It's October 1, the beginning of our new fiscal year! Sounds boring, right? For us, it's a reason to celebrate. Here's why: - Many nonprofits operate on a calendar year (Jan 1 - Dec 31), and Blood:Water has, as well.

- Many nonprofits also receive more than 25% of their entire annual revenue in the final 3 weeks of December because of Christmas giving and tax-deductible deadlines - putting tremendous pressure on the organization in a concentrated season.

- This is also falls in the same the time when nonprofits must programmatically close out the year and plan for the year to come.

- By changing our operating year to a new fiscal year (Oct 1 - Sept 30), our organizational rhythm changes for the better. It puts our biggest fundraising months in the first quarter instead of the last, giving us better revenue planning for the rest of the year. It gives us the summer months to be focused on performance evaluations and key performance. It allows us to singularly focus on fundraising from Oct - Dec. It gives the nonprofit a sustainable rhythm for the year.

Organizational health and work flow matter. It takes a lot of work to change internal operating systems, but it is worth fighting for.

We had a party in the office to celebrate our new fiscal year. More than anything, this particular Oct 1 is a milestone for us because it is our official acknowledgment of moving from a start-up organization (BWM 1.0) to one that is focused on scale of performance and impact (BWM 2.0). Our team is ready, and we can hardly wait to dive into FY2013.