Your first 90 days: a working plan

This is a working template. Copy it, fill in the brackets, and put the dates on your actual calendar. It assumes the truth about first months: you will be tempted to launch something new immediately, and almost everything valuable in your first 90 days is quieter than a launch.

The plan has one goal: by day 90, you know your donors, your donors have heard from you, and you have one honest page of numbers. Organizations have been funded on less.

Before you start: the two ground rules

1. Nothing new for 30 days. No new event, no new campaign, no new

letterhead. Everything already promised to donors still ships on time.

1. Listening is the work. It will feel like you are not doing anything.

You are doing the thing everyone before you skipped.

Days 1–30: Learn the room

The records audit. Find every place donor information lives.

• Our gift records live in: [SYSTEM / SPREADSHEET / DRAWER]
• Records I trust / don't trust: [NOTES]
• Number of donors who gave in the last 12 months: [COUNT]
• Number who gave the year before but not since: [COUNT]
• The thank-you process today, honestly: [WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS, AND HOW FAST]

The money map. One page, last three fiscal years.

• Total raised each year: [YR1] / [YR2] / [YR3]
• From individuals: [%] · grants: [%] · events (net, be honest): [%] · other: [%]
• The trend I notice: [ONE SENTENCE]

The listening tour. Book these in week one, hold them by day 30.

• [ ] Executive director / pastor / head: "What must not break this year?"
• [ ] Board chair: "What does the board believe about fundraising?"
• [ ] Longest-serving colleague: "What has been tried, and what happened?"
• [ ] 3–5 current donors (see script below)
• [ ] The person who answers the phone: "What do donors call about?"

The donor listening script. Call your most loyal donors, not your largest. Ask for nothing.

"I'm [NAME], the new [ROLE] at [ORGANIZATION]. I'm not calling to ask for anything. You've supported us for [YEARS] years, and I'm trying to learn from the people who know us best. Can I ask what first connected you to us, and what we've done that mattered to you?"

Write down what they say. Their words become your appeal letter in month three.

Day 30 milestone: [ ] One page written: what I found, what worries me, what I will do next. Share it with your director. Honesty now buys trust later.

Days 31–60: Stop the leaks

Fix thank-yous first. Before any new revenue work.

• New standard: every gift acknowledged within [48 HOURS / YOUR TARGET]
• Who signs: [NAME] · Who mails/sends: [NAME]
• [ ] Rewrote the receipt letter so it reads like gratitude, not an invoice
• [ ] Top [10] donors get a handwritten note or call, every gift, no exceptions

Clean the top of the list. Not the whole database. The top.

• [ ] Top [25] donors: contact info verified, giving history summarized, one

line each on what they care about

• [ ] Lapsed-but-loyal list built: gave [3+] years, missed the last one.

Count: [N]

Re-open quiet relationships. The lapsed-loyal call, asking for nothing:

"I'm new in the seat, and going through our records I saw you supported us for years. I wanted to say thank you. What we've been up to lately: [ONE SENTENCE]. I'd love to send you [THE NEWSLETTER / AN UPDATE], would that be welcome?"

Many will give again within the year. Not because you asked. Because you noticed.

Day 60 milestone: [ ] Thank-you system running at target speed. [ ] Top-25 list clean. [ ] [N] lapsed-loyal conversations held.

Days 61–90: First moves

The first ask. Small, clean, and grounded in what you heard.

• Audience: [SEGMENT, e.g., last year's donors who haven't given this year]
• The story I'll tell (from a listening call): [WHOSE WORDS]
• The specific invitation: [$X DOES Y]
• Ships on: [DATE]

The one-page dashboard. Start the habit before the numbers are impressive.

• Raised year-to-date vs. last year: [$] / [$]
• Donors year-to-date vs. last year: [N] / [N]
• Retention so far: [%]
• Top-10 pipeline: [WHO, LAST CONTACT, NEXT STEP]

The 90-day report. One page to your director and board: what you found, what you fixed, what you asked, what came in, what is next. Numbers included, spin excluded.

Day 90 milestone: [ ] First ask out. [ ] Dashboard exists. [ ] Report delivered. [ ] Next quarter sketched: [THREE PRIORITIES]

What deliberately is not in this plan

No gala. No new logo. No CRM migration. No strategic plan. Month four exists, and it will be better informed than month one. The first 90 days are for the foundation the flashy things stand on: records you trust, donors who feel seen, and one page of honest numbers.

If you finish this template with every bracket filled, you are ahead of most development programs in the country. That is not flattery. It is how low the bar is, and how much room that leaves you.

Evidence and adaptation note

This is a working tool, not a universal benchmark. Replace every bracketed field and example number with your organization's facts. Composite cases are labeled; their figures illustrate the method and should not be cited as sector results. Check legal, tax, privacy, employment, and accounting language against current guidance and your jurisdiction before adoption.

Primary references for review

Use these as verification starting points. The named reviewer still owns the final interpretation and must confirm that each source is current.

• IRS, Substantiating charitable contributions: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/substantiating-charitable-contributions
• Association of Fundraising Professionals, Fundraising Effectiveness Project reports: https://afpglobal.org/fepnews