My favorite nonprofit planning quotes

Here are some of my favorite quotes about planning.

The significance of a man is not in what he attains but in what he longs to attain. Kahlil Gibran

If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.  Yogi Berra

Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ballpark. David Ogilvy

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. Thomas Jefferson

Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity. Henry Hartman

If you can dream it, you can do it. Walt Disney

Plan your work.  Then work your plan.  Anonymous

Do you have a favorite quote on planning?  I’d love to hear it!  Click on the comment link and share.

3 words for 2010

I see a few friends who are setting their intentions for the year by choosing 3 words from Seth Godin’s new guide “What Matters Now.”  I thought I’d do the same.

There’s something powerful about setting an intention.  Whether it’s what you want from a meeting, a relationship, or this year, getting clear and declaring your desires will help you get them.

Instead of choosing 3 words for me, I thought I’d choose 3 things I want for you.  Here they are:

1. Focus.  There are so many distractions these days, from constant email to Twitter to hundreds of interruptions throughout the day.  I want you to be able to be crystal clear about your goals (both personally and professionally) and then give them your full attention and energy. Having clear focus about what you’re trying to achieve will help you say “yes” to those things that move you forward and “no” to those things that don’t.

2.  Gumption.  Initiative.  Resourcefulness. Spunk. It’s that thing that  force that moves you forward.  Believe that you can reach your goals and then go for it!

3.  Tough-mindedness. In Seth’s guide, it’s defined as “the ability to draw lines and boundaries  within which we  protect and preserve  the mental and emotional space to do our work and to be true to our selves. It’s about self-discipline and focus and perserverance.  And it will help you move forward in fulfilling your organization’s mission.

Think about what this year might hold if you grabbed these 3 words and took them to heart.  Think of how you could expand your fundraising efforts.  Think about how you might fulfill your organization’s mission.

Will you take on these 3 words for your year?  What do you think?

A dozen living lessons for 2010

Happy New Year!  The thing I like about a new year is the chance to start anew.  It’s like having a fresh, clean piece of paper to write on – anything is possible!

I thought about offering you some resolutions to make your 2010 great, but resolutions have kind of a negative connotation.  So instead, I’ll share with you some ways I plan to live my life in 2010 and if you see any that resonate with you, you can adopt them, too.

• Treat everyone with respect.
• Live with 3 Es – Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
• Spend more time playing and less time worrying.
• Learn something new every day.
• Don’t over do – respect your limits.
• Dream more while you’re awake.
• Make peace with the past so it won’t spoil the present.
• Tell your family you love them every day.
• Laugh often.
• Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful, or joyful.
• No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
• Each day, do something nice for someone else.

2010 will be what we make it.  Let’s make it the best!

My 2009 blessings

I’m pausing today to reflect on 2009 and I realize how blessed I’ve been this year.  Many wonderful things have happened and many incredible people have come into my life.  I think there’s something very valuable in stopping regularly to count my blessings.

Here are just a few things that have warmed my heart this year:

• Watching my oldest daughter graduate #6 in her high school class.
• Being recognized on the street in New Orleans at the AFP conference in March by someone who reads my blog!
• Hearing from former client and friend Daniel that they are still using what I taught them and raised more than twice their goal at their annual breakfast this year!
• Riding my horse in my first cattle roundup.  Such fun!!
• Watching multiple clients raise astonishing amounts of money through the mail this year.
• Being in Moscow in October and participating in a brain storming session for a Russian professional fundraising organization.
• Being asked to speak at the Tennessee State Habitat for Humanity conference – for the 3rd year in a row.
• Teaching a reluctant client how to write grants; helping him with his first grant; and hearing him 6 months later talk like a seasoned grantwriting pro!  Go Steve go!!
• Watching my youngest daughter direct the high school marching band on the football field.  She’s so tiny, yet has such a big presence!
• Hearing multiple clients on multiple occasions thank me for helping them. 
• Seeing big change happening with these same clients!!  This is what I live for!!

The list could go on and on.  Like I said, I’m very blessed.

How about you?  What amazing things have happened in your life this year?

Wisdom to share

Here’s a list of daily routines that a friend sent me.  I think there’s a LOT of wisdom in this list for me!  See what it has for you.

