For most charities and associations, the end of the year is generally a slow period. Before you leave 2015 behind you, why not take a few moments at year’s end to set yourself up for a more organised and productive new year in 2016?

Get clarity by clearing your workspace. Begin your new year with a clean start by getting rid of the clutter. File away papers and reports that have been piling up on your desk. Organise your workstation so that items used most often are easily within reach when you return. Gain physical space by archiving older files that are rarely used. Throw them away if you have digital copies and it’s past the date you are required to keep them, or move to a secure storage space.

Ease stress by bringing order to your virtual reality. End chaos by tidying up your virtual space. Check your inbox and save important documents in files that you name and organise by topic. Delete spam, unimportant messages and old programs which you no longer use. Doing so will help you find things more easily in the New Year, and can even improve your computer’s processing speed.

Wrap up incomplete administrative tasks. Start the New Year off right by resolving old business. Make a last check of your reconciliations. Make certain that accounts receivable and payable, are up to date. Make certain that minutes of meeting have been collected and signed and bank statements and cancelled cheques have been received and filed away.

Create a plan to stay on top of important deadlines. If you haven’t already, create a calendar for 2016 that lists important deadlines for required filings and payment of various regulatory fees. Include the dates of any fundraisers or other important activities that will be coming up in 2016. Don’t forget to post the dates for grant proposals as well. This step can help prevent you from putting things off as well as help your non-profit to save money. As filing and paying licenses, taxes and other items late can add hefty fees.

Increase security. One of your duties as volunteer treasurer is to ensure the safety and security of your non-profit’s funds, assets and information. Take a few moments to go through all of your accounts and update your various passwords. If you haven’t already, consider enabling two-factor verification to make it more difficult for hackers and other unauthorised persons to access your files, accounts and online profiles.

Refresh and update your non-profit’s website.  The end of the year is the perfect time to roll out a new look for your non-profit’s website. Take some time to evaluate what is and isn’t working well, and delete broken links and outdated information. Make certain to update your site to include buttons that make it easy to sign-up for updates, volunteer, donate, support and share.

Strive for Improvement. Conduct a self-evaluation and review of your work for 2015. Were there areas that you fell short or processes that you could improve? Make a list of areas of weakness and steps you plan to take to improve your performance. Look over your list throughout the year to make certain that you are staying on track. Doing so will help you to get work done in 2016 in a speedier and more efficient manner.

The beginning of a new year can bring a flurry of new activity and deadlines for many non-profits, making it a busy, hectic time for the unprepared. A few moments of planning and action at the end of 2015 will help you to begin 2016 with a more organised and less stressful start so that your entire year is more efficient and productive.