Summer is a season of sunshine, travel—and for nonprofit executives, a strategic juggling act. As board and committee members head to vacation homes, travel abroad, or simply unplug, keeping your organization’s momentum for strategic planning, fundraising and community engagement can feel like a challenge. Add in your own need for rest and vacation time, and it’s easy to see why summer requires a thoughtful approach.
Here’s some good advice for managing the shuffle of summer schedules while still making meaningful progress on your mission.
1. Plan Ahead
Summer absences are predictable. Use that to your advantage. In late spring, share your summer out-of-office dates with your key volunteers and ask them to provide the same for you. Cross-reference the calendars and provide that overview for everyone so working ahead and in between becomes a team effort.
Then, map out key milestones for June through August. Identify what must move forward (e.g., grant deadlines, campaign planning, a major summer event) and what can wait. Compare that with the coordinated schedules and reverse-engineer your timeline to ensure input is gained and decisions are made before calendars get chaotic.
Once you’ve mapped the summer landscape, rethink how your team collaborates.
2. Embrace Asynchronous Engagement
Not everyone needs to be in the same room—or on the same Zoom—to contribute. Consider:
• Pre-recorded video updates from you, your staffing team, or the board chair
• A bi-weekly summary report by email
• Online surveys for board input (We’re doing this right now for a strategic planning assignment.)
• Shared documents for collaborative planning
This allows your volunteers to stay informed and weigh in on their own time, even from a beach chair or a mountain top.
3. Designate a Task Force for Priorities
If your full board or committee can’t focus, ask the board chair to empower a smaller group, a task force, to keep specific priorities moving. This “summer squad” can be authorized to make interim decisions or act on key initiatives. This group can also serve as a sounding board for you, helping test ideas or troubleshoot challenges in real time. Just be sure that all decisions and actions are documented and communicated.
4. Communicate with Clarity and Compassion
Let your board and committee members know what’s expected of them over the summer. I promise you that they do not want to be the weak link or cause delay in advancing your cause. They will appreciate your leadership. Be clear about deadlines but also acknowledge that people need rest. A tone of mutual respect goes a long way.
5. Protect Your Own Vacation Time
You deserve a break, too. Block off time for rest and renewal. Set your out-of-office email message to communicate your return date and an emergency contact. This sets a powerful example for your team and volunteers and your organization will benefit from it.
My experience is that my best ideas and solutions to nagging problems come when I am in a new environment, away from the day-to-day routine. (And most often in the cool mountains of Colorado or North Carolina!)
6. Celebrate Small Wins
Progress may be slower in the summer, but it’s still progress. Celebrate what gets done—whether it’s a successful donor touchpoint, a new partnership, solid survey results, or simply a well-run meeting when the vice chair has subbed for the board chair who is out of pocket.
You’ll be happy with the results. Summer doesn’t have to be a strategic standstill. With a little creativity and coordination, you can keep your mission on track, support your volunteers, and kick off the fall program of work with fresh energy and clear direction.
What one small shift will you make this summer to stay on track and recharge?