Archive for the ‘Personal/Professional Development’ Category

Today is Ash Wednesday which means it’s the start of the Lenten season. Whether you celebrate Lent or not, now is a good time to think about something you can afford to give up in your nonprofit – your poverty mindset.

Most nonprofit organizations were started on a shoestring because someone wanted to help people or change a situation. A vision was cast and the adventure began. Unfortunately, the harsh reality of funding crept up fast, and instead of thinking about how to raise needed funds, founders learn to work within what they have.

It’s like trying to build a house and choosing the manual saw to cut the wood while the power saw sits unused. You’re limited in what you can get done, and everything will take much longer than it needs to.

Way too many nonprofit leaders and staff think small. They look at a book or a training program and say “we can’t afford that.” How about thinking about options and possibilities instead? What if you simply insert the word ‘how?’ Try saying “How can we afford this?” and then brainstorm a list of ways. There are always options.

Poverty mindset stunts a nonprofit’s growth. Adding or expanding programs is tough when you aren’t willing to think big. Think of a food pantry for example. Let’s say they’re serving 50 families a week and they’re satisfied with that. What if we start thinking about the need? How many families are not being served? How many families would the pantry need to serve to totally meet the need? Once the number is identified, fundraising goals should be based on it.

This kind of thinking is riddled with doubt, fear, and negative beliefs. It’s like a gray cloud of gloom that follows you around and keeps you from really moving forward in your organization. It keeps you stuck right where you are in terms of organizational growth.

So how about giving up the poverty mindset and small thinking for the next 40 days and see what happens?

Last Friday, I got to spend the day with financial expert and guru Dave Ramsey. It was his one-day EntreLeadership program and it was well worth the investment of time and money to attend.

I’ve been through his Financial Peace program (and loved it) and had heard from a couple of folks that they got lots from EntreLeadership, so I decided to treat myself to a ticket.

About halfway through the morning, I knew I had to share some of what I learned here with you. Some of this is straight from Dave, some of it has my editorial on it. Either way, I hope you get something good from these nuggets!

What I learned from EntreLeadership:

If you’re a Leader, act like it! Behave with integrity. Be authentic and inspiring. Be a role model and a mentor. If you’re not this, you suck as a Leader.

A Leader inspires others. An entrepreneur takes risk. An EntreLeader causes a venture to grow and prosper.

Your nonprofit will never grow beyond the skills of your Leaders. Organizations are limited only by their Leaders.

You cannot lead without passion. You must care about the work your organization is doing and engage others in that passion.

Passivity is NOT an option. Make bold decisions and move forward. If you don’t make the decision, it will be made for you.

Stagnation will not move your nonprofit forward.

Indecision is made by fear. Indecision is the greatest thief of opportunity.

Set goals and follow them. If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.

Don’t ask your team to set goals when you have none.

Individual team members can’t have goals dictated to them; instead help the team develop their own goals.

Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until yu value your time, you won’t do anything with it.

If you’ve been through Dave’s EntreLeadership program, I’d love to hear what you thought about it. Leave a comment and share.

Don’t you love the start of a new year?  It’s like having a crisp, clean page ready for you to create anything you can dream up.

I hope by now you’ve got some fundraising goals set for the year. (If not, you better get busy!).  Have you set BIG goals?  You should.  Nonprofits that will be successful in 2012 are thinking BIG.  They aren’t being dissuaded by the economy or negative Board members.  They are focused on what’s possible, not what’s impossible. And they WILL be successful!

So, what’s your BIG goal this year?  Try this exercise:  Write down the amount of money you want to raise this year (like $150,000).  Then add a zero at the end (now it’s $1,500,000).  What would you have to do different to raise that kind of money?  You’d sure have to think different, wouldn’t you?  You’d need to get serious about the systems in your office, organize your volunteers, and focus on some major donors.

Now apply that level of big-picture thinking to your goals for 2012.  Feel more doable?  I thought so.

