without a hard ask.
4. Celebrate Visible Progress
Sales and fundraising can feel invisible when you’re between asks. Make time to name wins, even if they’re small:
LinkedIn comments that are definitely not the AI suggested ones
A prospect who booked a fall meeting
A teammate who helped write a killer follow-up email
5. Respect the Season
People are tired. Encourage true breaks without checking in during them. When you are rested you are better storytellers, better listeners, and better at closing the ask.
Summer isn’t a slow-down. It’s a reset.
Use it to bust the myth that good fundraisers "go it alone" and instead build systems and cultures that center care, clarity, and community.
Want more tools for mission-driven sales and fundraising?
Check out The Fundraiser Impact Method — my course designed to help you raise more while doing less of what drains you. We are finishing up the 2025 cohort and will release the 2026 application in September.