Break-dancing into the New Year

As the new year rolls around, many of us make promises to be healthier, more organized, or more productive—classic New Year’s resolutions. However, as we all know, these resolutions often fade by February. Why do so many resolutions fail, and what can we do differently?

How Did This Get Made? is a podcast hosted by Paul Sheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas that reviews some of the worst movies ever made. One hilarious episode reviews the 1984 film Body Rock. Here’s the synopsis from IMDB: “Chilly is just a guy from the streets with a talent for break-dancing. When his wicked moves catch the eye of an industry pro, Chilly finds his dreams of fame and fortune coming true, for better or for worse.”

During one tangent in the podcast where they debate the merits of break-dancing, including how hard it is to perform the moves well, June says, “Just because something is difficult doesn’t mean it’s good.”

So what does this have to do with fundraising, resolutions, and the New Year? If you’ve ever broken your professional or personal New Year’s resolutions, you’re in good company. Most of those failures share one thing in common – we set audacious goals that require a high level of behavior modification and consistency in order to succeed.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, this strategy can quickly become overwhelming, leading us to give up before we can make meaningful progress. Or we make progress but lack the energy to maintain it. But as we learned with break-dancing, something that is challenging does not automatically translate to being of high quality or worthwhile.

Make some SMART goals, create habits, and use your calendar to plan and schedule those actions as reminders (for example, sending a note to major donors). Can you sustain what you commit to this month, later this year, and then next year too? If you are reaching out to your major donors on a monthly or quarterly basis, can you maintain that level of engagement into 2026 and beyond?

Especially in 2025, as our community and nonprofits continue to recover from Helene, consider the value of making small, sustainable goals. One simple goal: attend the monthly AFPWNC programs!

Happy New Year!