1. Go to bed ontime.  Get your rest.  You’ll feel better when you do.

2. Get up ontime so you can start your day unrushed.

3. Say NO to projects that won’t fit your timeline or that will compromise your mental health.

4. Delegate tasks to capable others.

5. Simplify and unclutter your life.

6. Allow extra time to do things and get places.

7. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together.

8. Take one day at a time.

9. Live within your budget.

10. Have backups (extra car key, extra house key, extra stamps, etc.)

11. Do something for the Kid in you everyday!

12. Get organized so everything has its place and everything is in its place.

13. Write down thoughts and inspirations.

14. Listen to music that makes you happy and makes you want to dance.

15. Laugh.

16. Laugh some more.

17. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it most!).

18. Talk less; listen more.

19. Sit on your ego.

20. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.

Monday Morning Motivation

Life isn’t much more than a big dig through layers of doubt and fear into new levels of power and potential.

What can you do today to overcome doubt or to push through fear?  You may find something totally amazing on the other side.

The gift of Ghandi’s shoes

Mohandas [Mahatma] Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), the great Indian statesman and spiritual leader is noted for his unusual humanity and selflessness, which this story epitomises.

Gandhi was boarding a train one day with a number of companions and followers, when his shoe fell from his foot and disappeared in the gap between the train and platform. Unable to retrieve it, he took off his other shoe and threw it down by the first. Responding to the puzzlement of his fellow travellers, Gandhi explained that a poor person who finds a single shoe is no better off – what’s really helpful is finding a pair.

How will you give someone a ‘pair of shoes’ today?

Monday Morning Motivation

Sometimes you just don’t know how you impact someone’s life.

The work of your nonprofit is important.  Don’t forget that.  You never know when a kind word, a smile, or a warm handshake is just what someone needs.

Recently, my daughter had a friend over for dinner.  This is actually pretty common – we have various teenagers at our house on a regular basis.  As we were setting the table and giggling, this young girl confessed that she was really nervous the first time she had dinner with us a week or so before.  “Why?” I asked her.  She said she had never had a “sit-down” dinner before and wasn’t sure what to expect.

I was stunned.  As we talked, I learned that her homelife was much less than ideal, and learned what a positive impact our family had been on her.  The amazing thing to me was that we were just being ourselves.

I can think of lots of times that I’ve volunteered at soup kitchens or given away food baskets and been thanked profusely by the people on the receiving end.

This time of year, use every chance you get to spread the warmth of the season in your actions, your words, and your smile.

Words from the wise

In preparation for the onslaught of company at my house this week, I’ve cleaned off my dining room table.  It serves as a catch-all for the mail and other junk we bring in.  In the stack of mail is a newsletter from my horse vet.  He’s about 80-something years old and still makes farm calls.

In his newsletter he writes “Someone told me that if you get a job you ike, you don’t work a day in your life.”  He goes on to say he wouldn’t swap jobs with anyone and wants to keep practicing until he’s 100.  (Works for me – he’s a great vet!).

Can you talk about your job with that level of enthusiasm?  I know I can!  I love the work I do, because it changes peoples’ lives.  Sometimes directly and sometimes not.  But when I can show someone how to do a better job of fundraising, they can do more to fulfill their organization’s mission and change their part of the world.

Passion is a key element of successful fundraising.  If yours has faded, it might be time to find a way to fan your flames a bit.  I suggest you start by just acknowledging all the things you’re grateful for (it’s the season after all!).

So let’s hear it – what are you grateful for?

Monday Morning Motivation

Saw this on Twitter this morning and just loved it:

“Don’t be afraid to try, remember…Amateurs built the ark, Professionals built the Titanic.”

Thanks to @PhilReinhardt for that.

Too often, we get all worked up trying to be perfect or do something perfectly.  (I’m really guilty of this!!)  All we need to do is our best and it will be good enough.  We don’t have to be perfect to change someone’s life.

Have a great week!

Monday Morning Motivation

Since it’s the middle of Fundraising Season and I know everyone is busy, I’ll keep this short.

Nonprofit work is all about changing people’s lives.  When we do a good job of fundraising, we enable our nonprofit to do its work.  It’s quite simple.  Do your job and you change someone’s life.

Now, go ask someone for a gift!

