As the end of the year creeps closer, nonprofit teams often find themselves overwhelmed, scrambling to meet bold goals with dwindling energy. In this candid episode, I walk you through a powerful mid-year capacity check process that helps you avoid Q4 burnout—and hit your year-end targets with clarity and intention.
I dive into why year-end chaos really begins in the summer and how capacity blindness can sabotage even the best-laid plans. I also share a step-by-step process you can use right now to recalibrate your goals, protect your team’s bandwidth, and stay aligned with your mission.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Why “capacity blindness” derails execution—even when your goals are realistic
- How to run a simple yet powerful capacity check with your team
- What mid-year planning can reveal that annual planning often misses
Key takeaways:
- Capacity blindness is not about setting bad goals—it's about underestimating the labor, time, and money needed to meet them.
- Cognitive simplification protects us in the short term but leads to chaos later without a structured override.
- A mid-year capacity check brings visibility to hidden resource gaps and lets you recalibrate before burnout sets in.
The Mid-Year Capacity Check: Step-by-Step
- Break Down Goals into Tasks
List every activity required to achieve each goal—no matter how small. Think copywriting, email design, board prep, stewardship steps, etc. - Estimate Time, Money, Ownership
For each task, estimate how many hours it will take, who will do it, and what it will cost. - Assess Current Capacity
Ask: Does the person responsible actually have the bandwidth? Is the funding secure? How maxed out are people already? - Expand the Definition of Capacity
Can you use templates, bring in board members, or lean on partners to lighten the load? - Make Strategic Adjustments
If capacity doesn't match your goals, now's the time to pivot—not in October when it's too late.
Resources Mentioned:
- 🧭 Reset Your North Star Mid-Year Planning Toolkit
A complete toolkit for reassessing your goals, tracking progress, and aligning resources.
👉 richiebabbage.com/midyearreset - 🗂 Post-it Planning System
A fun, structured strategic mapping process to help you build an actionable plan for the next quarter.
👉 brookerichiebabbage.com/postitplanning
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