If you need a word of encouragement, please leave a comment here on the blog or better yet, post on my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/getfullyfunded) and let me know how I can support you.   I’m happy to remind you of all the reasons why you CAN be successful this year and keep you thinking BIG!

“All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage, and I promise you something great will come of it.”

This is a line from a new movie called “We Bought a Zoo.”  I saw the preview weeks ago and I can’t get that phrase out of my head.  Maybe because I’m wrestling with a few fears right now and I keep thinking about what difference 20 seconds of insane courage would make.

If you think about it, we have lots of fears: fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of (fill in the blank).  As nonprofit Fundraisers, we have lots of fears too, like

• Fear of asking for a gift and being told “no.”
• Fear of not making our campaign goals.
• Fear of not making budget.
• Fear of what our friends will think if we ask them to support our cause.
• Fear of not being accepted and approved of by our boss or our Board.
• Fear of offending our donors by sending too many appeal letters.
• Fear of wasting money by trying something new.
• Fear of trying something like Facebook or mobile giving because we don’t understand it.

Fear is just worrying about what might happen.  It’s all in our head and can be overcome by a number of techniques.  Right now, the one that’s working for me is to think about what I can do with 20 seconds of insane courage.  In the past few days, I’ve overcome my fears and made things happen because of that.

If you are a Fraidy Cat, and you hide behind your fears, don’t expect to be successful in fundraising.  If you want to get serious about raising big money for your nonprofit, you must work through your fears.  I’ve heard it said that your organization is only as strong as the people who work there, and I believe it.  So, to raise more money, you have to learn to put your fears aside and do what must be done.

What can YOU do with 20 seconds of insane courage?  Can you pick up the phone and make an appointment with a donor?  Can you push on toward a campaign goal?  Can you plan fundraising campaigns now event though naysayers advise against it?

I’d love to know what you think, and if you decide to use the 20 seconds, what happens for you!  Be sure to come back here and share.

Many people are being wildly successful in fundraising these days.  After working with several, I’ve noticed that share a few things in common.

1. The are passionate about their cause.  They believe deeply in the work their nonprofit does and they love seeing loves changed.

2. They are willing to do whatever it takes to see their nonprofit organization succeed.  If that means working long hours, they’ll do it.  If that means dealing with problematic Board members, they’ll do it.  If that means overcoming their fear of asking for money, they’ll do it.

3. They believe that their cause is worth supporting, and they place no weight on the current economy.  They know that there are plenty of people out there who have money to give, so they keep asking.  Some of them stop watching the news because they don’t want all that negativity about the economy.  They focus on the good stuff and on the lives that are being changed by their nonprofit.

You can be a wildly successful fundraiser, too!  Adopt these three attitudes and watch things start to change.

 

 

 

 

My coach uses a lot of great, sticky phrases.  They’re sticky because they’re easy to remember.  One of my favorites is “Take a No Excuses Approach.”

Her point is that when you really want something, you should go after it, full out.  No excuses.  No “I don’t have time” or “I’m too tired.”  None of that.  It’s amazing how much we don’t do because we talk ourselves out of it.

What would happen to your fundraising if you took a No Excuses Approach?  Would you raise more money?  No doubt that you would.

I suggest you start to pay attention to the excuses you use to keep yourself where you are.  Watch out – excuses can be very subtle and sometimes seem like justification or “reasons.”  When you identify an excuse, think about why you are using it.  What benefit do you get from using that excuse?  And are you moving closer to your goal by using that excuse?

I bet you’ll figure out (just like I did) that my excuses do not serve me.  Make a commitment to radically reduce the number of excuses you use and see what happens.  I bet you’ll find (just like I did) that it’s easier to reach your goals and be successful!

Want more tips like this?  Stay tuned here for more!  We’re celebrating the launch of the Get Fully Funded books next week by sharing 30 days of tips right here on the Get Fully Funded blog.

If you are a nonprofit director, you know that the budget line item for training and development is often the first one to go when things get tight.  But this is SO short-sighted! Too often, visionless Boards start cutting things out instead of ramping up the fundraising (but that’s a topic for another day!).

