10 Journaling Prompts + 5 Trends to Help Your Nonprofit Planning for 2026

You’ve made it to the end of 2025. And if you’re still standing, still showing up, still dreaming about a stronger future for your nonprofit, you’ve already done something remarkable. This past year has been anything but steady. The funding landscape continues to shift. Program expectations keep rising. And while donors, staff, and partners want certainty, what most nonprofit leaders have had to work with instead is volatility. And yet: Here you are. As we close the books on 2025 and prepare for a new year, I want to offer you two things

1. A guided reflection with 10 journaling prompts to help you look back honestly and look forward with clarity

2. A short list of key nonprofit trends you’ll want on your radar for 2026, with trusted resources for deeper reading

A short list of key nonprofit planning trends for 2026 you’ll want on your radar, with trusted resources for deeper reading.

These prompts and trends come straight out of a recent session I led with nonprofit professionals across the U.S. And now I want to pass them along to you. Whether you're an executive director, board member, program lead, or communications strategist, my hope is that these questions will help you reset and reimagine what’s possible in the year ahead.

5 Look-Back Questions: Measure Your Progress Backward

As Dan Sullivan, author of The Gap and the Gain, puts it:

It’s easy to beat ourselves up about what didn’t get done. But that’s not where growth lives. Real growth comes from seeing how far you’ve come. Take a few minutes to journal your answers or bring these questions to your next team or board meeting. They’ll tell you more than a year-end report ever could.

#1 What was your biggest area of personal growth in 2025?

Think about how you’ve changed this year. Maybe you became more confident in your leadership. Maybe you learned to say “no” more often. Name one personal transformation you’re proud of.

#2 What was your most meaningful area of career growth in 2025?

What was your most meaningful area of career growth in 2025? Zoom out. Where did your professional capacity expand? Did you take on new responsibilities, learn a skill, write something you’re proud of, or finally push through a long-standing fear? Celebrate it.

#3 What’s one tangible area of growth in your nonprofit this year?

Despite the challenges, something improved. Maybe you stabilized funding. Maybe you improved your messaging. Maybe you saw your team come together in a new way. Identify that win and give yourself and your team credit.

#4 What pain hit hardest in 2025, and what three lessons did it teach you?

Every nonprofit felt some kind of pressure this year: time, money, morale, alignment. Reflecting can surface wisdom and insights for the future. What are three lessons you’ll carry forward?

#5 What’s one gift 2025 brought to your nonprofit?

Gifts aren’t always shiny. Sometimes they show up as hard truth, forced clarity, or new leadership. But every year offers something good if we look closely enough. What gift did 2025 give you, and how will you keep using it?

5 Look-Ahead Questions: Build a Brighter 2026 with Better Nonprofit Planning

The purpose of reflection isn’t just to feel better. It’s to chart a better course. These next five questions will help you shift from reaction to intention so that your 2026 is better and brighter than the year behind us.

#6 The purpose of reflection isn’t just to feel better. It’s to chart a better course. These next five questions will help you shift from reaction to intention so that your 2026 is better and brighter than the year behind us.

How does your nonprofit feel different in that dream version of next year? More energized staff? Deeper community relationships? A reputation that draws attention without chasing it? Dream big!

#7 If you could only focus on one priority for your nonprofit next year, what would it be?

I know you have 27 plates spinning. But if you had to focus your full energy on just one thing, the linchpin that makes everything else easier, what would it be? What’s at stake if you don’t?

#8 What’s one bold, even insane goal you’d bend space and time to achieve?

Stretch goals force clarity. So forget what’s “realistic.” What’s the goal you wish you could achieve next year, and what would it unlock for your mission?

#9 What’s one activity or belief you need to let go of to move forward?

What’s one activity or belief you need to let go of to move forward?

#10 Choose one word to guide your nonprofit leadership in 2026. Why that word?

Choose one word to guide your nonprofit leadership in 2026. Why that word?

What's Your Next Step in Nonprofit Planning for 2026?

You don’t have to revamp your whole strategic plan today. Just pick one of the journaling questions above and sit with it for 15 minutes. Or bring it to your team. Or copy this post into your notes app and reflect on your next walk.

Whatever you do, don’t let this moment pass by in the rush to the next deadline.

You’ve done hard things before. You’ve kept going when the path wasn’t clear. That’s what makes you the kind of leader nonprofits need. And if you want help thinking through your next move, or if you’re ready to take your communications, fundraising, or internal alignment to the next level, I hope you’ll reach out to me directly at nate@silvermaplestrategies.com. Here’s to a more resilient, mission-focused, and hopeful 2026.