Monday Morning Motivation

I received this from my friend Barb Talisman recently.  It’s so good, I wanted to share it with you.

In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her 70-something birthday. Oprah asked her what she thought of growing older. And, there on television, she said it was “exciting.”

Regarding body changes, she said there were many, occurring every day…..like her breasts. They seem to be in a race to see which will reach her waist, first. The audience laughed so hard they cried. She is such a simple and honest woman, with so much wisdom in her words!

Maya Angelou said this:

   I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

  I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

  I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.

    I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as ‘making a life.’

  I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

    I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.

  I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

  I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one.

  I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

  I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.

  I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Monday Morning Motivation

A new day and a new week are breaking.  It’s a new chance for us to raise the funds that change people’s lives.

Remember that when you do you job – when you visit donors, when you tell your stories, when you give donors the chance to give – you are making a difference in the world.  For some of the people you serve, this may be the exact turning point in their lives that so depsrately need.   And you are helping to make it happen.

So, when you have a full inbox and lots of phone calls return, keep in mind who you are ultimately doing those things for.  People are depending on us – so go raise some money!

Monday Morning Motivation

Here’s a little Monday Morning Motivation for you.

The best exercise in the world is reaching down to lift others up.

Sometimes we can get so immersed in the details of our work that we lose sight of the most important thing – changing people’s lives.  After all, isn’t that what nonprofit work is all about?  Remember to remind yourself of that when things get hectic and the phone keeps ringing and you’re down to your last nerve.  When you do your job well, people’s lives are changed and made better.

For more motivational quotes, follow me on Twitter.  I post a bit of motivation every afternoon about 3 pm eastern.  http://twitter.com/SandyRees

3 key mindshifts to overcoming your fear of asking for a gift

Happy Fundraising Season!  Between now and the end of the year is a great time to make some individual asks.

If the thought of asking someone face-to-face for a donation scares you, terrifies, or paralyzes you, you’re not alone.  Lots of people would rather do most anything else than ask someone for a donation!

But it doesn’t have to be that way.  If you understand where your fear is coming from, you are well on your way to overcoming it.  And it CAN be conquered!!

• Fear is about uncertainty. When we don’t know what might happen in a particular situation, we tend to get scared and hold back.  When you ask someone for money, you don’t know what will happen and your mind starts to fill in the blanks for you.  “This person will think I’m a pest” or “They won’t like me anymore” might be the stinkin’ thinkin’ going on inside your head. Acknowledging this is the first step in getting it out of your way.

 

• Diffuse the power of the fear by thinking through the consequences.  What’s the worst thing that can happen if you ask for a gift?  Will the donor laugh at you?  Will they kick you out of their office?  Probably not.  More than likely, the worst thing that will happen is that they will say “No” to your request.  If that happens, can you survive it? (I’m thinking you will.)

 

• Fire up your passion. Remember why you said “Yes” to the organization in the first place.  Something compelled you to agree to fundraise for this particular cause at this particular time.  Know this: when you step through your fear and share the burning beliefs of your heart, you will be furthering your organization’s mission.  For example, when I worked at the local Food Bank, I knew that when I did my job, people ate.  It was that simple to me.  And that helped me be strong to do the things I was timid about doing.  Deep in my heart, hunger was and still is an important issue.  When I plugged into that, it helped me overcome my fears around fundraising.

Need more help?  Check out my training kit “3 Keys to Successful Fundraising in Good Times and Bad”.  It’s a 60-minute audio CD and workbook designed to help shift your mindset and set yourself up for success. $49  www.getfullyfunded.com/products.

What will your attitude help you see?

I believe that our attitudes about our work have a direct impact on the bottom line of our fundraising.  When you view work as a necessary evil or something you ‘have’ to do, it comes through in the quality of your work.  When you work because you love your job and care deeply about your cause, it shines through in every newsletter, fundraising letter, and ask you make.

It’s all in how you view things.  Your positive attitude can help you see things in new and different ways. Here’s an example of how I chose to look at work recently.

