Dear , 

Does anyone actually have a slow season anymore? Not likely. Even if your fiscal year is winding down and you've already hit your goals (congrats!) you probably only have from midnight on June 30th until 9 a.m. on July 1st to kick back and relax. 

Nine whole hours before you're "gearing up" for FY24. Luck you. 

Even though the "slow season" has basically become a myth, I hope your organization carves out a bit of down time to accommodate summer vacations and give your hard working teams a break. I'm guessing you've all earned it.

Either way, there are a few things that you can do to make good use of the summer's more manageable pace. Projects that get put on the back burner once things take off again in the fall. 

1) Update your website. Unless you have a web team dedicated to maintaining your site, I can almost guarantee it's out of date. Update the content, finally add the name of the new Development Director that started in December, check for broken links, and test your forms (especially the donation form!). And, if it's been many years since you've had a redesign or a refresh, now is the time to get that started. (I know the perfect designer if you need one.)

2) Clean up your email list. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: list hygiene is so important to your email marketing strategy. Bouncebacks and "never opens" hurt your reputation with email programs; making your messages more likely to go to spam. Make it your summertime priority. Hint: can be done poolside. 

3) Manage your files. Whether you've got a computer desktop cluttered with docs or a furniture desktop cluttered with papers, now is the time sort and purge. It's not your fault that everything went off the rails in April, but now it's time to pick up the pieces. 

There are all sorts of people out there telling you to "do less" and "say no" but I'm here to encourage you to do yourself a favor and tackle these tasks that never get attention. I daresay do more with your downtime. Because the less you have hanging over your head, the more you'll truly be able to relax this season. 

And, as usual, if you need some motivation, I've got you covered. The discovery of this summer-anthem-in-the-making was exactly what I needed this morning. (PSA: do not dance and drive):