Whether it’s a book, a workshop, or a coach, investing in yourself has a tremendous impact on your nonprofit organization, its mission, and the people who benefit. When you strengthen your skills, you strengthen your ability to lead and to get the job done.  You become the kind of leader that people want to follow.  Investing in yourself has a magnificent ripple effect that touches just about everything in the organization, because you start doing your job better.

Just in case you need them, here are some reasons WHY you want to invest in yourself and your organization.

• It’s the best return on your investment.  For a nonprofit, there’s no better place to invest money. Staff development is the most important key for future success.  The dividends from investing in your knowledge are many – new skills, new resources, improved commitment, an attitude adjustment – the list goes on.
• It ensures the future success of your organization.  If you want to make sure that your organization is around in 1 year or 5 years or 20 years, invest in it today!  How else will you keep up with the latest trends in fundraising and nonprofit management?
• It shows that you’re serious about what you’re doing.  People who are serious about success invest in themseleves.  They attend workshops and conferences to increase their knowledge about their field.  They do what it takes to make sure they’re playing at the top of their game.
• It demonstrates your committment to your mission.  Leaders of organizations that have risen to the top of the pack have the attitude of doing whatever it takes.  They are uber-committed to their mission and the people they serve.  You better believe they are investing in their people!
• It shows you are committed to being around for the long haul.  By investing in yourself and your nonprofit, you show that you are committed to long-term success, not some flash-in-the-pan adventure.

Obviously, you want to make a good decision about the things you invest in.  Look for opportunities that support your learning style and those that are a good value financially.  I don’t mean only jump on cheap things.  Instead, make sure that what you get for the money is well worth it.  I’ve spent thousands of dollars on coaching programs that returned value to me like mad in terms of new revenue, new opportunities, enhanced skills, new connections, and more.

Once you decide which opportunities look good to you, take advantage of them!  Don’t purchase books then put them on the shelf or buy a ticket for a workshop only to spend half of it in the hallway on the phone.  Commit yourself to learning all you can from them.  Then implement.  It does no good to learn new things if you don’t put them into action.  Taking action and moving forward will nearly always lead to success.

Are you the one person in your office who does everything?  Do you wear “Fundraiser” as one of your many haes and get frustrated when there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done?

This is a common lament among staff in small nonprofit organizations.  How you answer that question and respond to it will determine whether or not you’ll be successful in raising money.  If you dread raising money or if you leave it til last, your results will be dismal.  If you embrace it and give it the attention it deserves, you’ll love the results you get.  This is about mindset or how you think about things.  The framework that you use to view the world has a huge impact on how you act and what you do.

Here are some suggestions for staying in a positve mindset when you’re the Lone Ranger of Fundraising.

First, know what it is you’re trying to accomplish.  In other words, have a plan.  If you don’t know what needs to get done during the day, you’ll float from one thing to the next and at the end of the day, you’ll wonder what you did, which can give you a sense of uselessness.  Instead, be clear about your ggoals for the day and focus on getting them done.  At the end of the day, you’ll have a great sense of accomplishment.  To crank this up a notch, keep a journal of everything you got done and good things that happened during the day.  When you focus on the positive, you’ll feel great abour your work and it will show!

Second, surround yourself with support.  Most of us have friends we can talk to, but we don’t lean on them until something bad happens.  Instead, put some purposeful support in place.  Have a regular meeting with a mentor or a colleague so that you can air your frustrations in private. Get a coach to help you make decisions and set goals.  Make sure to spend time with people who are a positive influence on you and pull you forward.  I’ve heard it said that we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with.  Think on that for a bit.  You might want to change who you’re hanging out with!