This weekend, my Mom decided to pick beans from our garden.  Again.  Seems like we’ve picked beans every other day and frankly, I’m tired of it.  I’m grateful that we have such a wonderful garden, but I had other things planned than bending over bean bushes in the blazing heat on Saturday morning.  But, I knew I needed to help her, so out I went.  When the beans were all picked, she decided we better can them because there were so many.  Sigh.  Okay, so I fetched a couple dozen jars from the basement and we started breaking beans.  A good many of them had bug bites and with my trusty knife, I sliced them off. 

Until I picked up this bean:

I instantly yelled “Hey!  Mickey Mouse!”  We started laughing and had to save that bean to show the rest of the family later (doesn’t take much to entertain us!).  We spent the afternoon together and shared a good many laughs.

The point is this:  I didn’t see just another bean with 3 bug bites.  I saw something fun.  Instead of grumbling about having to mess with beans and punt my plans for the day, I was open to what life would bring.  And it brought me a wonderful day spent with my Mom, plus a dozen+ jars of home-grown green beans to eat this winter.

Being willing to be flexible at work is a very valuable trait.  And that willingness stems from a positive attitude about your work. 

What can you do to help yourself be more positive about your work so that you can see something new? 

You never know what you might find!

Are you making mistakes?

In the July/August 09 issue of Advanding Philanthropy, there’s a great article about learning from your mistakes in fundraising. The article talks about ways you turn mistakes into learning opportunities.

In my own experience, I’ve made plenty of mistakes! I always try to learn all I can from those mistakes so I can avoid making them again and become a better fundraiser.

One of the best things to do when a mistake is made in your Development office is to identify exactly what went wrong, NOT whose fault it is. Focus on the process, not the people. When you can pinpoint the place where the error was made, you can put policies or procedures in place that will prevent it in the future.

Mistakes are not a bad thing. I know some people that are so careful to not make mistakes that they hardly move forward. I believe that if you aren’t making mistakes at least occasionally, you aren’t pushing the envelope hard enough and you’re not raising as much money as you could be.

What do you think? Click on the comment link below and share your thoughts or experiences with mistakes.

In celebration of Father’s Day

I had a really neat experience for Father’s Day.  I got to attend a Habitat for Humanity home dedication for a single dad and his son.

Home dedications are always wonderful, warm events, but this one was particularly special for many reasons.  It was so neat to see this young man doing everything he could to make a home for his little boy.  It was clear that there was a lot of love between the two as the blond-headed boy clung to his Dad during most of the short ceremony. 

This dedication came on the heels of a very successful fundraising event – one where many staff and volunteers were outside for most of the day on Saturday.  To see the dedication of these folks two days in a row was inspiring!

Hats off to Loudon County Habitat for Humanity!

Coping with tough times

Last week was one of the hardest weeks I’ve had in a long time.  It seemed like every piece of technology I touched either broke or failed.  I realized quickly how dependent I am on things like email and internet access.

It would have been very easy for me to give up and throw in the towel (and boy did I feel like it a couple of times!) but I chose to keep plowing forward.

Do you ever feel that way?  Like no matter what do, things are working against you?  And no matter what you try, it doesn’t make any difference?  I sure felt that way a few times last week.  I was tired and had more than my share of “challenges”.

In the end, I perservered and things are back to normal now.  (Yay!)  My solution was to drop back a step and take care of myself – I needed to rest and clear my head and have some fun.  Some time outside was a wonderful antidote for me!

What do you do when times get hard?  Be prepared, because life’s road does get bumpy from time to time!  Click on the comment link below and share your secets.  You never know when you might share the exact thing that someone else needs to hear.

4 Tips for Avoiding Burnout on the Job

Stress and burnout are two big issues for fundraisers.  It’s so easy to get wrapped up in your work that you forget to take care of yourself.  I know I’ve sure been there! 

There was a great article in Grassroots Fundraising Journal lately about handling burnout.  Here are some tips from the article:

1. Every time you think of a task, write it down.  This will help clear your mental clutter and helpyou concentrate.

2. Make an agreement with yourself about what time you’ll stop working each day.  And stick to it.

3.  Eat a social lunch.  Don’t eat lunch at your desk.  You need the break.

4.  Build a support network for yourself.  Meet regularly with colleagues to share frustrations and tips.  This is one of the best things you can do for yourself!

Do you have a tip to share with others to handle stress and burnout on the job?  Click on the comment button below and tell us about it!

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