When Your Campaign Wants to Take a Summer Vacation

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Yesterday morning, I took my house hippo, Wallaby, for a walk.

Well...I tried to take Wallaby for a walk.

About halfway through, he simply laid down. Right in someone’s front yard. Not injured. Not tired. Just...done. He rolled onto his side, looked at me as if to say, "I'm not going anywhere," and that was that.

I laughed because, honestly, campaigns can feel exactly like that during the summer.

You start the year with momentum. Your campaign calendar is mapped out. Donor conversations are happening. Committee meetings are moving forward. Then June arrives, and suddenly everything feels just a little...different.

One donor is at the cabin. Another is traveling overseas. A board member's family vacation has been on the calendar for months. Your executive director finally takes a well-earned week off. Every other email seems to begin with, "I'm out of the office until..."

Meanwhile, your campaign goal hasn't changed.

Neither have your deadlines.

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Summer carries a different kind of weight.

One of the things I hear most often from nonprofit staff this time of year is that they feel guilty. Everyone around them seems to be embracing a slower pace, while they're still carrying the mental load of the campaign.

A capital campaign doesn't end when you close your laptop for the day. It lives in the back of your mind. You're thinking about the donor who hasn't responded, the meeting that still needs to be scheduled, whether you're on pace to hit your next milestone, and what one delayed conversation might mean for the months ahead.

That mental checklist doesn't disappear simply because it's a beautiful day outside.

And that's where summer becomes challenging. The world is inviting you to slow down, while your campaign keeps quietly tapping you on the shoulder.

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Here's the good news: summer isn't supposed to feel like spring.

I think we sometimes judge ourselves because June doesn't look like March.

It shouldn't.

Every season has its own rhythm, and campaigns do too.

Summer isn't always the season for packing your calendar with donor visits or pushing hard toward commitments. Sometimes it's the season for strengthening the foundation underneath the work.

It's a chance to refine your case for support, prepare for fall solicitations, reconnect with committee members, clean up your prospect strategy, write the thank-you notes you've been putting off, or simply spend time cultivating relationships without immediately moving toward an ask.

Progress doesn't always look like another gift commitment.

Sometimes progress looks like thoughtful preparation.

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Don't mistake a slower pace for a stalled campaign.

I often remind clients that fundraising isn't manufacturing. We aren't pulling a lever and expecting the same output every week.

Campaigns are much more like tending a garden.

There are seasons for planting. Seasons for growth. Seasons for harvesting. And there are seasons where the work is quieter but no less important.

Summer is often that tending season. You're keeping relationships healthy, staying connected, and making sure everything is ready for the energy that naturally returns in the fall.

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Give yourself permission to campaign differently.

That doesn't mean lowering expectations or abandoning your goals. It means recognizing that successful campaign leadership isn't about maintaining the exact same pace twelve months a year. It's about knowing when to push and when to prepare.

So if your campaign feels a little like Wallaby lying down in the middle of the walk, don't assume something is wrong.

Take a breath. Look around. Adjust your expectations for the season you're actually in, not the one you wish you were in.

The meetings will happen. People will come back from vacation. Calendars will fill again. And the work you've done quietly over the summer will often make your fall stronger than if you'd spent the entire season worrying about what wasn't happening.

Sometimes the smartest thing you can do isn't drag the campaign forward.

It's to understand the season you're in—and be ready when it's time to walk again.

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Frances Roen is the Founder of Fundraising Sol and a fundraising consultant with two decades of experience. She is deeply passionate about relationship building, individual donor work, and supporting nonprofit professionals’ health and wellness to enable them to deliver their best work.