Third, play to your strengths.  Do only those things that you are really good at and get help with the rest.  I know, I can hear you saying that you can’t afford to hire anyone. That’s alright.  Recruit a volunteer or get an intern to help you.  Consider outsourcing things that you aren’t good at (for me, that’s bookkeeping!).  Hire a contract person to help write grants if you can’t stand writing.  Just get help.  You might find ways to automate some things so that they don’t take as much time.  And there are probably things you’re doing that you should simply stop doing, because they don’t need to be done in the first place.  Remember, you have limited time and energy and creativity during the day, so spend them on the things that really matter.

Finally, keep your head in the game.  Be passionate about the cause you are working for and spend time regularly on the front lines to fire up that passion. This can help you more than anything else!  Looking someone in the face who is receiving help from your nonprofit and seeing them smile might be all you need to keep your heart burning and your mind focused on the things you need to do.

When you work in a small organization, it’s easy to get resentful of the “big” nonprofits, because they have lots of staff and scads of volunteers and they get all the big donors, right?  If that thought or a variation of it runs through you head, I want you to kick it out and replace it with something better. Just remember that every big nonprofit was once exactly where yours is.  The only difference is that someone at that big organization hung in there and stayed focused, and good things started to happen.

You hang in there and it can happen for you, too!

I spent the day with Mike Dooley this past Saturday at his event in Charlotte, NC. If you aren’t familiar with Mike, he writes ‘Notes from the Universe” (www.tut.com)

Mike is an entertaining speaker and the day was full of ‘aha’ moments for me. I thought I’d share with you some of what I learned.

Situations will repeat themselves until you take responsibility. History repeats itself, right?  I see that in my own life.  Taking responsibility means that I acknowledge my part in the situation and make a conscious choice to change my behavior.  This is such a simple thing, but has profound consequences.

There are basically 2 steps to getting what you want. 1. Have a dream.  2. Take action. How simple is that? So many people have a dream of what they want in life, but never take a step toward it.  They talk themselves out of it before they get started.  And Mike says it doesn’t have to be a big step – you can take baby steps toward your dreams and see results.  Cool?

Just because you can’t see the miracle doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. This is about faith.  He tells the story of a person boarding a ship in New York headed to England.  Two days into the trip, the person notices that the scenery hasn’t changed and decides nothing is happening, when in fact, the ship is exactly on course to reach its destination.  The traveller simply needs to have faith that the goal will ultimately be reached.

If you want change, you must act. You can’t sit around and complain about your cicumstances and expect things to get better.  You have to do something about it.  In other words, if I want a different result, I have to change what I’m doing.  This one really struck me. I think I’ve been wanting change in one area of my life, but not doing anything to make it happen.

Some things that look like failure are actually stepping stones to the thing you want.  Nothing is ever wasted.  That means that something that seemed like a horrible failure was actually preparing you for something else.  For example, this is my third time to have my own business.  The first time I consider a failure.  The second time just didn’t work out either.  This time is very different and I can see that the first two times taught me so much that I needed to know in order to make this one work.

Do all you can with what you’ve got from where you are. This is one of my favorite quotes from Mike! It measn that you have to take action.  You can’t expect things to just fall into your lap, because it doesn’t work that way. Take baby steps.  Do something.  Move toward your goal.

The more you celebrate, the more you’ll be given to celebrate. Love this!  To me, it means focus on the positive and the things that are going well, and you’ll have more of it.  Lately, I’ve been keeping a journal of all the things that happen during the day that are good – things I accomplished during the day, things that randomly happened, happy surprises, etc. - and I find that it really lifts me up.

You never know when you’re about to reach the point of success, so don’t give up. This is another one that really struck me.  Like the person on the ship that isn’t seeing visible progress, sometimes it’s hard to tell when we’re getting close to seeing our dreams come true.  For me, it means I can’t give up.  I have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, especially on those days when I’d rather just throw in the towel.

What are your impressions of my takeaways from my day with Mike Dooley?  Please click on the comment link and share.

We all procrastinate from time to time, don’t we? There are lots of reasons why we do it – fear, perfectionism, doubt – the list goes on. We really need to just dig in and get the thing done. Here’s a great little video to help you get your stuff done.